MADISON — It was revealed to the public on Monday that Wisconsin quarterback Tyler Van Dyke will miss the remainder of the 2024 season after suffering a torn ACL during Saturday’s loss to Alabama, putting all preconceived season expectations in question.

The news felt like an aftershock to the brutality of the 42-10 Alabama loss. The Badgers looked like a lost team, who will now finish out a difficult schedule behind a backup quarterback.

The online reactions to the loss and subsequent quarterback news can best be described as chaotic, so I wanted to put things in perspective.

Here’s what the loss of Van Dyke means for the rest of Wisconsin’s season.

Redshirt sophomore Braedyn Locke stepped in for Van Dyke on Saturday, and will move forward as the Badgers’ starting quarterback.

The two battled for the starting job during offseason camps, which came as somewhat of a surprise given Van Dyke’s clear advantage in experience and physical talent. But the coaches liked Locke enough to give him a shot at the starting role, which he never got behind Tanner Mordecai prior to last season.

Locke split first-team reps with Van Dyke all throughout spring camp and actually made it a real competition for a while. He looked more confident stepping up in the pocket, took deep shots and showed a real moxy that we rarely saw in his starting time last season.

But throughout fall camp, the redshirt sophomore became more gun-shy. Van Dyke developed chemistry with his teammates and his play continued to improve, while Locke seemingly felt the gap widening. He became more hesitant to take chances and even struggled to withstand pressure in the pocket.

By the end of fall, the hierarchy was clear, long before offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s announcement to the media on the final day of camp.

“We have named Tyler Van Dyke our starter,” Longo said in August.

“I will tell you that last year, it was Tanner Mordecai and the number-two was Braedyn Locke. This year, it’s Tyler Van Dyke and we really see Braedyn Locke — I mentioned in the past how much better he’s gotten this year — and as [coach Luke] Fick[ell] says, we kind of see it as a 1A, 1B situation rather than a one and two. That’s how well Braedyn has done here in camp.”

The fans, whose view of Locke is entirely based on his performance in the 3.5 games he played last season, seemed surprised that there was a quarterback battle to begin with.

Locke’s stretch of play last season didn’t exactly provide an abundance of confidence for his ability as a starter. In those seven halves of football he played, he only looked like starting material for about two.

He peaked with the fourth quarter comeback against Illinois, then looked pretty capable in the first half against Ohio State, before Braelon Allen’s injury took all the air out of Wisconsin’s offense.

Everything else was either forgettable or simply poor, especially his final showing against Indiana, which left a bad taste in the mouths of Badger fans.

However, many players on the team have significantly improved from last season, and Locke could join that list. Longo especially seemed optimistic about his growth over the offseason.

“His strength last year was the decision-making part of it. We wanted him to get better athletically, we wanted [him] to get throws off a little quicker. I think we wanted to be able to do more with him mentally. The great progress this year is, he’s so good mentally that he’s on point with the throws. He’s been even more accurate this year than he was last year, with the help of [strength and conditioning coach] Brady Collins and the staff. He’s doing a lot more things athletically that I did not see him do last spring. He’s just a much better athletic product at this point,” Longo said after the final fall practice open to the media.

“He’s just taken it to another level mentally. You really have a play-caller on the field when he’s out there, so he ought to be able to manage the problems and put us in a good position. And then his number-one job will be to distribute the football.”

The early returns against Alabama didn’t show much improvement, but he was thrust into a game against one of the best defenses in the country, behind an offense that seemed to struggle at almost everything.

While Locke must step up and prove himself as a starting quarterback, the coaches and supporting cast must meet him halfway.

Ultimately, the offense will be doomed if they don’t take this bye week to iron some issues out at the quarterback position and beyond. They’re frankly in need of a re-haul, but that’s not realistic or sensible in the middle of the season

After the loss to Alabama, Fickell and certain offensive players were asked about the offense’s identity, and mostly came to a consensus.

“I think we can run the football, I think we can do some things up front, offensive line-wise, that gives us a chance,” Fickell said.

“I think we’re working on it. We’re definitely gonna be able to run the ball. I think we can do better at that, but I think we’re gonna start with the run and work off that,” offensive tackle Riley Mahlman said.

