Wisconsin football 2026

[nate82]

Not much to complain about from this game.  Was a nice dominating win from start to end.  Defense got caught a few times in man coverage and got beat.

Still haven’t seen Jaylen Williams play yet.  Not sure why he isn’t seeing the field same with Jayden Loftin.  

[LouisEly]

CJ was banged up after the ND game, couldn't go in practice on Tuesday, didn't do much of any downfield throwing during the week.  They deliberately limited his carries.

Have a feeling that once Mandell is ready to go we'll see a change at LT.

[JosephC]

All the headlines in Madison today-

Wisconsin football's home opener draws smallest crowd at Camp Randall since 1992.

 

 

[yourout]

7 hours ago, JosephC said:

All the headlines in Madison today-

Wisconsin football's home opener draws smallest crowd at Camp Randall since 1992.

 

 

If Fick is still here next year it might be the smallest home open crowd in 50 years.

[Jim French Stepstool]

3 hours ago, yourout said:

If Fick is still here next year it might be the smallest home open crowd in 50 years.

They've lost quite a bit of their season tix base. It's been over 30 years since they've really had to hustle to any great extent to market themselves to the general public & it shows. Eichorst hasn't been there long enough to get TOO much blame at this point but the next 9-12 months will be interesting.

[yourout]

16 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

They've lost quite a bit of their season tix base. It's been over 30 years since they've really had to hustle to any great extent to market themselves to the general public & it shows. Eichorst hasn't been there long enough to get TOO much blame at this point but the next 9-12 months will be interesting.

It will tough selling crap sundaes without changing the label.

[tmwiese55]

I've been a season ticket holder for 15ish years before last year being my first year without.   Tickets in the same section and ballpark row were going for 10$ after fees on Saturday.   If I kept my tickets it would average to roughly $120/ticket per game.   I was fine paying extra when the team was good and even when they fell to just ok the last PC years since it helped the team.   But once it got this extreme of a crap product and that you can go to every game for less than $30 then what is the point, the gap is just too wide.   Even OSU last year was basically a giveaway

[LouisEly]

FWIW, Minnesota only drew 48,048 for their game against Mississippi State.  Capacity is over 50K, so they had over 2,000 empty seats.  Looked like more than that.

[Samurai Bucky]

We might have an opportunity to go to the Season Ticketholder Tailgate.  Is it worth it?  Are there some snacks and stuff, or is there something else?

Missed Alumni Band signup.  Not sure the hip replacement would have liked it anyway.  Looks like it is going to be wet.

[Jim French Stepstool]

On 9/17/2026 at 9:33 PM, Samurai Bucky said:

We might have an opportunity to go to the Season Ticketholder Tailgate.  Is it worth it?  Are there some snacks and stuff, or is there something else?

Missed Alumni Band signup.  Not sure the hip replacement would have liked it anyway.  Looks like it is going to be wet.

I've never attended one of those, but FWIW I've heard 2nd & 3rd hand that those aren't worth the trouble. I've also heard the same about anything put on by the Alumni Association.

[JosephC]

Sorry, moved to general college football thread.

[LouisEly]

For those who don't have Peacock, the game is on NBCSN on YouTube TV for me (I am not in-market though).

[Just Some Guy]

I think Luke Fickell might be beyond his sell-by date, like spoiled milk.  Only one thing to do with spoiled milk....

[yourout]

Fickell eviction day?

[AKCheesehead]

41 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

For those who don't have Peacock, the game is on NBCSN on YouTube TV for me (I am not in-market though).

Thanks for the heads up!

Unfortunately now that means I’m going to be watching…. Didn’t think I’d be tuning in to find them trailing Eastern Michigan but here we are. 

[LouisEly]

1 hour ago, AKCheesehead said:

Thanks for the heads up!

Unfortunately now that means I’m going to be watching…. Didn’t think I’d be tuning in to find them trailing Eastern Michigan but here we are. 

I don't think you regretted the last hour...

[Jim French Stepstool]

Colton Joseph strikes me as someone who can be somewhat effective vs BIG10 defenses provided they can run the ball moderately well between the tackles. But I don't think they'll be able to do that with any consistency. It IS nice to see them finally get on a roll on both ends of the ball today. That was needed vs probably the weakest remaining squad on the schedule w/the possible exception of Rutgers.

They have some damned good talent at LB. It would be nice if the folks in front of them could occupy blockers a little better though. And Jacob Harris did a pretty good Kellen Winslow impersonation in the 1st half.

Three games in, and in every one of them they got a hand on an opposing punt. That's pretty impressive.

[LouisEly]

Have they ever in their history scored 35 points in less than 16 minutes?

[nate82]

Other than the first quarter not too much to complain about.  Some of the passes were really bad from Joseph but other than that I can't say there was much to complain about for this game.  

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, LouisEly said:

Have they ever in their history scored 35 points in less than 16 minutes?

In about 15 minutes of game time (9:27 of the 2nd Q to 9:39 of the 3rd), they scored 42 points vs Indiana in the 83-20 win in 2010. I was there that day & thought that was the only chance of finding a game that fit the criteria so I looked it up. None of the 42 points were special teams or defensive scores which makes it even more impressive.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Impressive win, but If they hope to compete in the games from here on out they still need to clean up the inopportune mistakes. An offsides took away a pick 6, roughing the passer & facemask calls kept Eastern drives alive-----stuff like that doesn't hurt you today, but can kill you in the games to come. Discipline.

[Samurai Bucky]

16 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I've never attended one of those, but FWIW I've heard 2nd & 3rd hand that those aren't worth the trouble. I've also heard the same about anything put on by the Alumni Association.

I guess there was supposed to be a meet and greet with the Volleyball team.  We ended up not going.  The tickets were free for the tailgate.  Maybe next game vs. MSU.

[Samurai Bucky]

Thank you to my brother in law, I have been able to go to both home games so far.  The thing that frustrated me with Joseph was how he would lock in a a receiver.  He decides where he is going to throw it before the ball is snapped.  There was a play in the first quarter where he tried to force the ball on the right side which wasn't caught.  On the other side of the field around the EMU 15 yard line were two receivers -- one wide open.

Fast forward to the second half.  You could see him scan the field much more.  There was a formation where there was a long option and also a TE coming across under the linebackers.  He hit the TE and made a great play.

I have come to realize that the Badgers will not have a good running game.  I had hope after the first play from scrimmage last week.  They simply cannot run between the tackles.  Also, their running backs don't seem to have breakaway speed.

I am happy they won and am hoping they improve... a lot.