MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (July 30–Aug. 6)
College Football: Badgers open fall camp at UW–Platteville
By A.J. Gates, Herald Independent / Tri-County Press / The Platteville Journal
Wisconsin returns to Platteville to prepare for nation’s #1-ranked toughest schedule
PLATTEVILLE — Third-year head coach Luke Fickell and his Wisconsin Badger football team arrived in Platteville last Monday evening, and took to the field for their first of 10 practices at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium Tuesday morning.
Fickell and the Badgers, who will be in Platteville until Sunday, will hold one practice open to the public on Saturday, beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets will be $5 with free admission to those 12 and under.
After going 5–7 last season and missing out on being bowl eligible for the first time since 2001, coach Fickell enters the 2025 season with a two-year record of 13–13 at Wisconsin.
His original seven-year contract worth $54.6 million was extended this past February by one year, good until March of 2032.
Being the 18th highest paid coach in the FBS, and the fifth highest paid coach in the Big Ten, Fickell will be put to the test this season, as Wisconsin faces the No. 1 toughest college football schedule in the country for the 2025 season.
Among Wisconsin’s 12-game regular-season schedule are home games against Ohio State, Iowa, Washington, Maryland and Illinois. Their road schedule is even more daunting with games at Alabama, Michigan, Oregon, Indiana and Minnesota.
According to the latest preseason poll by the Associated Press, Ohio State enters the season ranked No. 1 in the country, Oregon is No. 3, Indiana No. 10, Illinois No. 16 and Alabama No. 17.
In a recent poll of Big Ten reporters, the Badgers were picked to again finish 12th in the Big Ten field of 18 teams.
The Badgers need to win at least six games to be bowl eligible this year, and only one win against an FCS opponent counts toward that total.
The foundation for the upcoming 2025 season is now being laid down in Platteville, where the nine other practices open only to the media, offer a glimpse at some of the veterans returning to the Wisconsin program, and also many of the new faces that will be looked upon to play significant roles this coming season.
Gone to the NFL are Jack Nelson (OT) and Hunter Wohler (S), while Braeden Locke (QB), Tawee Walker (RB) and Will Pauling (WR) are among those who transferred out of Wisconsin to other college programs.
Also gone is offensive coordinator Phil Longo, who was fired last November after his “Air-Raid” offense ranked 107th nationally in scoring last season.
Hired in his place is new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, who spent last year as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Kansas. Grimes also held coaching positions at Baylor, BYU, LSU, Virgina Tech, Auburn, Colorado, Arizona State and Boise State.
With the hiring of Grimes, the Badgers appear committed to getting back to their offensive roots of physical line play up front and a steady dose of the run game. Hopefully the misdirection plays and spread formations inside the red zone will be replaced with a hard-nosed power rushing attack between the tackles.
It’s been said that offensive linemen like playing for Grimes, who allows the big men up front to be the aggressors at the line of scrimmage.
Under center for the Badgers this season will be transfer quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who last year at Maryland completed 273-of-420 pass attempts for 2,881 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
His back-ups look to be senior Hunter Simmons and sophomore Danny O’Neil. Simmons is a transfer from Southern Illinois and O’Neil a transfer from San Diego State.
Among the top receiving targets for Edwards will be returner Vinny Anthony, who caught 39 passes last season for a team-high 672 yards and four TDs.
Joining him out wide looks to be a combination of Chris Brooks Jr. and Ohio State transfer Jayden Ballard, while Trech Kekahuna will be playing in the slot left vacant by Pauling who transferred to Notre Dame.
If there is one player on the Badger’s offense to keep an eye on this season, it has to be Trech Kekahuna (#2). As a redshirt freshman, Kekahuna caught 25 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns, but entered his name into the transfer portal at the end of lasat season.
A phone call and meeting with Grimes convinced him to stay in Wisconsin, and the redshirt sophomore has been turning a lot of heads at fall camp ever since. Badger fans will be glad Kekahuna is wearing red and white and not the yellow and green of the Oregon Ducks, who also offered the speedster a scholarship out of high school.
Lining up at tight end are Tucker Ashcraft and Lance Mason, while Jake Renfro (C), Joe Brunner (LG) and Riley Mahlman (RT) look to anchor the offensive line.
With last year’s leading rusher in Tawee Walker transferring to Cincinnati, the starting running back position appears to belong to Dilin Jones, with Darrion Dupree, Gideon Ituka and Cade Yacamelli getting some reps.
Jones, who according to 247sports, is the second-highest rated running back recruit in program history next to John Clay, appeared in three games during his redshirt season last year, rushing for 88 yards on 16 carries.
There appear to be a few more questions than answers on the defensive side of the ball early in the season, where the three anchors of the defensive secondary look to be Christian Alliegro (LB), Preston Zachman (S) and Ricardo Hallman (CB).
Most of the defensive question marks appear to be on the defensive line, where of the 21 transfers signed by the Badgers during the offseason, seven were defensive linemen. There were also two transfers added at linebacker, two at cornerback and two at safety.
After giving up an average of 165 rushing yards per game, defensive coordinator Mike Tressel looked for more size up front coming into the 2025 season, and it appears he found it.
Of the 11 defensive linemen listed on this year’s roster, seven are 300 pounds or heavier, with another at 299 and one more at 295. The average weight in the defensive line room is 305 pounds, with the shortest standing at 6’2” and the tallest at 6’5”.
At the head of the line during defensive drills were Ben Barten (6’5”-323), Charles Perkins (6’2”-316), Jay’Viar Suggs (6’3”-299) and Parker Petersen (6’4”-315).
Anchoring the linebacker crew looks to be Christian Alliegro and Tackett Curtis, while the secondary will be lead by safeties Preston Zachman and Austin Brown along with cornerback Ricardo Hallman.
While it’s true the Badgers have the No. 1 toughest schedule in college football this season, I’m convinced after spending a few days at fall camp that they have some pieces in place that could surprise some people.
