Badgers coach Luke Fickell facing plenty of heat as No. 1 Ohio State heads to Wisconsin

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — No. 1 Ohio State’s drive toward a potential second straight national championship includes a visit this week to an old friend going through a career crisis.

Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell played for Ohio State from 1993-96 and worked on the Buckeyes’ staff for 16 years, including a one-season stint as interim head coach in 2011. Now he occupies one of the hottest seats in college football.

Fickell’s Badgers (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) carry a four-game skid into Saturday's game with the top-ranked Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0). Wisconsin has lost 27-10 to Maryland and 37-0 to Iowa in its last two home games, leading to chants of “Fire Fickell” and speculation about his job security.

“For me to sit here and worry about all those other things, there’s not enough time in the day,” Fickell said. “There's not enough energy in the day. The focus for me and our staff is on the guys inside that locker room and doing everything we can to make sure we keep that thing rolling, they’ve got the right mindset, they understand what we’ve got to do, we’ve got to do together. We’ve got to put our best product out there on Saturday."

Ohio State has outscored its first six opponents by an average margin of 30 points. Wisconsin has dropped its last four contests by an average margin of 23 points.

Even so, the Buckeyes are taking nothing for granted.

“Well, they play hard,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “And they’re well coached. I think maybe the easy thing to do is to look at their record or look at maybe what happened last week and think otherwise. But that’s not the case. This is a team that has good players and is playing very hard.”

BetMGM Sportsbook favors Ohio State by 25 1/2 points. According to the Bet Labs database, before this week Wisconsin had never been more than a 19-point underdog (for a 52-21 loss at Ohio State in 2022) since at least 2005, which is as far back as its tracking goes.

“You've just got to realize what an opportunity it is,” Wisconsin cornerback Ricardo Hallman said. “These are the types of opportunities that you pray for, the situation you want to be in. And no matter if the outside world gives you, I go into (it with) the mindset that anybody is beatable. We're just not going to lay down because they're Ohio State, the No. 1 team in the country. You're going to go out there, play your best ball, live up to these moments."

Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith has a touchdown reception in five straight games as the sensational sophomore tries to match his streak from last year, when he caught a touchdown pass in seven consecutive games.

His seven touchdown catches this season put him in a tie for second place among all Bowl Subdivision players. San Jose State's Danny Scudero has an FBS-leading eight touchdown receptions.

Ohio State is allowing just 6.8 points per game to lead all FBS teams in scoring defense. The Buckeyes' 34-16 triumph over then-No. 17 Illinois last week marked the first time anyone had scored in double figures against them.

Wisconsin averages 15.5 points per game to rank 131st out of 136 FBS schools and last among Power Four programs.

Billy Edwards Jr. was Wisconsin's season-opening starting quarterback, but he sprained his knee in the second quarter of the Badgers' first game and has played only one full series since. Fickell had no update on Edwards' status during his weekly news conference Monday and didn't indicate who might start if the Maryland transfer is unavailable.

Danny O'Neil took over for Edwards initially and has completed 70.6% of his passes for 640 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions. Hunter Simmons, who has started Wisconsin's last two games, has completed 55.9% of his passes for 329 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Ohio State has won 10 straight games, matching Memphis for the longest active streak of any FBS team. Wisconsin has lost its last nine games against Power Four programs.

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