The Wisconsin Badgers officially had their worst loss of the season against the Iowa Hawkeyes. It was two years in a row that the Badgers seemed to forget they were playing a rivalry, or maybe even forget how to play football at all. It was never close, and all elements of the game were conceded to the Hawkeyes. It was embarrassing in every sense of the word, and that's the message Mason Posa made sure to tell his teammates.
"Right when I got into the locker room, I told them I was embarrassed," Posa said. "This can never happen to us again. We should have never let this happen to us."
The Badgers under Luke Fickell truly have no answers for Iowa, and Posa was fed up that it happened again. A lot of the talk from the leaders of the team after the game was about players showing up with a lack of effort. Sebastian Cheeks mentioned how he could see it in his teammates' eyes. But now what?
“I told them I was embarrassed… this can never happen to us again.”
— Riley Jauch (@rileyjauch) November 3, 2026
Badgers LB Mason Posa on his message to the team following their 30-0 loss to Iowa and how Wisconsin is moving forward. pic.twitter.com/l5IkMZCsRS
Wisconsin players are all preaching, things have to be different
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Posa said that the message now is, "So what, now what?" In other words, what are we actually going to do about it? The next opportunity is in front of the Badgers. "We are looking forward to this weekend," Posa said. "[We are going to] capitalize and play a lot better."
The good news for the Badgers is that Wisconsin gets to see Rutgers on their schedule next, back at home in Camp Randall. The Rutgers football program is in a bad spot, and the Badgers are angry enough that they plan to come in and beat the Scarlet Knights handily.
Fickell's job is a bit on the line, even though this looks like it's going to be a vastly better win/loss record compared to last season; if he loses to both Iowa and Minnesota, the Badger fans may riot. Winning the next three- Rutgers, Maryland, and Purdue isn't impressive, even if the win total jumps to nine wins. Losing to the rivals every season could be the undoing of Fickell.
So, yes, Wisconsin needs to win the next three, but in reality, they need to win the next four. Beating Minnesota and not being embarrassed again by a rival is going to be a top-of-the-list task for Fickell.
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It goes back to doing what they did against USC: limiting the rushing attack, winning in the trenches, and fighting to stop every yard from the opponent and get every yard for the Badgers. That's what got them to this point. But it also matters to win every phase. They need to be better offensively going forward, and have to find a way to sustain drives and get points on the board. Part of the embarrassment was being shut out by Iowa.
On Wisconsin!
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