Fickell doesn’t key on former ties with Buckeyes
COVER PHOTO: Current Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell as seen during his head coaching stint with Cincinnati before one of their games last year. Photo by Dylan Buell.
It’s kind of ironic that the last time Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell coached against his former team, he was the head coach of an Ohio school. That was 2019, when he led his Cincinnati Bearcats into the Horseshoe and got throttled, 42-0.
It’s ironic because, as most of those in Buckeye Nation know, Fickell is not only a native central Ohioan hailing from St. Francis DeSales (Columbus) High School and was a former player for the Buckeyes from 1992 - '96 but was also an assistant coach AND head coach for one season at THE Ohio State University.
And in an even weirder, more ironic twist of fate, this won’t be the first time Fickell will be the head coach during a Wisconsin-Ohio State game because he was manning the sidelines for OSU in 2011 when he led them to a crazy, last-minute 33-29 win over UW almost exactly 12 years ago to this very day on October 29.
Now Fickell is heading into round three of a rematch of sorts when his Badgers (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) welcome third-ranked Ohio State (7-0, 4-0) into Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday night. But playing against his former team isn’t something he’s keying on.
“The first thing to start off with, it’s not about me. I know … we have some guys on our staff, myself included, that have some obvious history there,” Fickell said this week. “For me, and I don’t want to get too much into it, but that will always be something that’s stuck in the back of my head.”
He said his primary focus is on his guys performing their best and coming away with a win.
“It’s about the journey we’re on and the process that we’re in, not the specifics of ‘hey, you went to school there, hey you played there, hey you’ve got guys on your staff from there.' When the ball is kicked off, that’ll have absolutely no effect on anything that happens on that field. So we just try to focus on the things that are going to have the greatest effect on Saturday night.”
Fickell’s former alliance with OSU certainly doesn’t fall short with Buckeye head coach Ryan Day, who praised the Scarlet and Gray’s former head coach.
"Certainly, he left a lot behind here as a player and as a coach, very well respected by so many," Day said. "Nothing but respect for Luke, his staff, the team, the program. Wisconsin's always an excellent program, and Luke's done a great job."
Fickell’s first season has been somewhat of a roller coaster after taking over for the deposed Paul Chryst, who was fired five games into last season following a 2-3 start.
But things were looking bright for the Red and White as they entered this year’s campaign ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll and got off to a solid beginning with a 21-point drubbing of Buffalo at home.
The next weekend wouldn’t be as fortuitous, though, losing in a 31-22 shocker on the road against Washington State, which dropped them from the top 25. It was the Badgers’ second-straight loss to the Cougars after last year’s 17-14 heartbreaker at home.
They would rebound with three straight wins but had their second hiccup with a 15-6 loss at home against Iowa.
Then last weekend they had to claw their way back from a 14-point, fourth quarter deficit in a wacky 25-21 win over Illinois and needed a quasi-trick play touchdown pass from backup redshirt freshman quarterback Braedyn Locke to redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Nolan Rucci with less than 30 seconds remaining.
The loss to the Hawkeyes still kind of stings Fickell but he said it was a good learning experience because he began to see something different in his players during their 18-point comeback against the Fighting Illini.
“It’s that will, it’s that passion, it’s that no panic, which we have done,” he said this week.
“I thought we have done a pretty decent job, even in the Iowa game, where we didn’t panic, we didn’t change a demeanor on the sideline when things didn’t go well, but we also didn’t find a way to finish.”
However, he said it was the Illinois game where he finally saw the light come on with his guys since setting foot in Madison, Wisc.
“For the first time … in nine or 10 months, I saw a difference in that final, not just drive, but that final quarter where … I saw a different intensity that I know was in there. We all have it (but sometimes) it’s just hard to find in the midst of chaos.”
Chaos might be a tad melodramatic but things are certainly a lot different this year compared to last.
Not only is Chryst gone after over 20 years as a coach in one way, shape or form for the Badgers but so are all of the coaches from his staff including former UW safety and seven-year coach, Jim Leonhard, who was their defensive coordinator from 2017 - ’22. He ended his tenure as their interim head coach for the final eight games, going 5-3 including a win over Oklahoma State in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Fickell came in and made sweeping changes, including the hiring of Phil Longo and his “air raid” style of offense. Longo is a disciple of the late Mike Leach, who had a penchant for airing it out, and Longo spent the last three seasons as North Carolina’s offensive coordinator and led them and quarterback Drake Maye to some pretty impressive stats.
