During a recent scrimmage in Camp Randall Stadium, Wisconsin quarterback Tanner Mordecai fired a bullet to Braelon Allen running a circle route out of the backfield. Allen hauled it in and kept possession through a hard shot from a safety in the end zone for a touchdown.
That one play said a lot about how different Badgers football is going to be in 2023.
The play originated without a huddle and from the shotgun formation. The offensive linemen were pass protecting out of the wide splits that come with an Air Raid offense. The play was in the red zone, but there was no fullback to be found. Mordecai wore an SMU uniform for his previous two seasons, and an Oklahoma uniform the three before that. The 245-pound Allen has had 437 touches from scrimmage in two seasons of college ball without recording a touchdown reception.
Meet the new Bucky. Not the same as the old Bucky. What could be described as the most comfortable program in college football—rooted in continuity, staunchly wedded to an old-school ethos, proudly bland, same as it ever was—has left its comfort zone. Wisconsin has broken its mold and is being rebuilt in a daring, fresh image.
A staffer described the program’s 30-year identity, from Barry Alvarez to Bret Bielema to Gary Andersen to Paul Chryst, as “the little engine that could.” The Badgers now want to be the full-grown engine that will.
Athletic director Chris McIntosh’s jarring midseason firing last year of Coach Sweatshirt, Chryst, who is as Wisconsin as cheese curds, was the first sign of a boldly different direction. Bypassing assistant Jim Leonhard and breaking from the family tree to land Luke Fickell as the new coach was the next sign. And Fickell’s hiring of Air Raid offensive coordinator Phil Longo was the final sign that times have changed in Madison.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with averaging 9.4 victories per season over the past quarter century—a lot of programs would love to have that consistent success. But the list of College Football Playoff entrants from the Big Ten does not include the Badgers, nor have they won a league championship in the past decade. They often were the most overachieving program in the Big Ten, doing a lot with a little less talent and a little less funding. They were not often the very best.
The aspirations now are to move up alongside Ohio State and Michigan at the top. There is a greater urgency, a sharper edge, a renewed push to take the Badgers where they’ve never been before.
“Luke believes, as do I, that there’s no ceiling on us at Wisconsin,” McIntosh says.
