Madison — Luke Fickell met with reporters Monday morning as Wisconsin prepares to kick off Big Ten play with a short week. The Badgers will travel to West Lafayette to take on Purdue on Friday night.

BadgerBlitz.com was on hand and has compiled the key takeaways from Fickell's weekly presser:

Wisconsin's out-of-conference slate is over, with the Badgers going 2-1 for the third straight season. Fickell discussed the beginning of Big Ten play and what it means for his team.

"Preseason's over. Now we get to start the real. I know there's no such thing as preseason in college football, but in some ways, the start of Big Ten play is a big deal obviously. And it's not like you didn't think the first three weeks of the season were huge, but when it comes down to it, all your objectives, all your goals in the big picture are about when you get to the league, being ready to play," he said.

It's been an underwhelming performance for Wisconsin's defense through the first three games, but one of the consistent bright spots has been the play of Hunter Wohler. The safety leads the team in tackles with 34, and has already logged a sack and two interceptions.

"He's very versatile, and I think that's probably the first thing that stood out. I didn't get an opportunity in Bowl prep just to really see him...He was out for most of practice then played in the game, and I was surprised as to how well he played and even that he was able to play from not practicing. So that was probably my first indication that there were some natural things that he does really well," Fickell said. "And obviously, going through spring ball and fall camp, trying to move guys around and figure out what's the best position for him, but no matter what I think there's some really natural things to what it is that he does. You talk about a guy with confidence, I think that's what you see with him in particular. The second interception is a phenomenal play...He's done a really good job, we gotta be smart that we don't try to use him in too many ways while giving him an opportunity to be close to the ball and still use the instinctual ability that he has."

Wohler took home the award for Big Ten defensive player of the week with his performance against Georgia Southern. The safety is having exactly the kind of season that was expected of him after impressing throughout offseason practices.

Wisconsin made some changes on its offensive line in Week 3, as backup right tackle Trey Wedig logged 43 snaps on Saturday. It was his highest snap count of the season, and he played at both guard spots along the offensive front.

"He's a guy we see as a starter, and he's earned that right," Fickell said. "Just at what spot is it, where's it gonna be and how's it gonna be. But it gives us some versatility, we'd like to get Jake Renfro back and maybe give us some more versatility there with (Tanor) Bort. As those other young tackles develop as well, you'd really like to think that you have seven or eight. We have only played six for the most part...but I think that we feel really really good about those six. If we get into a situation where we have to use seven or eight we will, but there's some growth that still needs to be done there."

It appears the Badgers' offensive line will once again be a revolving door this season. The staff feels very comfortable with their top six options, however, and that number could be seven if and when Renfro makes his return.

The Badgers have a short week as they will face Purdue on Friday night in West Lafayette. Fickell gave his takes on what the condensed week means for his team.

"It was a late night last night, early morning. It'll be a late night tonight. You're trying to make up for that 24 hours. But you gotta be smart, there's an energy that you have to have when you go out to practice," he said. "To be honest with you, I don't know that the players see as much of a difference. Obviously they gotta go out and practice today, which is normally their off day. But I don't know that it's as big a deal to them. I think the preparation for us (coaches) is what's so unique. You get into a rhythm of what you do on a Sunday, a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and now you've gotta fast forward 24 hours. You don't wanna not still do it the same way that you've done it, but you gotta do it with more efficiency, some later hours that sometimes, we don't always make the best decisions when it gets to 11, 12 o'clock in the night...but it's a little bit more of a challenge."

Fickell has played in a handful of Friday night games as a head coach, so this isn't uncharted territory for him. With the game only a day earlier, it's not a short week in a Thursday night NFL sense. Still, as Fickell mentioned, it presents some challenges from a preparation standpoint with the coaching staff.

CJ Williams was one of the darlings of spring camp, bursting out onto the scene by displaying his soft hands, dynamic open-field ability and fiery attitude. With Bryson Green healthy for spring practice and into the regular season, Williams' impact has dropped off. So far this year, Green has six catches for 77 yards while Williams has four catches for 25 yards.

"The great thing about CJ is he's very mature. Some guys wouldn't've handled it as well, some guys haven't handled it as well. CJ's done a great job. I know it probably is a little different deep down inside, as everybody wants the opportunity to play more, to get more balls, to have more targets. But you wouldn't know the difference — at least I wouldn't. And don't think I don't watch. Because that's what I do, I'm always trying to watch those kinds of things...He's handling it great, he's doing a great job, he's continuing to grow. He's a second-year player, and there's a lot of growth that will continue to happen, especially because of the attitude that he has. So he's got a lot of football ahead of him, there's a lot of football this year ahead of him...there'll be a lot more opportunities for him."

Injured lineman Isaiah Mullens and Jake Renfro are in a similar boat of sorts. Neither of them has played a snap this season, but both are expected to make a return sooner rather than later. Fickell provided an update Monday morning.

"I would hope maybe this week. If not this week, I would definitely expect after the bye, unless something else happens that would be a definite time they should be back in there."

Wisconsin will take an early bye week after they play Purdue, and it appears Fickell is hopeful that he'll have both Mullens and Renfro back by the time Rutgers rolls into town on Oct. 7.

No matter how they perform as an offense or as a team, Purdue has seemingly had a dynamic receiver every season for the past few years. Last season it was Charlie Jones, before that David Bell, and before that Rondale Moore. This year, the speedy wideout Deion Burks appears to have filled that role.

"He's fast. He's definitely fast, he's definitely a guy that they move around and put into positions where they wanna take some shots with him. He's a guy that's on the punt block unit. When you see those kinds of things, you know that it's a guy that they're trying to find more opportunities for, to display the talents that he has whether that's catching the football, making some impact plays on special teams," Fickell said. "The first thing that jumps out is his speed. The ability to run, but also the ability to track the football and make some of those big plays...it seems to be each and every week that somebody has one of those guys that is a bit of a difference maker. What I'd say (our opponents) have done a good job of this year in every game we've played is moving those guys around and find ways to get them targets."

Burks will present an intriguing challenge for a secondary that has had its share of struggles so far this season. Expect the Boilermakers to try to get him the football in space as much as possible.

_________________________________________________

*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, @MHoganReports @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook