** 2024 Opponent Preview : Wisconsin (Game 11) **

Saunders

Saunders

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CollegeFootballNews: 2024 Wisconsin Preview

This is where the pivot to Luke Fickell has to kick in because, to go full cliché, the goalposts have moved—in a good way.

For the last 30 years, Wisconsin has lived in the world of the very, very good. (As someone who was there during the very, very bad, to this day, the idea of the Badgers going to a bowl game still seems a tad far-fetched.)

Winning 16 bowl games since that breakthrough run to the Rose Bowl to end the 1993 season, six Big Ten titles during the era, 13 seasons of ten wins or more, and five more seasons with nine wins—the program enjoyed as much success as it could possibly have in college football without playing for something truly massive.

Not that the Rose Bowls weren’t nice, but let’s just say Y2K was a thing the last time the Badgers won in Pasadena.

https://collegefootballnews.com/news/wisconsin-college-football-preview-2024-key-players-game-schedule-season-predictions
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More to come...

 
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Van Dyke has a huge arm and is going to throw bombs throughout the year.  More often than not, a lot of those will connect.  He was fascinating to watch at Miami, Fl.  

I say fascinating because he could throw 450 yards and several TDs one week, carry the team and win the game, and the following week throw multiple interceptions, get sacked a lot, and overthrow his receivers and lose.  

So yeah, Wisconsin feels like 8-5.  

 
Van Dyke is 17/29 for 153 and a whopping 5.3 avg so far against WMU, halfway through the 3rd.  I just don't see throwing the ball 40 times working at Wisconsin.  Feels like a very dumb (Callahan esque) decision for them to flip a 180 from what they were before.

 
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runningblind said:
Van Dyke is 17/29 for 153 and a whopping 5.3 avg so far against WMU, halfway through the 3rd.  I just don't see throwing the ball 40 times working at Wisconsin.  Feels like a very dumb (Callahan esque) decision for them to flip a 180 from what they were before.
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I think Fickell is way ahead of Callahan as a college HC. They still haven't found a QB to really implement what they want to do on offense. 

 
hskrpwr13 said:
I think Fickell is way ahead of Callahan as a college HC. They still haven't found a QB to really implement what they want to do on offense. 
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I agree there, my comment was about the philosophical change similarity.  I don't think they're going to get the QB they want up there if they have two years of meh results, and their historical reputation. Last night was 100% meh. 25 point favorites and they slogged to a 2 td win by scoring late.  Less than 400 yards of offense in 80+ plays against a G5 team that went 4-8 with the 89th ranked defense last year.

 
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runningblind said:
I agree there, my comment was about the philosophical change similarity.  I don't think they're going to get the QB they want up there if they have two years of meh results, and their historical reputation. Last night was 100% meh. 25 point favorites and they slogged to a 2 td win by scoring late.  Less than 400 yards of offense in 80+ plays against a G5 team that went 4-8 with the 89th ranked defense last year.
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I agree, they were down to a G5 school a fair bit into the 4th qtr, only a luck play on a punt saved them. Had that punt not hit a WMU player, I am not sure Wisky wins, or at least it is a very close win. Got bailed out IMO. 

 
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hskrpwr13 said:
I think Fickell is way ahead of Callahan as a college HC. They still haven't found a QB to really implement what they want to do on offense. 
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QB is an issue, I think the bigger one offensively is they can't recruit WRs. They do have a couple of slot guys who are good for volume, but no outside WRs + an unspectacular run game is how you average 4.7 yards per play against a bad defense. They'll improve over the course of the year, but it's just not an explosive offense. Meullusi will break a few runs and occasionally the slot receivers will make it over the top but it's going to be more dink and dunk than fans here want. 

 
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