Column: Broken dreams are one thing. Recurring nightmares are another
MADISON — I began wondering when I would write this column, on expectations and growing pains, after Week 2.
Wisconsin traveled to Pullman to take on Washington State. The Badgers got down early, rallied in the second half but ultimately lost, unable to avenge the pain from a loss to the Cougars a season ago.
After that game, it became clear — this Badgers team has potential. But it’s nowhere near the fanbase, or Luke Fickell’s, vision for what this program can be.
“The expectations sometimes, obviously has made it, I don’t wanna say difficult,” Fickell said after the loss to Northwestern. “I think sometimes you gotta find a way to get over top of that. Right now we have not. Regardless of what we thought, or what people thought we could or should be able to do at the beginning of the season, the reality is where you are.”
Expectations are a funny thing. Once they’re established, they swell and snowball, with no regard for how realistic that expectation may be. When Fickell was hired, the expectation was that he would turn the program around. When quarterback Tanner Mordecai was signed through the transfer portal, the expectation became that Wisconsin would be favorites in the Big Ten West.
None of that has come to fruition, as the Badgers now have four conference losses and cannot mathematically catch up to the division leader, Iowa.
When new head coaches are hired at big-time programs across the country, there are varying results. In 2022, Mario Cristobal returned to his alma mater of Miami after turning Oregon into a well-oiled machine. Expectations that he would return “The U” to national prominence were through the roof. The Hurricanes finished 5-7 in a debut season awash with embarrassing losses, failing to qualify for a bowl game. There’s also the other end of the spectrum. Another fresh hire in 2022, Sonny Dykes, took TCU all the way to the national championship game in his first year with the program.
After three straight losses, the Badgers are sitting at a precarious 5-5. If they don’t beat either Nebraska or Minnesota, they’ll snap their 21-year postseason streak.
Realistically, there was little hope that Fickell would immediately turn Wisconsin into a national championship-contending team. But if he snaps the Badgers’ bowl game streak, the third-longest in the country, in his first year? That would be extremely alarming.
Making a bowl game is the bare minimum for this program. And yet, just like a season ago, Wisconsin is 5-5 starring down matchups with Nebraska and Minnesota, teetering on the precipice of collapse. The resemblance to last year is uncanny.
It would be one thing if this team was scrapping and clawing each and every game. That’s not the case. In the losses to Indiana and Northwestern, there’s been a distinct lack of energy, effort and passion on the field.
“That’s embarrassing. And I take the blame of it, not having guys ready in any phase of the game,” Fickell said.
“It’s very difficult trying to figure out where we are.”
And so, I write this column after Week 11. Now seems as good a time as any. The loss to Indiana a week ago may have been an appropriate time too; it appeared to be rock bottom. It just so happens that the floor was lowered in only a week’s time.
“I hope it doesn’t get any lower than this,” Fickell said solemnly.
In the offseason, there were plenty of reasons to have high hopes for this Badgers team. They returned a key nucleus of players. They brought in exciting transfers on the offensive side of the ball. In theory, they’d coupled experience with reinforcements, constructing a roster that could compete on a semi-national scale immediately under Fickell.
There were also reasons to be hesitant about this team’s immediate prospects, albeit less covered ones. The coaching staff was completely overhauled from top to bottom. The roster turnover, and lack of continuity, was significant. In reality, they’d pieced together a tapestry of coaches and players with a lack of familiarity, one that would take some time to mold into Fickell’s vision.
“It’s easy to have expectations about any venture you start. I know we all had a lot of high hopes coming into this season,” linebacker Maema Njongmeta said. “As an older guy on the team, as a leader, the idea right now is that we need to circle the wagons and finish out strong.”
Expectations are often unrealistic. Growing pains are expected. But there’s a difference between falling short of expectations and falling short of the bare minimum.
“There’s ways to see growth,” safety Preston Zachman said in regards to the season. “But there’s also some things that have gotten worse.”
One of Fickell’s favorite sayings is about “Playing your best ball at the end of the year.” As Zachman’s comments highlight, that hasn’t happened at all. In fact, the last two losses to the Hoosiers and Wildcats have been some of the worst ball the Badgers have played not just all year, but in recent memory.
When a season is built up to be something that it falls so short of becoming, the most pressing question is often why. Why did the 2023 Badgers, who had so much promise, fall flat on their face and push the program to the limits of a futility the likes of which it hasn’t seen in two decades?
The answer is complex and multi-faceted. A recurring theme from players, however, is a lack of commitment and effort.
“Coach Fick hit on it, it kinda addressed the elephant in the room, honestly,” wide receiver Will Pauling said.
“I wanna know who has a big give-a-sh*t factor in this program,” Mordecai said.
“I think there’s some people that are bought in, and we need to get everybody,” safety Hunter Wohler said. “Guys have to look inside themself and find out who they really are. If they really wanna play this game and if they really wanna be a part of this team.”
The season is off the rails. Hopes and dreams have been dashed. It happens. Not every venture, as Njongmeta put it, is a successful one.
Fickell's failure to meet expectations in year one of a brand new situation is understandable. Lowering the bar to a place it hasn’t been in over two decades is a different story. Failing to meet expectations is one thing. This is another entirely.
Wisconsin needs to go at least 1-1 to close out the season to ensure its bowl streak remains alive. Anything less would be inexcusable.
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