A frustrating aspect of Wisconsin football over the last couple of seasons is the ability to hang with top teams for a half and then let it all slip away. There could be a lot of reasons for this, from not being as good as the opponent, half-time adjustments (or lack thereof), or just a sheer drop in play. Wisconsin did it again in the Week 1 battle against No. 4 Notre Dame. They were within three at half-time and then came out extremely flat the rest of the way. What gives?
Well, after the game, Fickell didn't have a ton of answers. He kept saying he didn't know and seemed frustrated by it too. The quote that sticks out from the post-game is, "I don't know if that's because we got worn down...the energy and momentum shifted in one direction, and we could never get it back."
However, he now says he knows what happened, and it's one problem with a couple of different outlets. He said, "The second half is not the way we want to go about our business, and some things showed that we have to find a way to correct...it wasn't a breakdown in coverage or something; it's really, to be honest with you, it's a weardown of us."
The problem that Luke Fickell noticed was that the Badgers couldn't keep to the same level of intensity and physicality as they did in the first half, and Notre Dame wore them down. Yes, this is a big statement and an honest one, and it has to be corrected. Wisconsin football is not known, ever, for being "worn out." Things have to change, and fast.
Luke Fickell explains the "worn down" feeling against Notre Dame in the 2nd half with two major examples
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Fickell told the media that it wasn't so much conditioning as a mental and emotional toll. When the Badgers couldn't break through, they began to wear out.
For Fickell, he sees it as two primary forces leading to the weardown. One, is the obvious, is that Notre Dame is a good football team and continues to punch over and over and over until they impose their will. Wisconsin took only so many punches before the team wilted. Fickell said, " That's where he noticed the gap between the two teams: 'Where's the separation? The separation might be their ability to handle the second half emotionally and mentally, because a lot of their guys have played a lot of ball."
The second reason for Fickell is the number of new guys who are starting, playing, and providing valuable minutes. "Some of the newness limits our ability to do that for 60 minutes." He finished by saying that this team is going to grow from this, learn from this, and the "season starts again now."
For Fickell, there's going to be an emphasis on learning from this game. Using the next few to grow in the areas that became obvious. For fans, it was overwhelmingly obvious that Wisconsin did not come to play in the second half, and it's good to hear that Fickell at least has a pulse on why, even if it's a deeply concerning reason.
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