With two games to go in the season, the Badgers aren’t making a quarterback change.
The Wisconsin Badgers made a major move on Sunday, firing offensive coordinator Phil Longo after a 16-13 loss to the No. 1 Oregon Ducks, as head coach Luke Fickell is going with a change after just 23 games.
Longo, a heralded offensive coordinator at both UNC and Ole Miss, was expected to transform Wisconsin’s offense with his “Air Raid” style, but his vision never materialized in Madison, leading to the switch from Fickell.
A part of the struggle was inconsistent quarterback play, as starter Braedyn Locke has thrown an interception in every start this year, leading to a 3-4 record as the leader of the team.
On Saturday, Locke arguably had his worst performance of the year, completing just 12/28 passes for 94 yards and an interception, which came on the final drive of the game with Wisconsin having a chance to either tie or even win the game.
That led many to question: will Locke remain as the starter over the final two games?
“Yeah, [he will be],” head coach Luke Fickell affirmed on Monday after the coaching change. “Never a doubt. I don’t know what else the idea is, right? I mean, like, we all have to put some pressure on different people. And again, Braedyn’s had a lot on his plate, and he’s got to continue to grow and get better, and he knows that, and we’re going to give him a better opportunity to be able to do that.”
Fickell’s comments come one week after Longo was asked a similar question, to which he affirmed Locke would remain as the starter, while citing that Mettauer was continuing to grow in practice.
That message resonates with what media saw during both the spring and the fall with Mettauer: a young quarterback with good traits that had the game going too fast for him initially.
While Mettauer has the upside to potentially be a top quarterback, it doesn’t seem like he’s at that stage just yet, and it doesn’t make sense for Wisconsin to trot him out there until his confidence is at a high.
So, Locke will start Saturday against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a must-win game for a Badgers team still looking to continue their bowl streak.