Of all the things that Luke Fickell could have said at the podium in the lead-up to the Alabama game, this has to be among the worst. While it is not really a huge deal that he failed to realize while the Crimson Tide faithful despise early kicks (11:00 a.m. CT starts, less tailgating, less energy, etc.), a comment he made later about comparing Bryant-Denny Stadium to that of Kinnick Stadium is brutal...
This is not meant to be a slight on Kinnick, but that is not an SEC home environment. If Wisconsin was playing on the road at an SEC school like Missouri or Ole Miss, that may have been fitting. However, to compare the noise at play in Kinnick to what he is about to walk into at Tuscaloosa is laughable. For those who do not remember, Wisconsin lost Heartland last season at Kinnick by the score of 42-10...
It is the same margin of defeat the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders suffered at Wisconsin last week.
Luke Fickell says arguably his most Group of Five head coach thing ever
The latter part of Fickell's press conference only further illustrates how uniformed in this he may be.
"What? Do they complain? I don't think they asked us what time we wanted to play, though."
Going into Bryant-Denny was often seen as a death sentence before, but Fickell seems unconcerned.
"Yes, I mean, we're going to play the music. We'll be prepared better than we were last year when we went to Iowa. That's what I can truly say. That might have been one of those ones that I don't say caught you off-guard, but it was maybe even louder than what we had expected. I know that we had a plan going in there. It was more of a third-down plan. It wasn't a first and second-down plan, but then we had to adjust."
For him to think playing the Hawkeyes in Iowa City equates to playing Alabama in Tuscaloosa is sad.
"It was one of those things that we'll never be in that position again. So all week we'll be going with some different cadence things and put a little bit more on the guys up front to make sure we're all on the same page. We started that last night in our Sunday practice. Can you really get the noise as loud as it's going to be on Saturday? I don't think we can, but we'll surely try."
Here is everything Fickell had to say during his weekly press conference ahead of the Alabama game.
Unless Kalen DeBoer coaches like he is back at Fresno State, this could get ugly in a hurry for Fickell...
Luke Fickell does not seem prepared to handle an early kick at Alabama
For as much of an advantage as there may be with getting a 1-1 Alabama team at 11:00 a.m. CT, the apples to oranges comparison to that of Kinnick does not bode well for the Badgers at all. Of the 16 SEC schools, easily 10 or a dozen pose as difficult road environments. This does not include night games in late fall at Kentucky, or even an early kickoff in the heat at Mississippi State with cowbells.
For a guy that played at Ohio State, how can Fickell be so obtuse here? Hawkeyes fans are very passionate, but Kinnick Stadium is best known for The Wave than it is being a hostile environment. We are not talking about South Carolina hitting Sandstorm with roosters crowing ad nauseam or the LSU marching band hitting Neck just to further embarrass their opponent at night in Death Valley.
For as gettable as Alabama is right now, and they have not been this gettable in well over 15 years, Fickell does not seem like the right conductor to pull off this upset victory. That being said, maybe Danny O'Neil or even Billy Edwards Jr. can be the straw that stirs the drink to just win anyway. After all, Ty Simpson is not Jalen Milroe, Bryce Young, Jalen Hurts or Tua Tagovailoa under center for Alabama.
At this time, Fickell continues to feed into the narrative that he is over his skis coaching this program.