Their first three games have reflected this desire, but the play-calling is still questionable at times. Far too often in goal line or crucial down situations, we see the same runs out of shotgun with little-to-no motion. These plays can and have worked in certain situations, but the frequency at which they’re called makes Wisconsin’s offense predictable.

It doesn’t really matter when facing Western Michigan and South Dakota, or when you have a back like Braelon Allen, but they’re gonna need creativity against the better teams on their schedule.

“I think we gotta capitalize on drives, take care of the football, just put it all together. I don’t think we’ve had a game where we’ve put it all together yet,” running back Chez Mellusi said.

They’re still going to rely on the run, probably even more so with a backup quarterback, but Longo must preserve Locke’s confidence if this offense is to survive the rest of the year. And that means actually taking chances through the air.

Another issue with their performance against Alabama was the lack of offensive depth. Every play felt confined to 10 yards within the line of scrimmage. They finished the day with only one pass attempt beyond 20 yards.

This attitude was likely a result of the Tide’s strong defensive line, but the Badgers can’t beat the best teams in the country without taking any chances.

Locke may be smaller (6-foot, 200 pounds) and look like a pure pocket passer, but he’s at his best when he feels comfortable throwing the ball deep and the offense opens up. During the fourth quarter comeback against Illinois, he had no choice but to take deep shots, and ended up playing his best ball of the season. We saw a similar aggression throughout most of the offseason.

Locke’s answer on offensive identity was the only one that strayed from Fickell and his teammates.

“When we stay in a rhythm, we maintain a tempo and the guys are playing fast, I think we present a lot of problems for people,” Locke said.

He doesn’t want a slow, tight, and congested offense, and who can blame him?

The Badgers will continue to “run the ball to open up the pass”, but when Longo does call a pass, they should try a Bryson Green go-route instead of the usual slot receiver slant.

Some on social media have wondered if there’s a chance we’ll see true freshman Mabrey Mettauer at any point this season.

He was the first four-star quarterback recruit to come to Wisconsin since Graham Mertz in 2019, and also the first Fickell/Longo quarterback who they recruited from high school and not the portal.

Fans are naturally curious about the future, and anxious for hope after such a crushing loss.

“He’s going to have to be ready,” Fickell said about Mettauer after the game.

“Unfortunately, we could have to have a true freshman that’s got to be ready to roll. Even in the first series or second series, [when] Braedyn was in there, I see him kind of working his hand after he takes a shot and fumbles the football and, [Mabrey’s] one play away and he’s a lot closer today than he was in the past. And he’s going to have to grow up fast.”

Not to disappoint the fans, but I highly doubt we’ll actually see Mettauer this year.

If the Badgers are winning, they’re not going to change quarterbacks. If they’re losing, and the season’s over by November, they won’t jeopardize Mettauer’s health and trot him out against the likes of Iowa and Oregon.

Two very specific scenarios would both have to play out before the coaches even consider playing him — (1) the team is performing very well deep into the season, but Locke is holding them back, and (2) Mettauer improves rapidly during practice. The first is unlikely and we’ll have no idea about the second.

Mettauer did show some promising improvement from spring to fall camp, albeit with less snaps, as more gradually went to the first and second-teams. He likely hasn’t received many reps since then for the same reason.

But he will get second-team reps for the remainder of the year, which is probably the best thing for his future development, not getting zero-blitzed by Iowa’s front seven.

They have this bye week before traveling to the West Coast next weekend to play No. 11 USC.

The Badgers may have extra time for preparation, but it’s hard to give them a chance against any team on the AP Poll after their performance against Alabama.

The true fate of the season will be revealed in October. They’ll first play Purdue, which should be the worst team on their conference schedule by a decent margin, then Rutgers and Northwestern, two solid-but-beatable teams. If they don’t go at least 2-1 in that stretch, their hopes of staying competitive this season are dead.

Because after that, over the next month prior to the Axe Game, they’ll face the gauntlet of (in order) No. 10 Penn State, Iowa, No. 9 Oregon and No. 22 Nebraska. If the team doesn’t find themselves before that stretch, it’ll be week-after-week of rude awakenings. Fans might set up a GoFundMe for Fickell’s buyout.

Regardless of record or bowl streak or even rivalry games, the Badgers must show some serious improvement for the sake of the program’s future. They must show a real sense of identity and direction. If not, the Badgers will be left behind in a conference that’s improving around them, rapidly.

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