Luke Fickell accidentally poked the bear yesterday when he said that the Badgers weren't going to avoid Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore. His comments were meant out of respect for Notre Dame's entire defense and also out of respect for his own offense, but were taken by Notre Dame fans, and they ran with them.
Fickell explained that Moore is one of the best in the country, but they can't just cut their field in half. But the comment that everyone ran with was, "He'll have a chance to prove he's the best in the country." Well, Wisconsin's new starting quarterback is backing his coach's comments up.
Joseph was asked today after practice about his coach's comments, and Joseph didn't miss a beat: "We're going to play our guys and play our best matchups and just go out there, and we're going to let whoever we want, whoever we're comfortable with, run routes on anyone."
The new signal caller for the Badgers doubled down on his coach's comments and emphasized the same points. 1. We aren't going to change our offense because of one guy. 2. We will run our routes and put out our best matchups. Finally, 3. We are going to go against anyone on that defense.
Leonard Moore is an elite defensive back but Wisconsin isn't going to cut the field in half
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Once again, there will be some that grab that last sentence, "run routes on anyone," and run with it. Take that to mean that the Badgers aren't scared, but once again the emphasis is on the Badgers sticking to their own game plan. Running their own offense and not worrying too much about hiding from a cornerback.
The Badgers have a much different group of wide receivers, and the offense is retooled. The Badgers have wide receivers that will try to challenge Moore, and Joseph isn't scared to challenge him either. That could be a mistake, but the Badgers need to run their offense, especially in game one.
Moore is a truly elite corner, and the talk of being the best defensive back in the country isn't really overblown. According to Oliver Vandervoort, writer for the Notre Dame site Slap The Sign, "In Moore's first two seasons with Notre Dame, he's tallied 18 pass breakups and 7 interceptions. According to Pro Football Focus, Moore doesn't need to prove he's the best in the country because he did that last year when he tallied a 92.5 coverage grade. That is indeed No. 1 in the sport among players with more than just a handful of snaps in 2025."
Will the plan adjust if Moore continues to shut down one half of the field? Maybe. Is it simply coach-speak and quarterback speak, but truly behind the scenes they are thinking about Moore and game-planning for him? Also, maybe. Either way, it's become a talking point ahead of Week 1, and Notre Dame fans are loving it. But as soon as one pass gets caught on his side of the field, you can bet Badger fans will be popping up all over the place to say something.
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