Colton Joseph has found his grove, but is there another level Luke Fickell can unlock?

The Wisconsin Badgers have seemingly revitalized a once-dying program, kicking off the 2026 campaign with one of their best starts to a season in recent memory. The Badgers currently sit at 4-1 on the year, including posting a 2-0 record to kick off conference play, with their only loss coming at the hands of the top-five-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Through this stretch, however, Wisconsin has already faced its fair share of ups and downs, particularly in regard to the quarterback position. Early on in the year, fans were frustrated with quarterback Colton Joseph and his play.

The Old Dominion transfer was wildly inaccurate, consistently missing open receivers and, in general, being off target with even some of the easy throws. On top of that, he wasn’t able to get things going on the ground either. Wisconsin had schemed for him a lot of inside-zone run schemes in which he just wasn’t conducive to productive offense.

That said, a switch flipped in the fourth quarter of the Badgers’ matchup against Penn State for Joseph, building him momentum that he carried into the Michigan State game.

Found his Groove

Against the Spartans on Homecoming, Joseph looked better than ever, passing for 145 yards and three touchdowns, while tacking on another 141 yards and a touchdown on the ground. This was the big-play quarterback that fans envisioned when he announced his commitment, and was easily the best version of himself.

From read options dicing up the defense to deep balls piercing a depleted Michigan State secondary, Joseph looked flat-out elite. But even in the midst of this stellar performance, one could very well argue that he still left some to be desired.

The fact of the matter is, accuracy is still an issue for Joseph. He completed just nine of his 20 passing attempts, dropping his season completion percentage all the way down to 56.6%. This now marks the second consecutive game that he has been below 50% completion as a passer, raising some questions as to if his play is sustainable.

However, one could also very well argue that this flaw being patched could mean there is more potential to unlock in Madison. If Joseph can hone it in a bit, possibly working with the play-callers for a more consistent game plan, then there is a good chance that he could unlock an even more efficient aspect of the Badger offense.

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