Wisconsin fans have been frustrated with the Luke Fickell offense since he arrived. This off-season, Fickell made a significant change, removing offensive coordinator Phil Longo and hiring a more balanced and traditional offensive-minded coach, Jeff Grimes. Then, Wisconsin fans anxiously watched, or at least checked to see what happened in Week 0 with Phil Longo, who was coaching at Sam Houston State.
When that offense sputtered in a new destination and at a lower level, the sigh of relief was felt across the Badger fanbase. The hope that maybe, just maybe, the problem for the last few years is now no longer in Madison.
Sam Houston's offense looks nightmarishly familiar for Wisconsin fans
Related: Former Wisconsin OC Phil Longo only needed 1 game to frustrate new fanbase
Sam Houston ended up losing 41-24 to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, platforming an offense that looked all too familiar to Wisconsin fans. The Bearkats went 2-14 on third down and 0-3 from 4th down. The game revolved around the quarterback, Hunter Watson, and when he was bad, the offense was bad. He had a 40 QBR at the end of the game, so he was bad. Which means...so was the offense.
The rushing attack consisted mainly of the quarterback scrambling. There were only 17 rushing attempts by running backs that went for 82 yards. What will have Badger fans pulling out their hair, BearKat starting running back Alton McCaskill was busting big runs, but Longo would not commit to the run.
Sounds familiar, and that gives immense hope that the offense that frustrated the last few seasons is gone. Jeff Grimes is going to bring in a vastly different approach, and he's been calling it an attacking offense that's balanced—breath of fresh air.
Of course, we still need to see it in action, but the fact that Longo is gone and doing his antics somewhere else is so nice to see.