Wisconsin is riding an insane high right now after knocking off No. 13 Penn State in Happy Valley, and yet, Luke Fickell says that's not good enough. It's also not the end of the road. His blunt warning to the team is that Wisconsin "can't be arrogant and we can't be delusional." The Badgers under Fickell can't be a one-hit wonder with nothing to follow, but it's more than that for Fickell.
He points quickly to the reality that they had to grind that game out to get the win after shooting themselves in the foot. "But don’t put ourselves in any other position than we know we’re a team that has to grind things out." Luke Fickell said, "We’re a team that has to grow. We’re a team that is still continuing to climb. And nothing has changed in the way we go about our business."
Fickell isn't quite sure how his team will respond going into Michigan State. The celebration is important, but the journey is bigger than the celebration. "
"I mean, we did some things that ended up being really, really good, and we have to build off of that. So that’s where, you know, that part of this thing for the first time, we’ve got to be able to handle some success and some positives and keep us going in the right direction.”We said it after the game, like I’m not going to be the first one to try to stop this — celebrate this thing. But just make sure that, you know, whether it was after Week 2 when we said, ‘Hey, we can’t be arrogant or delusional based on the things we’ve got to be able to do,’ and that’s through positives, that’s through negatives...how do we handle the situations, how do we continue to grow? Do we focus on a thing that is a journey?"
Luke Fickell believes the maturity of his team will be tested this week against Michigan State
Related: Matt Campbell didn't give Wisconsin the credit it deserved after stunning Penn State
As Wisconsin is preparing for Michigan State, it's important for them not to have the emotional letdown that can sometimes happen after really big wins. To not take the Spartans for granted, they actually played Notre Dame tougher than Wisconsin did. Sure, Wisconsin beat Eastern Michigan more than Michigan State did, but it's now a new game against each other. This is the journey that Fickell is reminding them of.
“And this is just another opportunity for us to kind of reiterate some of what this journey looks like." Fickell said, "How you’ve got to be able to continue to do the things you do and believe in the things you believe in and be who you want to be."
At the end of the day, he says that now the "maturity is going to be tested" on this team. How do they rebound after a win? They've had lots of frustrating moments, but is Wisconsin the team that can rally behind a win and use it as momentum going into the next game? To carry that juice home to Camp Randall and knock the teeth in on the Spartans.
As a fan looking in, it's also worth noting that maybe Penn State isn't a No. 13-ranked team. Maybe under Matt Campbell, they aren't going to be as good as many thought. This game was a litmus test for them too. So, until you knock a few other teams off their podium, don't get too high on yourselves. Which is exactly what Fickell is preaching this week.
Add us as a preferred source on Google