Wisconsin football 2026

[JosephC]

https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/wisconsin-badgers-football/91563/wisconsin-badgers-football-news-to-make-quarterback-change-colton-joseph-ryan-hopkins-luke-fickell-rutgers-scarlet-knights

Just to slightly expand on the link, it sounds like Joseph will be the team's #2 QB tomorrow.  So it's not just an injury thing, he's been benched.  Go from 2027 NIL talk to the bench, my how a Hawkeye whoopin' changes things.

[yourout]

More commercials than plays so far.

College and pro games have a serious problem with the quality of there product right now. 

Almost unwatchable.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Nice ball by Surace on the 2nd Quarter TD. Receiver got a couple steps.

Being able to run the ball between the tackles will do that for you.

[da swedish german]

59 minutes ago, yourout said:

More commercials than plays so far.

College and pro games have a serious problem with the quality of there product right now. 

Almost unwatchable.

I lived and died football. punt pass and kick champ. won my first varsity game as a sophomore kicking two extra points to win by one, the week after 9/11.  I dreamed of being a packer. I played a little college football. 

today.?,......football sucks, like most everything else 

 

I can't imagine/"deal with" not having a baseball season after this fall.  i'll just walk into the woods with my deer rifle 

[yourout]

Dude can wing it.

Threading some right windows.

[craigharmann]

Hopkins has looked quite well in his starting debut. He's got an arm on him. I like what I'm seeing. 

[yourout]

Baring injury Joseph has played his last as a badger.

[yourout]

Tressel sucks at scheme.

[homer]

Hopkins throws a nice ball. 

[yourout]

2 minutes ago, homer said:

Hopkins throws a nice ball. 

His NIL agent smile is growing by the pass.

[wildcat83]

43 minutes ago, craigharmann said:

Hopkins has looked quite well in his starting debut. He's got an arm on him. I like what I'm seeing. 

He’s made some impressive throws, but we’re up by 1 score in the 2nd half against Rutgers.  This game is exposing more red flags than solutions.

[homer]

not sure running twice inside the 10 was a great idea 

[yourout]

9 minutes ago, wildcat83 said:

He’s made some impressive throws, but we’re up by 1 score in the 2nd half against Rutgers.  This game is exposing more red flags than solutions.

Agreed. The rest of it looks like it has the last 4 years of Fickell. 

[craigharmann]

11 minutes ago, wildcat83 said:

He’s made some impressive throws, but we’re up by 1 score in the 2nd half against Rutgers.  This game is exposing more red flags than solutions.

True. 

[yourout]

Clearly targeting.

[LouisEly]

Been nice knowing you, Colton

[yourout]

8 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Been nice knowing you, Colton

It's a bit disturbing as to why it took this long to make the change. 

I get it that he's a freshman but holy crap is he better than Joseph.

[yourout]

He looks like what we hoped we had with Mertz.

[nate82]

1 minute ago, yourout said:

He looks like what we hoped we had with Mertz.

Mertz started out hot also. 

[craigharmann]

41 minutes ago, wildcat83 said:

He’s made some impressive throws, but we’re up by 1 score in the 2nd half against Rutgers.  This game is exposing more red flags than solutions.

Better now. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, yourout said:

It's a bit disturbing as to why it took this long to make the change. 

I get it that he's a freshman but holy crap is he better than Joseph.

This is the same staff that took the lions' share of the season last year to decide Posa & Catalano should see the field regularly. In fairness though, a QB can be a lot more 'ready' 2 months into a season than he is on week two or three. But yeah, he has a much fuller toolkit than Joseph & seems to have a pretty good feel for things.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, wildcat83 said:

He’s made some impressive throws, but we’re up by 1 score in the 2nd half against Rutgers.  This game is exposing more red flags than solutions.

A more physical OL & run game--something like Rutgers showed in the 1st half--would certainly have made life easier for a FR QB. But vs the defense they faced today it wasn't a prerequisite. I don't know if it works out this way but potentially it's a nice sequence for Hopkin's development---start him out with a home game vs a 2-6 (now 2-7) team that hasn't stopped people much all season, followed by a couple road contests against teams probably a bit better & finish with the sternest test of the four, back at home.

Maryland isn't very good but had an uplifting win vs Purdue today. It'll be a nice test in the progression.

[JosephC]

Rutgers is complete crap, so it's hard to make any definitive judgement.  But my, if this game was any indication, how clueless is the offensive coaching staff for sticking with Joseph so long?  Even if Hopkins "isn't ready," ALL of the reports out of spring practice indicated that Deuce Adams was clearly a better passer.

I have a feeling Eichorst will be telling Fickell that he can stay, but will also give him the order to fire pretty much the entire offensive staff.

I've said it before and I will say it again.  Whoever identified Joseph as the #1 QB transfer priority and decided they guy was worth million(s), that guy is not a Big 10 evaluator and he 100% needs to go.

[homer]

If you're keeping Fickell around you may as well keep the O Coordinator around too. 

[LouisEly]

It's human nature to think that a true freshman looked the same earlier in the season as he did in game 9 of the season.  But it's just not true.

I guarantee that Hopkins (just like Posa and Catalano last year) improved as the season went on and got more reps in practice.  Hopkins made several freshman mistakes yesterday (fumble, INT called back, a couple other throws into tight coverage that could have been picked), and I'm sure he made more of them earlier in the season but has improved as he got more reps.

Sports reporters aren't going to call out mistakes in practice because they either aren't allowed in those practices or because they only note positive plays (objective is to get clicks and eyeballs).  Just like they aren't going to note when an ILB picks the wrong gap, gets turned around in coverage, etc., in practice.  We only hear about the good things, with the rare exception of if a QB throws a pick or a WR has a drop early in fall camp.