Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell gets major award after massive upset win

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Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell needed a signature win this season and got it in a big way on Saturday against Penn State.

Down 17-0 in the second quarter, Wisconsin outscored Penn State 24-3 the rest of the way to a 24-20 win. Quarterback Colton Joseph led the way in the fourth quarter, hitting Jacob Harris for the game-winning touchdown.

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Harris was wide open in the middle of the field and stiff-armed a Penn State defender before scoring. Penn State immediately got the ball back, but couldn’t retake the lead and lost.

Because of this win, Fickell was named the Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Week.

A major step for Luke Fickell and Wisconsin

There’s been a lot of heat on Fickell over the last year since his results at Wisconsin haven’t been great. Coming into the season, he had compiled a 17-21 overall record as Wisconsin’s head coach and finished the 2025 season 4-8.

Well, his team is off to a 3-1 start this season and beat a ranked team on Saturday. It’s exactly what the doctor ordered for him and his program.

Wisconsin can improve to 4-1 this Saturday when it hosts Michigan State. This will be the program’s second Big Ten game of the season.

Kickoff will be at 12:30 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.

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