Wisconsin’s head coach doesn’t know which of his quarterbacks will see the field in Saturday’s game at No. 20 Michigan.
At least he didn’t on Monday when speaking to reporters in Madison. The preferred starter, Billy Edwards Jr., a Maryland transfer who can run and throw, left in the second quarter of Wisconsin’s opener after spraining his knee. He returned in Wisconsin’s latest game, Sept. 20 against Maryland.
Fickell conceded on Monday that may have been a mistake. Edwards left the Maryland game for good after the first play of Wisconsin’s second offensive drive.
“I didn’t save him from himself with that game,” Fickell said. “(Him) wanting to play, expecting to play, preparing to play. But the truth of the matter is he probably wasn’t in a position where he was ready to play.”
“That’s where we’ve got to do a better job. That’s why when you ask, ‘Where’s Billy (at health-wise)?’ I don’t know right now.”
Danny O’Neil, a San Diego State transfer, has filled in for Edwards. He’s completed 71 percent of his passes with five touchdowns and five interceptions. Wisconsin beat Miami Ohio and Middle Tennessee to open the year before losses at Alabama (38-14) and at home against Maryland (27-10).
O’Neil left the Maryland game late after taking a big hit, with Southern Illinois transfer Hunter Simmons finishing. Fickell didn’t mention O’Neil on Monday.
He was asked about several other banged-up Badgers. Starting safety Preston Zachman, the Big Ten’s defensive player of the week for his performance in the opener, will miss his second straight game. Center Jake Renfro sat out last game and running back Dilin Jones left it early. Fickell hopes to get them back for Michigan (noon ET, FOX), but doesn’t know if he will. “It’s a lot of unknowns,” Fickell said.
The third-year coach, who’s potentially on the hot seat, was asked about Wisconsin’s top-ranked run defense facing Michigan’s high-power ground attack.
“I don’t know that we’ve had, by any means, a test like this in the running game this year,” Fickell said. He doesn’t see Michigan as one-dimensional, however.
“You’ve also got to realize and recognize that they’ve got opportunities to make big plays in the passing game as well. Whether it’s the quarterback’s feet, the quarterback’s arm, they’ve got talented players on the outside.
“I think maybe what they don’t get as much credit for is the balance that they have. It’s maybe overlooked sometimes when they’ve run the ball as well as they have with the backs that they’ve got. It’s going to be a different challenge for us defensively, that’s for sure, and our ability to eliminate the big play in the run game more so than anything else.”
Fickell is the latest coach to offer his praise for Michigan’s freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood.
“He hasn’t overdone it,” Fickell said. “That’s the thing that I would say is impressive. They haven’t run him a ton. He hasn’t just taken off and scrambled when something wasn’t there. But his ability to pick and choose when he does is obviously (dangerous).”
Fickell said Wisconsin can’t simply load the box to stop the run because of Underwood’s ability to get to the edge of the defense or push the ball down the field. Those two skills are among the many that made him the No. 1 recruit in the country.
“I think they’ve done a good job with being smart with what they’ve asked him to but still allowing his abilities to show,” Fickell said. “So it’s another challenge that I don’t think you see every week.”