In college football’s Week 3, the optimum word to describe the feelings of many Wisconsin fans is foreboding. It is the dread that comes with a feeling something bad is going to happen on Saturday. The ‘something bad’ is the Alabama Crimson Tide in Camp Randall Stadium.
Wisconsin has a long-established reputation as one of the Big Ten’s top football programs. That rep has been somewhat stained in recent seasons. Only once since 2019 has Wisconsin won more than seven games. Between 1994 and 2000, the Badgers won three Rose Bowls. The only major bowl they have won since was the 2017 Orange Bowl.
Coming off a 7-6 2023 season, Wisconsin fans carried high hopes for Luke Fickell’s second season in Madison. Optimism for the 2024 season has waned from two unimpressive wins over Western Michigan and South Dakota. For Alabama football fans wondering if Fickell has been holding back portions of the playbooks before the Alabama game, the answer is he didn’t have that luxury. Western Michigan led that game in the 4th quarter. Wisconsin recovered to win 28-14. Late in the 3rd quarter against South Dakota, the Badgers led 17-13. The final score in the Wisconsin win was 27-13.
Now Wisconsin fans are wondering if their Badgers can compete with ranked teams. They know well the Alabama Crimson Tide is much more than just a ranked team. The latest from FanDuel has Alabama as a 15.5-point favorite. One Wisconsin fan tweeted he is prepared for the game “to be the worst display of Wisconsin football I have ever seen.”
Describing problems with the Badgers defensive line, Badger Extra called the position group “an area of serious concern.” More was added on the weakness of the defensive front, “South Dakota, like Western Michigan in the opener, was able to run the ball down the Badgers’ throats at will…”
The same Wisconsin site stated “Big-boy football is coming to town” and asked if Wisconsin was ready for it.
Not an Alabama Crimson Tide Trap Game
Given the attitudes of Wisconsin followers, Saturday is beginning to look like a trap game for the Crimson Tide. That is not the case, because Alabama will also be seeking a ‘get right’ game. Wisconsin should not be taken lightly. There is no indication the Crimson Tide will make that mistake.
Both teams will be missing a linebacker in the first half of Saturday’s game. Add Luke Fickell to the list of those dissatisfied with how targeting rules are being applied. The punished player for Wisconsin is a starting linebacker, integral to the Badger defense. For Alabama, Justin Jefferson is also a key player, but Jefferson plays behind Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell.
Saturday will be a repeat of almost every Alabama Crimson Tide game. It will mostly be about what Alabama does and doesn’t do, and not nearly as much about Wisconsin.
