Written by: Ethan Roberts

Week 10: Wisconsin Badgers

Date & Time: Saturday, November 4 at TBD

Venue: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN

TV: TBD

Badgers at a Glance

Head Coach: Luke Fickell

Entering his first season as Badgers’ Head Coach

Overall Record: 64-25

Last Season: 7-6 (4-5 in Big Ten)

Badgers Returning Leaders

Passing: Myles Burkett – 4-for-5 (80%), 84 yards

Rushing: Braelon Allen – 1,242 yards on 230 carries, 11 Touchdowns

Receiving: Chimere Dike – 47 catches for 689 yards, 6 Touchdowns

Tackles: Maema Njongmeta – 95 total tackles (48 solo), 11.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks

Badgers Preseason Predictions

Athlon: 1st in the Big Ten West

Lindy’s: 1st in the Big Ten West

Phil Steele: 1st in the Big Ten West

SP+: 20th Nationally

Impact Newcomers for the Badgers

Tanner Mordecai – QB – SMU Transfer

C.J. Williams – WR – USC Transfer

Jake Renfro – OT – Cincinnati Transfer

Darian Varner – DL – Temple Transfer

Program Preview

The moment that former Badgers head coach Paul Chryst was fired signaled they were entering a rebuild phase at the end of the 2022 season. The first steppingstone that Wisconsin had to get past was hiring a new coach. Luke Fickell was one of the premier coaches on the market, so Wisconsin presumably succeeded there.

Fickell immediately went to work rebuilding the roster. He brought on 15 transfers in the offseason, with the most notable being four-star rated transfer QB Tanner Mordecai. Wisconsin had struggled in the past few seasons at quarterback, and their 2022 starter Graham Mertz transferred to Gainesville, Florida to start for the Gators. Since Wisconsin is known for their elite offensive line play, Fickell decided to bring his best from Cincinnati, his last coaching spot. He brought in Joe Huber and Jake Renfro, both three-star rated offensive linemen from the portal.

Wisconsin needed a massive rebuild and they finished with the 25th ranked portal class for 2023. They are also notable off to a hot start in the 2024 recruiting class, which is ranked 23rd in the country as of today.

Offensive Preview

The Badgers trotted onto the field in 2022 with one of the worst offenses in the Big Ten. That will change shortly with Luke Fickell at the helm of the rebuild. All-Big Ten rusher Braelon Allen will return coming off a great season rushing despite a below average offensive line. He will be paired with incoming transfer Tanner Mordecai, who garnered a lot of attention in the portal until Fickell was able to land him. He tallied over combined for over 7,000 passing yards in his last two seasons with the Mustangs.

With the backfield sorted out, Fickell made sure to hit the portal hard for the rest of the roster. This included numerous three-star transfer additions to the line of scrimmage, as well as the addition of four-star transfer receiver C.J. Williams from USC. Williams was a four-star true freshman last season before entering the portal.

Fickell will hope to leverage a good portal class and better recruiting to turn the offensive around in the 2023 season.

Defensive Preview

While the Badgers boasted a top-20 defense in the 2022 season, the departure of former DC and interim head coach Jim Leonard to Illinois might prove harder to replace than people think. Fickell has added defensive line depth with the addition of three-star transfers Darian Varner and Jeff Pietrowski. These additions will attempt to bolster their run defense further alongside returning tackles leader Maema Njongmeta.

The secondary will see the returns of Ricardo Hallman and Kamo’i Latu who combined for 3 interceptions last season. They also added former Boston College safety Jason Maitre through the portal, who was rated as a three-star transfer.

The Badger defense can’t get much better than last season, but they hope that the new portal additions and returning starters can play up to the standard that former defensive coordinator Jim Leonard had them playing at.

Special Teams Preview

The Badgers have both a new punter and kicker from the portal this season. Their kicker is former Ohio kicker Nathaniel Vakos. Vakos, a freshman last season, made 19-of-23 field goals as well as 48-of-49 extra points in 2022.

Their new punter is Australian specialist and former USC commit Atticus Bertrams. Bertrams hasn’t played a snap of college football but should have all eyes on him in Wisconsin this fall.