MADISON – Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell held his weekly press conference Monday, Oct. 6 at the McClain Center practice facility.
During the 23-minute session he talked about the upcoming rivalry game with Iowa, the prospects of Hunter Simmons starting for a second consecutive week and some of the challenges the Hawkeyes will present.
He had no injury updates on the handful of starters who are sidelined: quarterback Billy Edwards (sprained knee), center Jake Renfro (knee/ankle) and safety Preston Zachman (lower body).
Here is what we learned.
Fickell comfortable sticking with Hunter Simmons, offensive line
Barring Edwards’ return to health, Simmons appears to be on track to start for the second straight week.
“That’s what I would say,” Fickell said. “Again, there’ll be a plan both ways – I think Danny (O’Neil) had only three snaps in the game – but Hunter has done a good job. He will continue to get some more opportunities. Danny will have some opportunities as well.”
Simmons, a Southern Illinois transfer, was solid in his debut, completing 18 of 29 passes for 177 yards and one interception in the 24-10 loss to Michigan on Oct. 4. The 12-play, 75-drive he engineered to open the game marked the Badgers’ first first-quarter touchdown of the season and their first lead in two-plus games.
Fickell said he also expects to go with the same offensive line combination. The Badgers started their fifth line combination of the season, inserting Davis Heinzen at center and Kerry Kodanko at right guard.
“There is a growth, and there are definitely some things that you saw, take a good hard look at the first drive,” Fickell said. “There’s always things you can do better, but that’s a better depiction of some of the things that I think that we can do… There’s a lot of things I think we can build off of. That’s where we’ve got to continue to go.”
Matchup with Iowa provides chance for redemption
Fickell didn’t dance around the beatdown Iowa gave the Badgers last season. The 42-10 victory was Iowa’s largest margin of victory in the series since 1968, and the Hawkeyes’ 329 rushing yards were the most allowed by the Badgers since the 2012 Rose Bowl, when Oregon ran for 345 in a 45-38 victory.
“There’s no doubt that what happened last year is something that’s fresh in the minds of everybody on this team and a part of this program,” Fickell said. “We’ve got our work cut out for what we need to be able to do and learn from what happened last year and understand and recognize that this is what makes college football great, your ability to have rivalry games, your ability to play in rivalry games and obviously to win rivalry games. That’s what it’s all about.”
Kaden Wetjen, Iowa special teams present great challenge
The Badgers haven’t had to deal with a dangerous return man this season. That will change against Iowa.
Graduate student Kaden Wetjen leads the nation in punt return average (31.5 yards per game) and is second in the nation in kickoff return average (35.5). He has a touchdown return with both units.
Fickell had high praise for Iowa’s special teams overall.
“You’re going to be challenged, and it’s not just schematically,” Fickell said. “I’m not saying they don’t do a great job schematically, but you’re going to be challenged on your ability to be physical, your ability to win one-on-one, and your ability to outplay them in every unit, especially the special teams.”
Wisconsin won’t shy away from running the ball
Iowa’s run defense will be the toughest the Badgers have faced this season. The Hawkeyes allow an average of 69.4 yards per game, which ranks fourth in the nation.
The Badgers’ run game is on the other end of the spectrum, ranking 116th out of 134 teams with an average of 109.2 yards per game. Those struggles won’t discourage UW from attempting to establish the run.
“It’s still a part of who we are and what we need to be able to do,” Fickell said. “We’ve got to be better than we were last Saturday. … Do we have advantageous blocks? Do we have angles? Can we run the football? We’ve got to be smart about what it is that we’re doing, but we’ve also got to be able to ask our guys to be able to win at some of those points of attack.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How Luke Fickell will handle his QBs, 3 other things learned from the Wisconsin football coach’s press conference
Reporting by Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
