It was an ugly day for Wisconsin football, and Luke Fickell took a public beating as the Wisconsin fanbase turned on him. Even on the TV broadcast, which was aired nationally on NBC, you could hear the chants for "FIRE FICKELL." The student section started this, but the whole stadium joined in. The ones that didn't chant simply left.
Luke Fickell was asked about these chants, and it was apparent he had heard them, and he had a pretty blunt response: "They expect more, and so do I." He elaborated more on it, but that was the sentiment, and to make matters worse, he simply seemed defeated in the press conference—a man without answers.
"I feel what their pain is. There's nothing we can do but keep grinding. I don't get upset, I don't lose my mind about what they feel. They're passionate. That's why you sign up for this place. They expect more, and so do I."Luke Fickell
Luke Fickell has no answers for a program that's drowning and it shows
Related: Luke Fickell isn’t the only one Wisconsin fans are passionately calling to be fired
Wisconsin lost to Maryland 27-10. At home. As 10.5 favorites. Yikes. It was about as embarrassing a loss as Badger fans can remember, and it doesn't seem as if Luke Fickell has any answers. The press conference was filled with, "We have got to be better." Which is obvious, and it doesn't take a highly paid head coach to figure that one out.
There's not much hope of Luke Fickell being actually fired, unless someone helps the program out with a $25 million+ buyout. The contract isn't easy to get out of, and it looks like Wisconsin may be stuck in the gutter this season.
Where do they go from here? Well, the Badgers head into a bye week, reeling. The schedule only gets harder when they return, in which they go Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, and then Oregon. It's a monster of a guantlet and Maryland was supposed to be one of the easy wins.