Wisconsin football fans put Luke Fickell on hot seat again after loss

Maryland hasn't won many football games in the Big Ten Conference over the last two years.

The Terrapins, at least, must be happy that they have had Wisconsin on their schedule.

For the second straight year, Maryland, a team with an interim head coach, has defeated Luke Fickell's Badgers, in what is another setback for a Wisconsin squad that can't seem to sustain any kind of momentum as the season has progressed.

Last season, the Terrapins came into Camp Randall Stadium for the conference opener and pummeled Wisconsin, beginning a brutal losing skid for the Badgers. Meanwhile, Maryland wouldn't win again the rest of the year.

This season, Maryland continued to struggle and fired its head coach after a 0-5 start in Big Ten play. The Terrapins responded by beating Purdue for their first conference win since that September 2025 victory over the Badgers. But they came into this game without their starting quarterback due to injury.

It didn't matter. Backup QB Cardell Williams set a school record for completion percentage and the most consecutive completed passes in the game as the Terrapins scored the game's final 10 points to rally past the Badgers 24-21.

Wisconsin lost the ball three times on fumbles, with two of them directly leading to 10 Maryland points, including the winning field goal late in the fourth quarter. It was Maryland's first time winning consecutive Big Ten games in more than three years.

On the other hand, since winning their first two conference games of the season, the Badgers haven't won consecutive games, going 2-3 during this stretch. The wins seem to be uplifting but then a week later any positivity is gone by the time the clock hits zero after another deflating loss. The Badgers dropped to 6-4 overall with all four losses coming away from Camp Randall Stadium.

Before last season, Wisconsin had never lost to Maryland. Now, the Badgers have lost twice in back-to-back seasons.

That is more than enough for Wisconsin football fans and some media members to put Fickell back on the hot seat. And that's if he ever left it.

Wisconsin loses to Maryland, reactions

I don’t know what the answer is to save this program

But it ain’t Fickell and Co.

It’s time to move on

— not bob kozlowski (@notbobkoz) November 14, 2026

Is Luke Fickell back on the hot seat? You cannot lose to Maryland.

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 14, 2026

The Fire Fickell Crowd will be at an ALl-TIME high after this terrible road loss at Maryland. Are we watching the end of the Luke Fickell Era at Wisconsin? @ESPNMadison @ESPNMilwaukee

— Kyle Wallace (@espnkylew) November 14, 2026

Maryland is a bad team who played awful today.

It was enough to beat Luke Fickell and the Badgers. pic.twitter.com/NrFEYd7DHr

— The Red Shed (@TheRealRedShed) November 14, 2026

A 3-6 maryland team with their backup qb begged us to beat them and we lost. That’s the dagger for the fickell era

— Ryan (2026 WS CHAMPS) (@BrewPack8) November 14, 2026

Sooooo Luke Fickell.

Welcome back to the hot seat. And it’s scorching, dude. https://t.co/QQtOqdExWg

— Cole Thompson (@MrColeThompson) November 14, 2026

Yeah, the Luke Fickell era needs to end. It just isn't working. https://t.co/0YFbFuHKDH

— Evan (@EvanBoller) November 14, 2026

The quarterback play at Wisconsin also isn't impressing or winning games for the Badgers.

Wisconsin has not had a 100-yard passer in 4 of its last 5 games.

The Badgers went 6 straight games last season without a 100-yard passer.

— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) November 14, 2026