After a disappointing season for the Wisconsin offense, will Luke Fickell make staff moves?
As Luke Fickell balances preparing for Wisconsin’s upcoming bowl game and building a team capable of competing for a Big Ten title in 2024, he surely must be examining how to improve an offense that has largely disappointed this season.
Consider UW’s statistical rankings in Big Ten games in 2023:
The Badgers finished ninth in scoring at 19.9 ppg. That was down from the previous season (seventh at 22.2 ppg).
They finished fifth in rushing at 149.6 ypg. That was down from the previous season (sixth, 158.2 ypg).
They finished sixth in passing at 197.0 ypg. That was up from the previous season (13th, 165.9 ypg).
However, UW quarterbacks had more touchdown passes (14) in 2022 than this season (nine).
Did anyone expect such numbers when Fickell hired offensive coordinator Phil Longo and offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. away from North Carolina?
Of course not.
Why did the Wisconsin offense struggle this season?
Whether Fickell tweaks the offensive staff will be telling.
Does Fickell believe the offensive shortcomings were largely a byproduct of a roster that lacked talent to make Longo’s system work?
Does he chalk up the shortcomings of the offensive line to the players struggling to adjust to new techniques taught by Bicknell?
Does he see the issues of the overall offense as a byproduct of players recruited to play in a different system, even though several transfers played key roles in the offense?
Does he believe an infusion of young talent next season will help jump-start the offense?
Or, does he reach the conclusion that his first UW staff failed to identify the best ways to use the talent on hand and too often didn’t commit to the running game?
Wisconsin's running game has been inconsistent
With only the bowl game remaining, UW’s rushing average in all games (163.2 ypg) is the program's lowest mark since the 2015 season (150.3 ypg). That season an injury limited Corey Clement and UW went with former walk-on Dare Ogunbowale at tailback.
Braelon Allen has decided to skip the ReliaQuest Bowl on Jan. 1 in Tampa so he can begin preparing for the 2024 NFL draft.
He averaged just 89.5 rushing yards per game this season, his lowest mark at UW. The staff's insistence on throwing passes in the flat and behind the line of scrimmage early in the season was folly and the results were minimal.
Allen finished the season averaging 4.7 yards per reception and his productivity went up only after he ran routes in the middle of the field or got the ball on a shovel pass with his momentum already carrying him up the field.
Fickell wondered aloud several times during the season whether UW had strayed from the running game at times.
The members of the offensive line were ecstatic when Fickell opted to run the ball on fourth and 1 from the Nebraska 5 in the overtime in their 24-17 victory Nov. 18. Allen gained 2 yards and then scored on the next play as the linemen and tight ends moved the pile into the end zone to clear a path for Allen.
The unit followed that up with a solid performance in the regular-season finale at Minnesota. Led by Allen, UW rushed for 267 yards and two scores and Fickell afterward lauded the line for taking control of the line of scrimmage and setting the tone in the 28-14 victory.
That didn’t happen enough during the regular season. But was the talent on the line subpar or did a lack of commitment to the running game contribute to the linemen losing their edge?
Mike Brown, UW’s associate head coach and wide receivers coach, on Sunday was named wide receivers coach at Notre Dame.
That means Fickell has to make at least one change on the offensive staff. Whether he decides to make any more changes will be revealing.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Will Luke Fickell tweak Wisconsin football offensive coaching staff?
