Comments from Badgers Luke Fickell after the postgame press conference following the USC loss

“Obviously you can’t go away and play two completely different halves and think you’re going to get a win over anyone. Let alone a top 10, top 15 program. And that’s exactly what happened. It was a story of two halves. We come into halftime with a really good feeling and understanding and know that these guys will come back here and give it a chance, this is their home. This is a damn good football team. I thought we were prepared for this.

We come out in the second half and go 3-out. The defense gets a stop, then we fumble a punt. And from there, the defense really struggled. On third down we just couldn’t get off the field. And I have to give them credit. They did a great job in the second half, especially in the third half. And we just couldn’t find a rhythm. And then we couldn’t get off the field both offensively and defensively.”

“It’s discouraging. It’s really difficult. You’re looking for guys, and the game comes down to making plays. We made a few plays in the first half. We caused some turnovers, made some stops and made some plays on third down. In the second half they made all of their plays on third down. On both sides of the ball. We are in a difficult situation, but we knew there was a chance in this league. If you look at it before the season starts, there are some chances and some chances that you really have to fight through tough times. This is one of them. So we’re going to find out what we’re made of.”

“I don’t know, it’s always hard. When things don’t go well and you don’t win, it’s difficult, it’s hard. They try to continue to motivate and make sure everyone is on the same page. It’s a tough game. To use the word “tough,” I told them in the locker room that they had decided to come here. We all chose to put ourselves in this situation knowing that the Big Ten is now something completely different. So that’s what we wanted, that’s what we asked for. And we got it. Sometimes you have to be a man and stand up. We’re all going to figure out how to deal with adversity, how to handle ourselves, and what we can do to grow.”

“That’s exactly what we want to be. The ability to control the ball, the ability to make some plays, make some shots down the field, establish the run, do some things defensively. We played really well in the first half. They also turned the ball over, but that’s part of the game. You create these things and you make them. We had some really good plays in the first half. I can’t tell you anything about the second half. I can’t say it was a one-drop punt, it’s not. It’s a combination of things that we have to find a way to regain momentum when things go against us. That’s probably as big a problem as it is right now. When it comes down to it, it’s not a magical thing you can say. Now it’s, ‘Call a time out,’ or ‘gather them and give them a speech.’ It’s, ‘Okay, man, someone’s gotta step up, somebody’s gotta step up.’ They’re not going to give it to us. Not only will they throw flags, we’ll be begging for a hold call over there. And I’m the worst when things don’t go well. But you have to make the plays. And we didn’t manage to do that in the second half.”

“That’s probably one of them, as well as a dropped punt and special teams. We work so hard on special teams. We have invested so much time and effort. We put all of our players on special teams. You won’t be a starter in this program unless you’re on special teams. So it’s similar, right. We are proud to be able to reach 4th and 1st place. I don’t care where it is. Regardless of whether you are on your own territory or not, this must be an opportunity for us to discover who we are. The last two weeks have cost us a lot. I don’t know if I would change. Where we’re on the field trying to make a long field goal like that. The percentages say that if we’re not about 90 percent on 4th-and-1/2, we’re not going to be about 90 percent shooting 50-yard field goals, even if (Nathanial) Vakos is damn good job can. We have to be able to implement these things.”

“You have to give them some credit. The guy played some hell of a game. To be honest, I thought the first touchdown throw was intercepted. From our two boys. I thought (Nyzier Fourqurean) did it, and I thought (Hunter Wohler) did it, and he catches it for a touchdown. Even in the second half there were some 1-on-1 plays. You have to stay positive. It’s not like you can suddenly say, ‘Okay, we’re going to change and not put pressure on people and not expect their guys to play.’ You just have to get better at what we do.”

“We lost the duels in the second half. It doesn’t matter if they covered us on some balls down the field or if they made the plays on the third balls. I know the touchdowns in the second half were third down plays. I can always say, “Give them credit for their plays,” but those are plays we have to make. And in the first half we made some of those plays. We hit the ball free. The quarterback did a really good job of putting the guy in position to make a play. And we’re right there and they’re making them. Sounds like a broken record, but you have to keep challenging and keep working at it. You have to get better.”

“Everyone has an opinion. I don’t know if not going below center will change much. If you don’t block a guy, you’re not blocking a guy. I don’t know that when I go to center, or in shotgun, or in pistol, or in three-man defense. If you don’t block a player, it’s really difficult to get the first down. Last week we didn’t block a guy and he came through and beat us, it wouldn’t have mattered. Tonight we didn’t block the two guys coming from the back end and they got us into the backfield. I don’t really believe in whether you’re in the middle or in the gun. We need to get better at what we do and make it happen.”

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