2022 Badger Football Thread

With UW winning continues their bowl streak to 21 straight years. Only teams with longer streaks are Oklahoma and Georiga.
 
Badgers Head Coaching Position got posted. We'll know the new coach in a couple of weeks.

Never mind
 
bag)) Baby) his feelings are hurt? That's your leader on defense? And some of you wonder what the issues are? Holy cow what a bunch of lightweight kids.
 
Mark87 said:
bag)) Baby) his feelings are hurt? That's your leader on defense? And some of you wonder what the issues are? Holy cow what a bunch of lightweight kids.
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Shows that the kids don't support JL to become HC IMO and is mistake to hire him.
 
GBP4EVER said:
Shows that the kids don't support JL to become HC IMO and is mistake to hire him.
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That’s 100% inaccurate. Now some alumni and fair weather fans don’t support him but believe what you want
 
Not shocked about Mertz, he was ready to leave last year and PC talked him out of it. Kind of a jerkk on the way out as I understand it. Expect a couple more this week
 
I knew Mertz was leaving. His position had become impossible. He leaves, just like his predecessor did, except there no is shiny object like Mertz was, that we could have held up as the answer, even if we were wrong.

I think Fickell and company already have the guy they want under center planning on heading to Wisconsin for a year or two of making things work, until they groom a new one, through scholarship.

Luke knows the value of the portal, just like Lincoln Riley, and he will use it, as much as needed, early on.
 
On the October night quarterback Graham Mertz introduced himself to the college football world with a masterful performance in his starting debut against Illinois two years ago, anything seemed possible for Wisconsin football. That’s not hyperbole. Remember that moment, when Mertz completed 20-of-21 passes — the lone incompletion a Garrett Groshek drop — for 248 yards with five touchdowns and set the nation abuzz.


Passes were delivered with such accuracy, zip and timing that jaws dropped. Reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes gave Mertz a Twitter shoutout. Yes, Illinois wasn’t very good. But this was what Wisconsin fans had been waiting for, the Badgers’ highest-rated prep quarterback signee in the online rankings era stepping into the spotlight and showcasing enormous potential. And if he could play like that in just one start, imagine what he might be able to achieve with more seasoning.

That night now seems so long ago.

Mertz did emerge as a three-year starter at Wisconsin. But his tenure — which came to an end Sunday night when he announced on Twitter that he would be entering the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining — will be categorized as one that failed to come anywhere close to meeting the astronomical expectations that coincided with his arrival.
In retrospect, maybe it wasn’t fair to place the weight of the world on one high school player to change the fortunes of an entire program when so many other things at Wisconsin needed to go right. Injuries and the pandemic in 2020 contributed to wiping out half the roster during stretches. Offensive line play never got to the dominant level necessary in any year with Mertz. Wisconsin’s typically excellent ground attack ranks 53rd nationally in rushing offense this season.

At the same time, Mertz’s meteoric rise made people believe that he could be the one to guide Wisconsin to its first College Football Playoff appearance and maybe even become an All-American or Heisman Trophy candidate. He earned scholarship offers after committing to the Badgers from nearly every major program and picked Wisconsin anyway. He was the MVP of the nationally televised All-American Bowl just days before moving to campus in January 2019 as an early enrollee. His high school coach once proclaimed: “I’m a firm believer that with Graham at the quarterback position, Wisconsin will be playing for a national championship.”


Instead, Mertz finished his starting career with a 19-13 record. He threw 38 touchdowns and 26 interceptions. He never led Wisconsin to a Big Ten West title, let alone a conference championship or a Playoff appearance.

Mertz never lacked for confidence outwardly and showed flashes during the past three seasons of the player people wanted him to be. He insisted before this season that it would be the best of his career, and he did set high-water marks for passing yards (2,136), yards per pass (7.5) and touchdowns (19). He became the only Wisconsin quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a game twice, doing so again at Northwestern in October.

But his lack of consistency and inability to deliver in some of the most critical moments hindered his progress. He threw more interceptions (11) than touchdowns last season (10). He tossed seven touchdowns and eight interceptions in Wisconsin’s six losses this season. Mertz’s final play in a Wisconsin uniform ended when he was knocked out of the game with an injury on a scramble against Minnesota during the team’s last drive.

Mertz certainly did not have the career that Badgers fans envisioned after he took the starting job from an injured Jack Coan. He becomes the third consecutive Wisconsin starting quarterback to ultimately transfer. First it was Alex Hornibrook to Florida State following the 2018 season, and then Coan to Notre Dame after the 2020 campaign — a sign of the times when it comes to quarterbacks in college football.

Still, Mertz — a team captain this season — deserves credit for handling himself with class despite facing constant criticism for his play. Other than when he suffered injuries against Iowa and Minnesota this season, he didn’t miss a single interview session and consistently provided thoughtful answers while facing tough questions from reporters.


Wisconsin fired head coach Paul Chryst, whom Mertz signed to play for, on Oct. 2 following a 2-3 start. Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell was hired to lead the program last Sunday. With a new coaching staff coming in, this was probably the best solution for all parties. Had Mertz stayed, he would have been walking into his fourth offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in as many seasons, with no guarantee that he would be able to keep his starting job.

Fickell said Sunday night during a Zoom call to discuss Wisconsin’s Guaranteed Rate Bowl matchup with Oklahoma State that he had “lots of conversations” with Mertz and his family over the past week and was informed by Mertz of his transfer decision earlier that evening.

“It’s a tough situation,” Fickell said. “He knows that. We want nothing more than the best for him. Obviously, I can’t tell you I know him, but I’ve met him a few times and encouraged him to stick around here and wait and see how the changes go. But I think at some point in time, some of those guys feel like there’s something that they need to do. I don’t want that. That’s not what I encouraged him to do. But I also respect that.

“We’ve got to continue to move ourselves forward in all that we’re doing. So does that open up some things for us? Yeah. I think that’s another one of those unique things that we’ve got an opportunity for this bowl practice to find out what we’ve really got and have had behind him. That’s what we’ll do.”

Mertz did not respond to a request for comment Sunday night. His dad, Ron, declined to comment at this time.
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