Last year, Maye threw for a school record 4,115 passing yards, which was third-best in the nation, and his 35 touchdown passes ranked first in the ACC and fifth in the nation. As a whole, the Tar Heels’ offense ranked first in the ACC in passing yards per game (317.2), second in passing TDs (35), second in total offense (473.6 ypg) and third in points per game (35.0).
Fickell also dismissed Leonhard in favor of Mike Tressel, who was Fickell’s defensive coordinator at Cincinnati for the last two seasons.
In Tressel’s first season, the Bearcats’ defense was stout, ranking fifth nationally in scoring (16.5 ppg) and No. 10 in total (318 ypg) and had the nation’s best pass defense, finishing No. 1 in the country in pass efficiency with a 103.37 rating. That defense featured several future pros including that year’s Thorpe Award winner, cornerback Coby Bryant, as well as cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Last year, Tressel won the American Football Coaches Association assistant coach of the year award after leading the Bearcats to a defense that ranked fifth in the nation in yards per play (4.52).
If Tressel’s name sounds familiar, it should: he’s the nephew of former OSU head coach Jim Tressel and like Fickell, also spent time in Columbus as an assistant coach. He was a graduate assistant to his uncle specializing with the linebackers in 2002 and ‘03.
However, this year the Badgers have been statistically average or slightly better than average on both sides of the ball with their offense currently ranking Nos. 6, 8, 3 and 5 in the Big Ten, respectively, in scoring (27 points per game), passing (216 ypg), rushing (179 ypg) and total (395 ypg).
Their defense comes in at Nos. 6, 8, 10 and 7 in the conference in scoring (18.3 ppg), passing (196 ypg), rushing (137 ypg) and total (333 ypg).
Wisconsin has had their share of offensive woes, though, as starting QB Tanner Mordecai went down in the Iowa game with a broken hand and backup running back Chez Mellusi suffered a leg injury in week 4 against Purdue.
Mordecai ranked eighth in the Big Ten in passing yards (1,127) and passing efficiency (118.8) and Mellusi had run for 271 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 6.7 yards per carry going into that game.
Luckily for the Badgers, they still have junior Braelon Allen in the backfield and an efficient backup under center in Locke. Allen is currently second in the Big Ten in rushing touchdowns (8) and is only one of two Big Ten running backs to average triple digit yards per game at 100.6, which also ranks second in the conference.
Locke threw for 241 yards and two TD’s with no interceptions in his first-ever collegiate start last weekend against the Illini.
But now those two and the rest of the Badger offense will be tasked with trying to get past an OSU defense that has been stellar this year. The Buckeyes rank third in the country in points allowed (10 ppg), second in pass efficiency (95.34) and are the fifth-best overall defense at 260.1 ypg. They rank 17th against the run at 100.6 ypg.
And OSU’s offense, despite some feelings as being a lack thereof, lead the conference at 431.9 total ypg and through the air at 304.9 ypg. The Buckeyes are the only team in the Big Ten with over 300 yards passing per game.
Quarterback Kyle McCord currently leads the conference in passing yards (1,937) and with 12 touchdowns through the air (fourth) and is only one of three Big Ten quarterbacks to have thrown one interception or less. He is second in efficiency with a 161.6 rating.
Wide receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr. leads the B1G and is ranked ninth in the country with 766 receiving yards and is the only receiver averaging over 100 yards per game (109.4). He ranks second in the conference and is tied for 18th with six TD’s.
Ohio State owns a 62-18-5 advantage over Wisconsin including the last nine straight.
Stats aside, though, Camp Randall has always been a daunting place for the Buckeyes and the two teams are knotted at three wins each since 2003.
OSU lost back-to-back in 2003 and 2004 by final scores of 17-10 and 24-13, and their last loss was in 2010 by a final of 31-18. That game is officially the only one they played that season because all 12 of their wins and all stats accrued from winning games were wiped off the books due to the Tattoo Gate scandal.
Their three wins in that span have come by no more than a touchdown with them eking out a W in 2008 by a field goal (20-17). The other two were decided by seven points and both in overtime (21-14 in 2012 and 30-23 in 2016).
Day knows it won’t be an easy task for his team to walk away with a win.
"His (Fickell’s) teams are always well-coached. So, we know going in (Wisconsin is) going to be well-coached (and) play hard," Day said.
The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will be NBC’s Saturday Night Game of the Week.