Ugly Chants Breakout as Badgers Drop B1G Opener to Maryland – 'Fire Fickell!'

Not only did Wisconsin lose to Maryland, but the Badgers also played arguably the worst football as a team all season in the first Big Ten Conference game of the season. By the fourth-quarter, the student section had become notably thin as fans began to leave the stadium with the loss in sight.

Before leaving, however, heavy “Fire Fickell” chants filled the stadium as Wisconsin is seemingly trending downwards after missing a bowl game the season before. Wisconsin runs quite the gauntlet within the Big Ten Conference this season, and the Terrapins had been considered to be one of the easier teams on the schedule. Morale appears to be at an all-time low as Wisconsin simply cannot string together anything positive on the field for an extended period of time.

Was the Badgers Loss to Maryland Avoidable or a Mistake Luke Fickell Must Take Responsibility For?

Stating the Badgers simply were bested and beat by a better team would be easy, but the reality is that Wisconsin allowed a very winnable game to turn into a promising event for a young Maryland team. The issues started on special teams and seemingly snowballed into issues surrounding both the offense and the defense throughout the game.

Starting with special teams, a blocked field goal or punt can be chalked up to luck or a great athletic play by a defender, but both occurring in the same game is a fundamental breakdown. Unfortunately, the loss to Maryland was filled with fundamental breakdowns between blown assignments, missed blocks, and sloppy routes being run. Wisconsin cannot expect to be a top level program while still making the same mistakes consistently and not displaying any ability to learn from such mistakes.

Losing to Maryland is both shocking and concerning as the Terrapins entered the game with one of the worst rushing offenses in the conference and yet the team managed to do enough on the ground to triumph the Badgers. The schedule for Wisconsin only continues to become more difficult and Maryland was previously a game thought to be an easy win.