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MADISON, Wis. — There was plenty of offseason discussion within Wisconsin’s football program about what felt different entering Year 3 of the Luke Fickell era. The most noticeable changes came from scheme and personnel adjustments. But another aspect was much harder to quantify: mental toughness.
What would this team look like when hardship inevitably hit? Would the Badgers wither or have the fortitude and talent to overcome it?
Wisconsin began to find those answers during its season opener when starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. suffered a left-knee injury on the third offensive series of the game. And while it was far from pretty, Wisconsin defeated Miami (Ohio) 17-0 on Thursday night at Camp Randall Stadium behind backup quarterback Danny O’Neil and a dominant defensive performance.
“That’s what I’m talking about when I say I have a good feel, when I say we’re in a different place,” Fickell said. “You can have a struggle, you can have a tough game, you can obviously have an adversity like have a quarterback go down. But you can still play the game the way that you expect to be able to play it. That’s what I thought we looked like tonight.”
Edwards Jr. sustained his injury in an apparent non-contact situation. He handed the ball off to receiver Tyrell Henry, pulled up and fell to the turf at midfield with 9:45 remaining in the second quarter, grabbing at the left knee that he banged during preseason practice and required him to wear a brace. Edwards Jr. walked off the field under his own power and visited the medical tent on the sideline but then went to the locker room and was ruled out for the rest of the game.
He returned wearing a black Badgers warmup with 10:05 left in the third quarter to offer encouragement to his teammates, which Fickell said was “hopefully a really good sign for things moving forward.”
The injury meant Wisconsin was forced to rely on its backup quarterback for the third consecutive season under Fickell — and the sixth straight season for the program. O’Neil started slowly, taking a pair of first-half sacks and then throwing a third-quarter interception in the end zone on fourth-and-3 from the Miami 10-yard line with the Badgers leading just 3-0. But he found his form on a critical drive midway through the third quarter that helped give Wisconsin much-needed breathing room.
O’Neil kept the ball on a read-option to receiver Trech Kekahuna and ran up the middle on third-and-9 for a 17-yard gain to the Miami 36. He completed an 11-yard pass to freshman receiver Eugene Hilton Jr and a beautiful 22-yard pass to tight end Grant Stec between two defenders down to the 3. O’Neil capped the drive when he found receiver Vinny Anthony II for a 3-yard touchdown to give Wisconsin a 10-0 lead with 4:08 remaining in the third quarter.
Outside linebacker Darryl Peterson helped the defense pitch its first shutout in three years. (Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics)
Wisconsin remade its quarterback room during the offseason, and while Edwards Jr. was the clear-cut starter, the Badgers were able to add O’Neil after he started 11 games as a true freshman at San Diego State. His athleticism outside the pocket stood out, as did his moxie. Fickell said he possessed “a confidence level that’s not something you can teach.” Left guard Joe Brunner said O’Neil wasn’t afraid to talk smack to Miami’s defense, which O’Neil said was just part of his game.
“I just had to go in there and lead the guys,” O’Neil said. “I think I did that the way that I always try to, trying to have some fire, bring some juice to the huddle. I just think that the guys responded well.
“I think that I’m able to bring juice into the huddle and allow guys to play a little bit more free. I love the way the guys responded to me being in the huddle and allowing me to lead them.”
O’Neil completed 12 of 19 passes for 120 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He added a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to account for the final score.
That doesn’t mean the offense wasn’t without any issues in the first game under coordinator Jeff Grimes. O’Neil occasionally held onto the ball too long and made a few ill-advised throws. Left tackle Davis Heinzen, a Central Michigan transfer, struggled during the game and was replaced on the final drive by Leyton Nelson, raising questions about what the Badgers will do moving forward. But on a night in which the offense wasn’t crisp, the defense was outstanding to give Wisconsin the type of complementary football Fickell has been seeking.
Defensive coordinator Mike Tressel and staff made considerable tweaks up front, bulking up along the defensive line and adding more dynamic pass rushers. Those changes were evident against the RedHawks.
Miami’s first eight drives ended in punts, and the final two ended in interceptions by safety Preston Zachman. Only two of Miami’s 10 drives even reached Wisconsin territory. The RedHawks finished 0-for-9 on third-down conversion attempts. Zachman first picked off quarterback Dequan Finn at the Miami 19-yard line and returned it to the 2, which allowed O’Neil to score a touchdown. On the next drive, Zachman cut off the angle on a deep pass down the sideline to intercept it and seal the game.
Finn, who played at Baylor last season, began his career at Toledo, where he passed for more than 2,000 yards and rushed for more than 500 yards in three different seasons. He finished the game Thursday with 12 carries for 13 yards as multiple defenders made life difficult for him. It marked Wisconsin’s first shutout since a 38-0 season-opening victory against Illinois State in 2022.
“I think I definitely felt the physicality of our defensive front tonight,” Zachman said. “They couldn’t do anything. There were no open gaps or anything like that. They had nowhere to run the ball. I think you saw that, and the quarterback was scrambling a lot tonight because he felt that pressure.”
Wisconsin faces a much more challenging road ahead this season with six opponents in the preseason Associated Press top 20. And while the Badgers will need to be better, particularly on offense, players said they saw valuable signs of progress Thursday night.
“We’ve really built a team, and I think that really showed tonight,” Anthony said. “Everybody stayed poised, and we didn’t hesitate or get nervous in the situation. I think everybody stayed together and we knew what we had to do. We’ll learn from it and keep going from there.”
(Top photo of Sebastian Cheeks courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics)
