This story was updated to correct a misspelling/typo.
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is not concerned with the context or the setting surrounding his team’s trip to Evanston, Illinois to face the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday.
That setting: Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium — a temporary facility built for the 2024 and 2025 seasons as Northwestern completes construction on the new Ryan Field.
For Badgers fans who haven’t followed this story, that means the days of a 3/4-empty Ryan Field with ankle-long grass are in the past. Wisconsin’s final game in that building was its 42-7 win over the Wildcats in 2022, Jim Leonhard’s first game as interim head coach.
Northwestern has since moved to this temporary setup. It is 2-2 in the new building this season with wins over Miami (OH) and Eastern Illinois, and losses to Duke and Indiana. Saturday will actually be the final game played there this season, as the Wildcats will move to play the remainder of its home games at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.
Here is a look at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium, a 12,000-seat practice field with one sideline abutting Lake Michigan.
Fickell was asked about playing in the unique setting during his media availability this week. He did not want to buy into the new stadium as any significant storylines.
“Wherever they ask us to play or tell us to play, we’ll play,” Fickell said. “If it’s a parking lot, we’ll play in a parking lot. I don’t think we got a whole lot to say after how we performed and how we played [against Northwestern] last year. So I couldn’t care less where we’re playing at and what the situation is.”
That performance he references is a 24-10 loss to the Wildcats at Camp Randall Stadium. The loss was the low point of the 2023 season for the Badgers, and was the game that led Northwestern to remove the ‘interim’ tag from head coach David Braun.
Fickell expanded on his message to the team and how the players should handle the trip.
“Anytime you go on the road in the Big Ten you’re going to have to handle some things,” Fickell continued. “Whether it’s a new stadium, whether it’s the wind. Whether it’s a locker room. It is what it is. Not going to spend a lot of time worrying about that. But obviously our guys will be aware that it’s not where they’ve probably played in the past or what they would expect. But again that can’t be any distraction or of any concern this week. Because we have a lot of work to do.”
Members of that 2022 team who currently start for the 2024 Badgers include WR Vinny Anthony, LT Jack Nelson, LG Joe Brunner, RT Riley Mahlman, TE Riley Nowakowski, DL Ben Barten and Curt Neal, OLB Darryl Peterson, ILB Jake Chaney, CB Ricardo Hallman and Austin Brown, and S Hunter Wohler and Preston Zachman.
A lot has changed since the 2022 Badgers led by Graham Mertz got Jim Leonhard his first win as a head coach. This trip to Evanston, Illinois guarantees to be different, both in the context surrounding the game and in its location.
All eyes should now turn to the weather forecast and the wind dial readings. Whether Fickell focuses on it or not, this new stadium setting has the chance to severely impact the on-field play.
Wisconsin and Northwestern will kick off at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
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