Luke Fickell was devastated by Wisconsin’s heartbreaking loss to No. 1 Oregon

On By Littum

This loss is going to sting for a while. On Saturday night in Madison, the Wisconsin Badgers had a chance to shake things up for the country by taking down No. 1 Oregon. Luke Fickell and Co. was neck and neck with the top team in the country.

At one point, Wisconsin was up 13-6 in the second half and it looked like the biggest upset of the year would be posted. Instead, the Badgers couldn’t make a play late, and Oregon was able to escape with a 16-13 win.

Give credit to Dan Lanning and his players as they delivered with the game on the line. Wisconsin frustrated Dillon Gabriel all night, but the team’s incredible effort fell short. After the final whistle, Fickel met with the media, and you could tell that he was devastated by the loss:

“It’s crushing,” Fickell said via 247Sports. “Right now we haven’t been able to find a way to finish. It’s hard not to find a way to come out on top again. Obviously they fought their ass off, they did everything we asked them to to do and they played the way we expected them to play.”

The Ducks were heavy favorites and not many people thought Wisconsin would keep this one close. However, the defense was downright awesome, giving Oregon all sorts of problems. It was the best anyone has seen Gabriel this year.

On offense, however, Braedyn Locke and others couldn’t get into a rhythm. The play calling by Phil Longo was also very questionable, which has people furious with him on social media. With Wisconsin up in the second half, it really felt like it was going to be a night to remember at Camp Randall.

Unfortunately, everyone was reminded of the near upset against Penn State, where the Badgers fell short again. Down by three points with under two minutes left, the Locke interception to seal the Oregon victory was heartbreaking.

Now Wisconsin has games against Nebraska and Minnesota to try to capture its sixth win of the year. For now, though, everyone will wonder what could have been against Oregon if a few plays had gone differently.