Following the Wisconsin Badgers' embarrassing road loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes, in which they were once again held scoreless in what was ultimately a 30-plus-point loss, many questions had to be raised. One of the main ones was what the quarterback position is going to look like going forward.
Throughout the entirety of the season, fans were up and down over Old Dominion transfer Colton Joseph, and rightfully so. The highs were as fun as any, with big games against Michigan State and Eastern Michigan through both the air and on the ground having fans thinking that he may be worth every penny of the rumored NIL package.
Next week is perfect to start True Freshmen QB Ryan Hopkins.
— Badger Nation HQ (@BadgerNationHQ) November 1, 2026
Playing Rutgers next week will give him experience and a good opponent to try this out. Looks like he has good arm strength. If he does start next week we need to let him throw it a lot.
However, as the season built on and defenses started to lock in on his scouting report, Joseph's performance tanked, all leading up to an abysmal two-and-a-half quarters against Iowa that led to his eventual benching.
What we saw
In stepped true freshman quarterback Ryan Hopkins, who didn't have the best outing — completing eight of his 13 passes for 93 yards and an interception. But, at the very least, he proved that he could be trusted throwing the football. Funny that we have to have this conversation about a Power Four quarterback, but welcome to Wisconsin football in the Luke Fickell era.
Ryan Hopkins is in the game for the Badgers replacing Colton Joseph pic.twitter.com/ZUiLGz5h4e
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 31, 2026
Nonetheless, the hype around Hopkins has been building for a while, as throughout spring, summer and fall camp, his name consistently popped up as a standout. Now, proving that he won't completely squander the opportunity, Hopkins has all but ensured himself multiple chances down the stretch of this season.
One could make the fair argument that freshman quarterbacks starting hasn't exactly been fruitful in the history of college football, with countless five-star recruits getting banged up, fizzling out and losing confidence in large part due to being forced into the spotlight too early.
For Hopkins, however, the schedule ahead is one that he could really take advantage of if he were to play his cards right. Wisconsin's next three games are against bottom-feeders in the Big Ten, before what will likely be a challenging test to end the regular season against Minnesota.
If Hopkins can be who he is made out to be in the remaining games, he could very well build some confidence going into next year, not only for himself but also for the future of the program. Whether he gets that chance or not is yet to be seen, but one thing is for certain: Change has to come soon in Madison.
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