MADISON – Luke Fickell stood in front of the media after a loss at Alabama a few weeks ago and talked about the need for him to stay positive with his young team.

And while there is a need for that from the coach more than ever, the reality is that these are dark days for the Wisconsin Badgers football program.

Its 37-0 loss to Iowa on Saturday Oct. 11 at Camp Randall Stadium was the Badgers’ fourth straight loss this season and eighth straight Big Ten defeat dating to last year.

The outcome was stunning because UW had this game circled on the schedule. The team was humbled in a 42-10 loss in Iowa City last year. The Hawkeyes’ visit to Camp Randall was supposed to be a day of atonement. Instead, the Badgers lost by an even larger margin while suffering their first shutout at the hands of the Hawkeyes since 1996.

Overall the game marked the first time Wisconsin was shut out since a 59-0 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game in 2014.

The loss left Fickell in search of answers.

“I apologized to our guys to not have them ready, to not have them ready,” he said. “I’m dumbfounded in a lot of ways.”

More: Which turnover was the turning point of Wisconsin football’s loss to Iowa? Take your pick.

Badgers offense equals season-low 209 total yards

The team’s struggles on offense once again made the game difficult for the rest of the team.

The Badgers faced the 113^th-ranked offense in the nation and made the game easy for it with three turnvers during the first 16 minutes. As a result, Iowa needed to gain only 46 yards to score 17 of its first 20 points.

The UW defense, which allowed 329 rushing yards to the Hawkeyes last season, allowed just 210 this time. That total, however, is deceiving. Iowa’s 5.8 yards per carry compared to the 6.1 yards it averaged against the Badgers last season shows a performance very comparable to a year ago.

That said, the UW’s three early turnovers didn’t give the team a chance.

Anyone who has watched the Badgers this season knew that a deficit of that magnitude would be very difficult to overcome. The Badgers haven’t scored more than twice in three previous games. And in each of those contests that second score came late in the fourth quarter, long after the game was decided and the opponent began pulling key players.

“Not that you can go back and change it, but I hope and believe that had that not started the way it did (with) the turnovers, at least it would have been a hell of a lot different game,” Fickell said. “I’m not saying they’re not a better team than we are. I just think that it’s not fair that we were not able to put ourselves in a position where we could make it a damn football game.”

QB Hunter Simmons’ turnovers were debilitating

Southern Illinois transfer Hunter Simmons finished the night with 82 yards on 8-for-21 passing and the dubious distinction of having two passes picked off by defensive linemen.

The first came off a pass deflected by defensive end Brian Allen and caught with a diving effort by Bryce Hawthrone at the UW 24 with 3 minutes 52 seconds to go in the first quarter. Defensive tackle Aaron Graves got the second interception when he dropped into coverage and right into the path of Simmons’ throw to Vinny Anthony. Graves returned the pick 35 yards to the Badgers 1 at the 1:45 mark of the first quarter.

More: Why Luke Fickell stuck with Hunter Simmons at QB in Wisconsin Badgers’ 37-0 loss to Iowa

Simmons’ third turnover, a lateral he threw with the defense bearing down on him, gave Iowa a first down at the Badgers’ 28 50 seconds into the second quarter.

Turnovers at the QB position by Danny O’Neil and now Simmons have put the Badgers in tough spots this season.

One of the beauties of first-year offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’ offense is its ability to be productive without high-level quarterback play. That hasn’t come to fruition yet at Wisconsin, which has been hit with the injury of Billy Edwards (sprained knee) at the position and erratic play of backups O’Neil and Simmons. The Badgers’ 209 total yards Saturday equaled a season low and marked their fourth straight game with fewer than 300.

“This is not going to be an easy fix,” Fickell said. “Pound the rock is the idea. Something has to break at some point and time. I’m not going to say tonight was an opportunity for that, but every night, every Saturday is an opportunity for that and it did not happen tonight.”

UW’s woes come as once-struggling Big Ten programs thrive

As far as bad losses go, add this to a list that in the Fickell era that includes the 20-14 loss at Indiana in 2023, setbacks in 2024 to Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota and losses to Alabama, Maryland and Iowa this year.

Wisconsin’s poor performances are coming at a time when once-struggling programs such as Indiana and Illinois are thriving. UCLA has wins over Penn State and at Michigan State since firing DeShaun Foster. Northwestern upset Penn State on the road Saturday.

While the Badgers made improvements to elements of their roster, the results show that they have not outpaced what other teams are doing.

The situation leaves Fickell with a 15-17 record at Wisconsin facing the biggest challenge of his career and little reason to believe change is around the corner. Opportunity, however, knocks the next two weeks when UW hosts No. 1 Ohio State on Oct. 18 and travels to No. 2 Oregon on Oct. 25.

Saturday night the coach was asked if he believed he can turn around the program.

“There is nothing I can say out here publically that is any different. What matters is what is said in that (locker) room,” Fickell said. “I don’t fault you for asking. I don’t think people should think anything different, but the truth of the mattter is this is not an easy fix and we’ve got a hell of a long way to go.”