Two reasons why Wisconsin lost another ranked game under Luke Fickell

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Luke Fickell’s current record as the Wisconsin Badgers’ head coach stands at 21-23 after a tense 17-7 loss to the No. 12 UCLA Bruins. 

The Badgers’ season record is pushed to 4-2, silencing any faint hopes of a Big Ten title bid and any talk of a College Football Playoff bid. 

Despite being presented with several opportunities to work their way back into the game, the Badgers put up a season-low seven points.

Time of possession

Time on the ball can be a misleading stat in a lot of cases. Saturday night was not an example of that. When you are constantly one play away from flipping the momentum, time of possession is worth its weight in gold, and the Badgers finished with just 22:58 of the ball, leaving the Bruins tallying an astounding 37:02. 

Offensive rhythm

Transfer quarterback Colton Joseph debatably put up his worst showing of the season. Joseph averaged just 4.1 yards per throw and tallied just 66 yards. On the ground, despite Abu Sama’s return, the former Iowa State Cyclone churned just 34 yards. Wisconsin’s offense was constantly running into a buzzsaw, and they never looked like they wanted to flip the off switch.

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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Two reasons why Wisconsin lost another ranked game under Luke Fickell

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