Wisconsin Coach Crushed By Fans For Cowardly Move In Disappointing Loss
Luke Fickell and the Badgers lost 24-10 to Michigan on Saturday.
Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell appears to have quit on the team.
The Badgers lost 24-10 to Michigan on the road in Ann Arbor on Saturday. Wisconsin was a 17.5-point underdog, and I think it's safe to say the game was closer than most people expected.
What people didn't expect to see was Fickell become a coward in the closing moments.
Wisconsin fell to 2-3 on the season after losing to Michigan on the road in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines won 24-10. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Luke Fickell crushed by fans after latest loss.
It was 24-10 when Michigan got the ball in the closing minutes, and instead of using his timeouts, Fickell just allowed Michigan to run the clock down to zero with no effort to stop them in a two-score game.
I've never seen anything like it before. To call it baffling would be an understatement. It was enraging, and fans are going off on the Wisconsin coach.
Following the game, Fickell said he didn't use the timeouts because the team didn't get a stop, and "we needed to have opportunities on offense," according to John Steppe
Absolutely mind-boggling.
If there was ever a justified reason to fire a coach on the spot, it would be for what Fickell did Saturday in Ann Arbor.
Losing is one thing. That happens. Fans can accept losing to a ranked Michigan team. No rational person expected Luke Fickell to roll into Michigan and roll out with a win.
However, there is simply no excuse for leaving your timeouts on the board with the clock running down in a two-score game.
A coach at least has to give his players a shot. He has to give them an opportunity to continue fighting. That's not what Fickell did. The Badgers coach just gifted Michigan an easy end to the game.
It's infuriating.
Wisconsin Badgers coach Luke Fickell is getting destroyed for refusing to take his timeouts late against Michigan. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images and Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
It seems with every passing week that Fickell's chances of surviving the season without being fired get lower and lower. The Fickell experiment has been a disaster, and a change has to happen. Fans aren't going to tolerate this nonsense any longer. Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com if you agree.