Luke Fickell and Wisconsin hit a new low — and it’s about to get much worse

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MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell put all the emotional chips on the table for this week’s game with Iowa. All offseason, Fickell brought up last year’s result as motivation. He played the rivalry card, and his players bought in.

After three straight losses, the season metaphorically came down to one game on homecoming with alternative uniforms. But the Fifth Quarter was just a sad lullaby for the four that preceded it, and there are as many answers as the Badgers scored points.

There’s only 180 miles between Iowa and Wisconsin, but in reality, it’s more like 180 degrees for the Badgers, who are 2-4 and 0-3 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes’ 37-0 win was more than just a blowout in a border feud. It was a statement. All offseason, Fickell used his team’s 42-10 defeat at Iowa as fuel toward the current season. His defenders conducted 42 pushups after every spring practice.

Instead, the official Iowa football X account showed an image of Bucky Badger doing pushups with the words “37 more …” with “Jump Around” as the bumper music.

37 more. pic.twitter.com/4cGhzznL95

— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) October 12, 2025

“That’s as low as it can be. I apologize,” Fickell said. “I’m dumbfounded in a lot of ways, but that’s my job. This is a game we’ve been talking about since January. It was something that, emotionally, we knew we had to be ready for, and we were not. So, I’m crushed, disappointed in myself and our team.”

The loss marked the Badgers’ first home shutout since 1980 and their ninth straight loss to a power conference program. The average score of those games was 32-12, and only one of those losses was decided by fewer than two touchdowns.

And it’s about to get much, much worse for Wisconsin.

The Badgers host top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday. Then, they travel to Oregon. Wisconsin plays Washington at home, then travels to surging Indiana. The Badgers finish up at home against former coach Bret Bielema and Illinois, then travel to their other border rival, Minnesota.

Their six upcoming opponents are a combined 31-6 overall, and all but one have at least five wins. Wisconsin clearly is the Big Ten’s worst team, and it’s a shocking fall for a program that ranks second in league wins since 2000 — and for a coach who was once considered a rising star.

Fickell has now lost much of the public’s confidence that he’s the right coach for Wisconsin. When asked whether he can get the job done at Wisconsin, Fickell replied, “I don’t fault you for asking. I don’t think people should think anything different. But the truth of the matter is, this is not an easy fix, and we’ve got a hell of a long way to go.”

Wisconsin and Iowa traditionally measure themselves against one another as developmental programs built along the line of scrimmage. That was a domain where the Badgers excelled. From 2011 through 2019, they won six division titles built on gap-blocking maulers and Doak Walker Award-winning running backs like Melvin Gordon and Jonathan Taylor. Its defense was among the nation’s best perennially, and perhaps none was as gap sound or as physical. The Hawkeyes showed the Badgers how far they have fallen in both areas.

Iowa outrushed Wisconsin 210-127, with the Hawkeyes averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Through six games, the Badgers average 3.1 yards per rushing attempt, the program’s lowest since 1991. That was Hall of Fame coach Barry Alvarez’s second season in Madison. It was the program’s identity.

Now?

“I feel like we really don’t have an identity,” Wisconsin linebacker Christian Alliegro said. “It’s just such a weird feeling. I feel like we have no grip in these games.”

“We’ve talked a lot about our identity the past 10 months here with especially our offense,” Wisconsin center Jake Renfro said. “Some of those words that we’ve said might not have been true because it doesn’t show up on tape.”

But there are more issues than just identity. The Badgers had three turnovers by early in the second quarter and picked up three unsportsmanlike penalties, including one in pregame warmups that led to a 15-yard penalty on the opening kickoff. The pregame emotions that swirled never channeled into a disciplined, composed performance. That was once a given for Wisconsin. Now, it’s a mirage.

Some fans are pushing for Fickell’s exit, and understandably so. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he’s owed around $27.5 million should Wisconsin brass fire him after the season. Others are preaching patience, but acknowledge that the status quo is unacceptable.

“It is very tough to watch, but I believe in continuous improvement,” said Madison resident Joe Fills. “I don’t really see it out there on the field right now, but if you cut it short, you’ll never know.”

“I was a big local Luke fan coming in here when he came in out of Cincinnati,” said Steve Perkins, a Bolingbrook, Ill., resident whose daughter attends Wisconsin. “I loved what he did at the University of Cincinnati, and I kind of liked what he did when he first got here.”

Cole Langer of Edgerton, Wis., said, “Fickell can’t coach, so we’ve got to drink a little more. That’s how it goes.”

Fans booed as the Badgers left the field down 23-0 at halftime. The student section stayed through “Jump Around” before the fourth quarter, then emptied en masse. In the final minutes, about 5,000 Iowa fans remained in cavernous Camp Randall Stadium, celebrating the Hawkeyes’ fourth straight series win.

Fickell’s emotions came out in the locker room and lingered in his postgame news conference. The players still stand behind him and are trying to say the right things through gritted teeth. But knowing what’s on deck and what they just experienced, there’s little room for positivity.

“What he’s feeling is we’re all feeling,” Renfro said. “To lose like that to a rival, to score zero points, never even have a chance. It hurts. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way, like this.”

This news was originally published on this post .

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