Luke Fickell's QB decision shows that he's already thrown in the towel vs Ohio State

In baseball, when a game is out of reach, you put either a terrible or young reliever that needs reps on the mound or a position player. Why burn arms when the outcome is decided? This is precisely what it feels like Luke Fickell is doing by running quarterback Hunter Simmons out against Ohio State this weekend. According to Pete Thamel, the plan is to start the third-string quarterback for another week.

Hunter Simmons will be the quarterback starter for Wisconsin against Ohio State

Related: Luke Fickell will make a goldfish climb a tree when it comes to his QB evaluations

Last week, Hunter Simmons may have competed for one of the worst quarterback performances in the history of Wisconsin. He had a 0.8 QBR score, which is ESPN's way of measuring the effectiveness of the position. This is essentially the equivalent of throwing 20 passes, 19 of them at the ground, and one of them completes for no game.

For Simmons, it may actually be worse in the 37-0 loss to Iowa, as he threw three interceptions and could never get the offense going.

Now, with Billy Edwards Jr. still injured and Fickell deciding he doesn't trust Danny O'Neil, he's turning back to that quarterback this week. Hoping maybe Simmons figures out how to lead a drive to points? Seems like a lot to ask of the third-string quarterback and last year's backup quarterback at Southern Illinois.

All this seems to indicate that Fickell is throwing in the towel. Maybe he has been for a while; there are some conspiracy theorists who believe Fickell is trying to get fired ever since being embarrassed by Maryland in the Big Ten opening game. Having Simmons go out there after struggling against Iowa and now against the top-ranked defense in the nation is certainly not going to dispel that theory.

It could get ugly and get ugly quick on Saturday. Will this be the week, that Wisconsin fires Luke Fickell?