Wisconsin Badgers announces the departure of 6 players

Are you still upset over the Wisconsin Badgers football loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes? You’re not alone. This was a major setback for Luke

Fickell and his program as a whole. This team is now 5-4 on the year and things aren’t going to get easier for them in Week 12 against

Oregon following the bye.

Fickell deserves a ton of blame for that loss, but he’s not the only one. We’ve come up with our list of the players/coaches at fault and

the list as a whole shouldn’t surprise Wisconsin fans out there. Nope, not one bit:

Once again, quarterback Braedyn Locke was underwhelming with the ball in his hands. Locke has thrown interceptions in his last six

contests, which is unacceptable. Against Iowa, Locke had some solid throws, but he also had two terrible INTs that drove people mad.

Fickell is planning to stick with Locke as his starter, but if he keeps struggling, a change late in the season may need to be on the way.

Wisconsin fans are livid with the play of the defense on Saturday night and that falls on Mike Tressel. The Hawkeyes could not be

stopped on offense, with their ground game taking over. Kaleb Johnson had a monster game, but Iowa as a whole rushed for 329

yards. Everyone knew Iowa was going to focus on the run game, but Tressel had no plan of attack to limit things. There were no

excuses for his game plan – none whatsoever.

What in the world was going on with tight end Tucker Ashcraft on Saturday night? Normally a dependable TE for Fickell, the exact

opposite was the case against Iowa. Ashcraft had three (three!) false start penalties, which was a complete and total nightmare. Not

only that, but he also had a forgettable drop on a perfect ball from Locke. If this kind of play from him continues, he needs to grab

some pine and stay there.

Everything starts and ends with Fickell. From the start, he did not have his players ready to go for this big-time rivalry matchup and

there are no excuses for that. The week before, sloppy play prevented the Badgers from posting an upset against Penn State and then

things were way worse against Iowa.

People are losing patience with Fickell, as it feels like Wisconsin has no identity under him. Fickell isn’t quite on the hot seat, but the

awful effort from his players can’t continue. He needs to send a message to the fanbase by making some changes, and making sure his

guys step it up.