Hunter Wohler rips Badgers' effort: 'There's gonna be some weeding out'
MADISON — When Wisconsin dropped a game to Indiana last week against a Hoosiers team that was without a conference win, there was no doubt that it was a new low point in Luke Fickell's first season as head coach.
A week later, after a 24-10 loss to Northwestern that wasn't nearly as close as the final score suggests, a new low has been hit for a second consecutive week. Safety Hunter Wohler called it "rock bottom."
"We’ve hit rock bottom right now, and when you hit rock bottom, you take a long hard look at yourself," he said. "There might be some weeding out that we need to do. Because right now, the things that we have going on, it’s not what Wisconsin football is, it’s not what Wisconsin football represents.”
Wohler's incredulous frustration is merited. The Badgers couldn't get anything going on offense or defense and let a feisty, but by no means more talented, Northwestern team push them around in their own house.
Wisconsin entered the second half down 24-3. That's where the score would remain until Jackson Acker scored a garbage time touchdown with 11 seconds left to make it 24-10.
"We come out soft, we come out flat, we have zero energy on either side of the ball. And we get whooped around the field," Wohler said. "We’re soft, we’re not physical, we’re not doing the things coaches ask of us. We go out there and expect to win, and that’s not how this game works."
In a season as disappointing as this one, much of the onus from an outside perspective can fall on the coaching staff. Especially with Fickell's new regime in town, it's understandable that fans' malice would be directed at the people calling plays. Wohler insists that shouldn't be the case.
“There’s no perfect call, there’s no perfect assignment. There’s nothing the coaches could’ve done differently tonight that would’ve made us win that game," he said. "100% it's on the players...There’s nothing the coaches could’ve done to fix what happened today.”
Instead, Wohler directed his ire at the effort from his team.
“It comes down to want to. How bad do you really wanna be a part of this team, how bad do you really want to play this game, how bad do you really wanna win," he said. “Our backs are up against the wall like they’ve never been before. How many guys really do give a sh*t about this team, this program, the culture, about winning and losing and about each other?"
The safety's overarching message was that the effort is not where it needs to be — not that the locker room is necessarily fragmented. Wohler believes that this team still has a very tight-knit bond.
“The locker room is very tight. We’ve got a lot of guys that really love being together, love being around each other. But there comes a point where someone has to speak up and be the asshole," he said. "Someone has to tell people to stop screwing around and stop going through the motions and play. Otherwise get out. We don’t need people here that aren’t gonna give their hearts for this team."
Wohler's comments, of course, lead to an obvious question. The locker room may be tight, but if there's a lack of effort and care, is this team truly bought in to what Fickell and his staff are building in Madison?
“I think there’s some people that are bought in, and we need to get everybody," he said. "We don’t have everyone on the same page.”
The Badgers showed an incredible grit and collective mental toughness to rally from down 11 points on the road against Illinois. Since then, Wisconsin is 0-3 with two embarrassing losses.
With two games left in the season, Wisconsin needs to win at least one to reach bowl eligibility. For the second year in a row, the Badgers enter the final two games at 5-5 with the road to the postseason extremely narrow. The most anticipated football season in the program's history has been a disaster, but more disheartening is the lack of passion and fire Wisconsin has played with the past two games.
"I have no words, I really don’t," Wohler mused. "This is not what I came to Wisconsin for, to be completely honest. This is miles different from what I grew up watching.
_________________________________________________
*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den
*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel
*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)
*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_
*Like us on Facebook