MADISON — Head coach Luke Fickell met with the media on Monday, offering some final thoughts on the 52-6 victory over Purdue, as well as the upcoming matchup against Rutgers.

BadgerBlitz.com has compiled the key takeaways.

Saturday’s 52-6 victory over Purdue was, frankly, the best team performance of the Fickell era. It was the best game of multiple players’ seasons or careers, including Braedyn Locke, Trech Kekahuna and the entire offensive line.

However, the weight of their opponent must be acknowledged. Purdue is now 1-4, having been outscored in their last four games, all losses, 184-44.

Fickell was asked how he judges their performance while also taking Purdue’s current place as a program into account.

“I think there's both. I think that you have to find and see and feel the positives. And when you give guys opportunities to make plays, they start to recognize that not only can they do it, but how they can do it. So again, I think the thing that I'm happiest about from being out there on Saturday, watching it on Sunday, and then moving forward — there was a lot of growth. Growth led to some big plays in the game, and growth led to maybe a lopsided win. But it wasn't something that was just kind of handed to them,” Fickell said.

He went on to single out the “middle eight” portion of the game — the final four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second — as something that exceptionally stood out to him on a rewatch. He also praised how they handled adversity in the second quarter, after the turnovers on back-to-back drives.

“So, I think you gain confidence from both, right? From, yes, putting up points and seeing big plays, but as you're watching on film, I think I gained more confidence from the consistency in the way that we did things.”

We saw a variety of true freshmen see real game reps for the first time on Saturday, mostly in the fourth quarter after the game had been decided.

But the first one we saw was tackle Kevin Heywood, who entered the game early in the second half for starting left tackle Jack Nelson after his “hip tightened up on him”, according to Fickell after the game. Heywood played 35 snaps at left tackle, just seven less than Nelson, and finished with an 83.6 pass blocking grade, which was third on the team, per Pro Football Focus.

Fickell offered his perspective on the freshman’s performance.

“Obviously, there was a little bit of a situation with Jack that we had to [put Heywood in]. But it put him in a great opportunity, it put him in a situation where he had to play. It wasn't a situation where, ‘Hey, we're just going to run the football. We're going to do the things that we've done the first day or second day of spring ball.’ It was like, ‘Look, man, we're still in a battle here, and we've got to see what you got.’ And I thought it was a good one for him too, because it was a team that was a little bit more consistent in what they were doing. We knew a lot of the looks that you were going to be in. They’re tough looks. They're bear looks. They're fronts where they're going to be pressuring.”

The true freshman who received playing time on Saturday that fans have been most anxious to see was quarterback Mabrey Mettauer.

The former four-star recruit was an early enrollee in the spring and mostly played with the third team, as Locke and Tyler Van Dyke were taking up most of the first and second team reps.

Fickell offered an assessment of Mettauer’s development since his arrival.

“He's a lot further than he was in the spring. He's a lot further than he was in fall camp. And I've talked about [how] the tough situation for him was those guys battling in front of him, so he wasn't getting many opportunities to even run with the twos. He probably had a handful of snaps in all of fall camp with the twos.

“But I think even in the last four weeks, I've seen incredible growth. Just the knowledge of the game, his ability to go out there in practice, we try to put him under pressure, and [see] him handle the pressure, the things that we're doing in practice and be successful with it. So he's on a really good track. He got his first opportunity to go in there on Saturday. It was a situation where we're not trying to, even though you want to get a young guy some opportunities, I don't think it's the right thing to do to just say, ‘Hey, open it up and let him sling the ball around a little bit.’ Let him make checks. He was going to throw the ball one time.”

Mettauer only ended up attempting and completing one pass, a checkdown to tight end Jackson McGohan, but it was still meaningful to see a potential future starting quarterback don the cardinal red and white for the first time.

Saturday’s game featured one of the most dynamic passing performances that’s ever been played by a Badger quarterback. While Locke and Kekahuna obviously received most of the shine, we saw a little bit of involvement from the running backs in the passing game, too.

Cade Yacamelli caught one pass for 17 yards, while Darrion Dupree caught two for 23 yards, including a contested 18-yard grab in the middle of the field.

Fickell discussed the value of their versatility at the running back position.

“You love when you have guys that have different abilities… They all have the ability to run the football. They all have the ability to catch the ball. But I think it's unique when you've got some guys that are a little bit different. And I think that's where Tawee and Darrion Dupree are different. Both can carry the ball, both can be effective in pass protection and catching the ball, but are different. And then you throw Cade Yacamelli into the mix, and he's different as well. He's a little bit more in the realm of Tawee in some ways, in some situations, and with a little bit more of a uniqueness of really good ball skills and things that can be caught.

