Fans question Wisconsin football's quarterback play as upset of No. 1 Oregon slips away
The Badgers held a lead in the fourth quarter but the offense was abysmal in the second half, and fans took up for a great defensive performance.
Certainly a drawback
Fickell's teams can compete against the best of the best in the Big10, but this quarterback won't win against any.
— Chris Weiss (@PsChrisWeiss) November 17, 2024
Brutal performance
Locke's QB play is reminiscent of the days of Bud Keyes, Jay Macias, and Tony Lowery. If they had Matt Shabert tonight, they win.
— JMyron (@sleepyjmyron) November 17, 2024
Several bad misses tonight
I will admit I actually screamed when our QB threw a free interception to the ducks...and not only that what was he throwing to? Just seeing the ball fly into empty zones was atrocious
— TheOneandOnlyStarmax (@theonlystar25) November 17, 2024
The defense deserved better
There is a reason that Longo and Locke both start with L.
— Craig Smith (@smithcp1) November 17, 2024
The defense played amazing and deserved to win. The offense continued its streak of 1-2 good drives surrounded by complete dysfunction.
Two wrongs don't make a right
Defense played excellent overall, and clearly deserved more. Badgers offense actually looked like a real offense for about a quarter when Longo remember that you're allowed to have backfield motion. It's not Locke's fault, but he isn't the answer.
— Nick P Bassill (@NickPBassill) November 17, 2024
Longo has to go.
Quarterback play has not been good under Fickell
Badgers have to find a quarterback in the portal. If Greg Gard can find a replacement for AJ Storr, Luke Fickell is being paid a boatload of money to make Wisconsin a national championship contender and has to find a Division 1 quarterback somewhere.
— Jeff Ostach☮️ (@jeff_ostach) November 17, 2024
Biggest 'what-if' of the season
Badgers are 9-2 with a chance at the playoffs if they have even slightly below average QB play.
— Ray (@RayzinHell89) November 17, 2024
Simmer down
None. Moral victories are for programs like Purdue.
— Más Tequila (@JoRy_MaMa) November 17, 2024
Time to make a move has passed
The Badgers came THIS CLOSE to upsetting the No. 1 team in the nation despite a popgun offense that produced these abysmal fourth-quarter numbers. I suspect the podcasters are correct that UW will move on from Phil Longo, but will it give someone on staff a two-game audition? pic.twitter.com/fmU7haCTK6
— Rob Hernandez (@RobHernandezGLF) November 17, 2024
An unfortunate series of events
Gotta find a new quarterback. I realize the plan was never to play Locke but they are clearly limited with him directing the offense
— Chris McCloud (@Chris_McCloud) November 17, 2024
I guess we'll never know
Would love to see the alternate universe where the refs don’t call a horrific chip block penalty negating a huge third down pickup for Bucky.
— AJ Donaldson (@AJdonaldson_1) November 17, 2024
Unfortunately I have a hunch it ends similarly to how this one ended
Interesting thoughts
For the first time, I’m not FIRE MIKE TRESSEL, but our Run D is horrible.
— Scott Kelly (@TheScottKelly) November 17, 2024
Watching this, I have more confidence in Longo, but less in Locke. Next year, we lose A LOT on O line, which really makes me worry.
That delay was weird. OL looked confused
Great defensive effort. No excuse for a delay of game to start a drive. Typical offense under this regime
— Trent Probst (@coachprobst) November 17, 2024
It's all about the money, money, money
Jimmy, what do we gotta do to get a QB here? This is brutal. And I was here for Evridge/Sherer. My god it’s so bad.
— Josh Showers (@JoshShowers4) November 17, 2024
Great teams cover
Back to back programming defining covers against top five teams, or something
— Chad Barman (@cdbarman) November 17, 2024
The bounce back was a positive
Impressive to come back from that miserable loss against Iowa. We are a good quarterback away from winning these type of games.
— Mary Korn Erickson (@sixtiesfan) November 17, 2024
The difference between winning and losing ...
Thought the Badgers showed tremendous grit and nearly upset the top-ranked team. The defense played with fierce determination, transforming what I thought would be a blowout into a competitive game. Unfortunately, terrible quarterback play ultimately led to yet another loss.
— Wisconsinsane (@wisconsinsane) November 17, 2024
Process > results?
It's another loss. I don't think we should mine for the moral victories or silver linings. This team is .500 and solidly in the bottom quarter of the B1G.
— Daniel Konar (@daniel_konar) November 17, 2024
And so far, Fickell's "signature wins" are just all losses...
Math checks out
Defense played well enough to beat the #1 team. Just average QB play is all they needed from that position. Can a drop back 5-10 QB who plays 5-6 win at this level?
— Fred Melius MD (@fmelius) November 17, 2024
Guess not…
I also don't get Yacamelli's lack of snaps
Close to being best team ever. What happened to Cade…is he hurt? It’s been what…3-4 games since he’s played after averaging 8 yards a carry
— aarondentz (@aarondentz) November 17, 2024
Got a smirk from me
I don’t want to sound like a Vikings fan, but that one was stolen from us on that wrong call.
— Pbacker (@Pbacker) November 17, 2024
A fair take
The Badgers put themselves in a position to win the game but fell just short. They should reflect on some of the mistakes but also hold their heads high because they proved tonight that they can hang with the best team.
— Jeremy Pfeifer (@jeremyTpfeifer) November 17, 2024
Good question
Tremendous effort againsta very good team. Tough to come up short like this. Horrible QB play. Why did they go for it on 4th down with three timeouts?
— Vampire Cabbie (@fmschep) November 17, 2024
I also asked what does this say about Mabrey?
An average D3 QB wins this game for the Badgers. How bad is MM? Longo’s talent evaluation skills need some work.
— Eric Eichelt (@EricEichelt) November 17, 2024
Locke gives them the best chance to win, based on their decisions
I don’t want to hear the coaches say Mabrey isn’t ready. Locke isn’t ready. So change it up. Locke is killing the culture of the entire program. Longo lacks creative play calls. Just ugly.
— Andrew (@AJKreigh09) November 17, 2024
Pockets will be heavier
Considering giving up my season tix if Locke start vs Minnesota
— Barry Badrinath (@ThaRealDirtMan) November 17, 2024
Unexpected, for sure
I’m just glad that we didn’t get blown out by 50. The fact that we had the ball with a chance to win the game was pretty cool. And yes the program has fallen off quite a bit.
— Nate (@RealCravill) November 17, 2024
Playing for next year?
Fickell keeps running out a bad QB...he is who he is - and it won't magically just change the next week. You can't expect different results when you do the same thing. Have to make a change at QB.
— Dan Hanke (@DanHanke) November 17, 2024
Who cares about redshirts in this era?
An “average” QB, and UW wins this game. Locke is God-Awful. I understand not wanting to burn 1 of Mettaur’s eligibility years, but if Locke is the best we got, we’re in trouble
— Jack McChesney (@jtmcchesney32) November 17, 2024
Injuries are worrisome
Qb always gets our hopes up with one good pass. But can’t run or hit more than 50% of his passes. Woller and Pauling injures hurt for next week
— Tristan Huebsch (@TJBucky1) November 17, 2024
Observations off a rewatch include a different rotation on defense, a senior defender caught in tough spots and a questionable coaching decision on offense.
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