The Luke Fickell era of Wisconsin Badgers football got off to a good start on Saturday. The 19th ranked Badgers hosted the Buffalo Bulls for their first game of the 2023 season. Despite a slow start offensively, Wisconsin was able to put up 38 points behind 314 team rushing yards.
Related: Wisconsin Badgers 5 Highest and Lowest PFF Grades on Offense
However, the passing game never really got into a rhythm and new starting quarterback Tanner Mordecai threw two interceptions. Additionally, the defense allowed several big plays, though they were able to keep Buffalo from putting up many points.
Related: Wisconsin Badgers 5 Highest and Lowest PFF Grades on Defense
During his press conference on Monday, Coach Fickell had a brutally honest take on his team’s performance.
Wisconsin Badgers Head Coach Luke Fickell Addresses His Team’s Performance Against the Buffalo Bulls

Winning football games is never easy. Yet with playing/coaching for such a high-profile team such as Wisconsin comes certain expectations. Due to the nature of these expectations, Fickell was not able to enjoy his first regular season win as head coach as much as he would have liked to. According to Jesse Temple of The Athletic, Fickell said:
“I think after the game, I probably wasn’t as fired up as maybe I needed to be because wining is not easy and ultimately that’s what it comes down to. … Deep down inside, I just felt like we were sloppy.”
Sloppy is a good way of describing the way the Badgers’ played on Saturday. The defense, for instance, missed a total of ten tackles. Five of those came from cornerback Kamo’i Latu. On offense, quarterback Tanner Mordecai was inconsistent with his throws and threw two interceptions. Additionally, wide receiver Skyler Bell dropped what might have been a long touchdown pass in the first half of the game.
Still, it is just one game, and the first game at that. It was also the first game with a new offensive and defensive scheme. That being said, Wisconsin has a lot to clean up before they start conference play. They also have a tough matchup on the road against Washington State on Saturday.
We’ll see how or if the team is able to improve upon their inconsistent play then. Washington State defeated Wisconsin at Camp Randall last season.
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