“But I think those guys, right now in particular, give us a little bit of a different dynamic. And I think that's what, to me is, is always good when you've got it in a group. I mean, it's just like pass rushers. If the one field side end goes in, and the next guy comes in and he does the same things, it doesn't make it as difficult for the guy that's in front of him. And so the ability to be able to move those guys, sub those guys, they all can run the football. It's not like, well, when so and so's in then that they're throwing it. But they do have different skill sets. They give them opportunities to maybe do some different things.”

Looking ahead to this Saturday’s matchup, Fickell was asked about the challenge of stopping Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai, who’s established himself as one of the best running backs in the Big Ten.

Monangai has already rushed for 130+ yards in three of their five games so far this season, and currently ranks second in the conference in rushing yards (667) and is tied for third in touchdowns (six).

“We faced him last year. I think he is, I wouldn’t say the heart of the team, but the heart of the offense. Meaning that he's going to get his touches. And as he goes, they go. That doesn't mean they don't make big plays in other ways. [They] obviously take some shots down the field. But I think that's really, truly his ability to kind of create the mojo and what they do. He's a physical downhill back. I don't know that I was surprised by [him] last year. I thought we did a pretty good job against him, but after the game, I was really impressed with his physicality. His ability to, no matter what you did, he continued to grind and grow, and he takes care of the football. I think that's a big part of what it is that they do.”

Besides Kekahuna and some true freshman, a player we saw more of on Saturday than any prior week was outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks.

He transferred during the offseason from North Carolina and transitioned from inside to outside linebacker during fall camp, mostly based on their exceptional depth on the inside. Cheeks made his season debut last week, playing five snaps against USC, but finished with 18 on Saturday, per PFF. He still managed to finish with two pressures, which tied for second on the team.

Fickell offered his assessment of Cheeks’s development as well as his role moving forward.

“We didn't move him to outside linebacker until late in camp. And he's just been continuing to grow his ability to kind of eliminate some of the mistakes because he hadn't played it a whole lot was really the only thing in the first three or four weeks that maybe held him back from playing more. And it's not his fault. It's just, heck, he never played a snap there in spring football, and the first three weeks of fall camp, didn't play a snap of it.

“[It’s] like what we're talking about with the running back room. He gives you something that's a little bit different. So when he goes in there, as opposed to Leon Lowery or even Darryl Peterson, he gives you something that's a little bit different. So guys have to recognize that and play him a little bit differently. His ability to be consistent is what's given him more opportunities to be out there.”

Fickell reiterated that his role will continue to grow, and “not just on third down.”

Just days before their matchup with Purdue, it was announced that sixth-year running back Chez Mellusi would be stepping away from the program to work on rehabbing his body. He’s suffered a major injury in each of the past three seasons and the wear-and-tear was beginning to have a noticeable impact on his play.

Fickell was asked about that announcement.

“It's not my spot to sit up here and to speculate on all the things that are going through him. But I probably had a good hour, two hours of conversations with him. Spent a lot of time with him and and, you know, I mean, it just is what it is. It's for him to be able to get away and try to get healthy, to be honest with you. We all have this expectation, that played the game. Your mind and your body have this expectation of how you're going to play. And when you can't do that, it makes it really difficult. And sometimes that's because you can't do it, because maybe the opportunities aren't there. And then sometimes deep down inside, maybe the health of things aren't there.

“It wasn't like, ‘I'm out of here’ or ‘Get out.’ We spend a lot of time together, [have] a lot of conversations. We'll continue to communicate, and who knows what it'll lead to, but it's just one of those situations that's not the easiest thing in the world. And he's been through a lot. He's done a lot, and I think his body just right now isn't where his mind is.”

Multiple receivers suffered injuries over the course of Saturday’s game and were sidelined, including Will Pauling, Bryson Green and Tyrell Henry.

Fickell offered somewhat of an update, but didn’t sound too optimistic.

“It’s still Monday. We'll take it day by day. Hopefully, though, those guys will be able to. But if they're not able to practice, it's really hard to think they're going to perform in a game. And at that position in particular, there's a lot of things that go into a week. So it's early. We'll find out where they are on Tuesday. None of them really did a ton, I think, on Sunday. But who knows?”

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