Does Maryland Still Haunt the Badgers?
Last year in Madison, Wisconsin’s vaunted defense looked more like a leaky canoe as Maryland rolled to a surprising 27-10 upset. The Terrapins’ lone highlight—Malik Washington’s 62-yard touchdown—became the emblem of Fickell’s toughest loss. Maryland then limped to a 4-8 season, dropping eight straight after that Camp Randall triumph. Key departures include safety Jalen Huskey, whose pick-six changed momentum, and leading receiver Sheleak Knots, both off to NFL opportunities. Washington’s big plays masked inconsistency, while receivers like Octavian Smith Jr. torched Wisconsin’s struggling secondary. Maryland will counter with Old Dominion transplant Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding, reuniting with former QB Colton Joseph, and defensive front additions Derrick LeBlanc and Lavon Johnson. Non-conference trips to Virginia Tech and UConn look treacherous, and a Big Ten slate littered with powerhouses offers little hope. The prediction: Wisconsin squeaks by 24-20, but expect more heartburn in College Park.
Fans, prepare to mark the anniversary of “That Blowout” with t-shirts and commemorative tears. Maryland’s next visit is your chance for poetic justice—or at least a really tight deodorant commercial when the Badger offense sputters again. Betting pools are already open on whether Fickell will utter “We’ll learn from it” exactly 37 times. Don’t forget to hashtag #CampRandallCarnage and tweet your most passive-aggressive hot takes about Jalen Huskey’s illustrious seven tackles. If Wisconsin wins by more than a field goal, pundits might declare that the program has officially arrived—despite the lingering ghost of 2025 whispering, “You sure about that?”
Transfer QB Joseph Set to Spark Badger Offense
Wisconsin’s quarterback carousel takes another turn with Old Dominion transfer Colton Joseph arriving as one of the nation’s top dual-threat signal-callers. In 2024, Joseph threw for 2,624 yards and 21 touchdowns while rushing for 1,007 yards and 13 scores. Pro Football Focus graded him at 78.9 percent—good for eighth among returning Big Ten quarterbacks. Among incoming transfers, he ranks fourth behind Nebraska’s Anthony Colandrea, Illinois’ Katin Houser, and Penn State’s Rocco Becht. Despite hailing from a Group of Six program, Joseph brings tantalizing talent to Madison, hoping to avoid the “band-aid quarterback” label and instead ignite a resurgent Badger offense.
Analytics nerds rejoice: PFF’s secret sauce has spoken, and it’s mostly salt. They’ve deemed Joseph worthy of near-elite status—assuming the eyeball testers ignore his pre-Power Five résumé. Meanwhile, fans clutch their crystal playsheets, convinced that this transfer is the messiah Wisconsin’s been chanting for since the dark ages of Tyler Van Dyke and Billy Edwards Jr. Expect local sports talk radio to pivot from “Who?” to “Teach me, Colton!” faster than you can say “Fickell, do your thing!” But beware: when the dual-threat turns into a dual-middling, those very same analysts will pounce with “data-driven” hot takes that sound suspiciously like, “I told you so.”
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