There are only so many gimme games on the Wisconsin Badgers' schedule. Now is not the time to squander any more of them. With the Week 3 road date coming up vs. a very gettable Alabama Crimson Tide team, Wisconsin cannot play with its food vs. what might be a truly awful Middle Tennessee squad. The Blue Raiders lost their season opener badly to FCS power Austin Peay, 34-14.
Wisconsin enters Week 2 without having surrendered a point defensively so far. However, most people are willing to overlook the 17-0 home victory over the Miami RedHawks because of the quarterback situation developing in Madison. Week 1 starter Billy Edwards Jr. succumbed to a knee injury right before halftime. He is listed as week-to-week, but he should not play in this Week 2 game.
Now is the time for head coach Luke Fickell to do what is logical and give all the first-team reps to Edwards' backup Danny O'Neil ahead of this game. O'Neil started 11 games last year for a terrible San Diego State Aztecs team, but he did play with more confidence as the game went along in Madison last Thursday. He needs all the reps he can get in Jeff Grimes' offense before Week 2's home game.
Even if Edwards is good to go, O'Neil should start anyway, mostly to keep Alabama on its toes a bit.
Danny O'Neil should be making his first start with Wisconsin in Week 2
This is something that Fickell needs to do to keep the narrative of this season from slipping away from him. He did not do anywhere near enough to squash any hot seat chatter with Week 1's shutout home victory over Miami (OH). He is a coach who thrived in the Group of Five previously at Cincinnati, but has not looked the part as a Power Four head coach since coming over to Wisconsin in 2023.
Fortunately for him, Derek Mason's team might be one of the worst programs in FBS. To get annihilated at home like the Blue Raiders did vs. Austin Peay suggests that Mason's second tenure in Central Tennessee might end as poorly as it did for him at Vanderbilt only a few years back. Fickell has to take advantage of the opportunity to improve to 2-0 with some confidence before Alabama.
Ultimately, any semblance of quarterback meddling is only going to add more confusion into the equation for Wisconsin. Edwards may be the better player over O'Neil when he is healthy, but there is no reason to leave him exposed vs. a Middle Tennessee team the Badgers were probably going to beat anyway. Keeping Edwards' injury status close to the vest may allow a potential Alabama upset.
Every win is a precious commodity this season for Wisconsin, so let's not make this any harder here...