Wisconsin HC Luke Fickell: Badgers in a ‘really good place’ entering final week of fall camp

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell met with the media on Saturday as the Badgers concluded the third week of their 2024 fall training camp.

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell met with the media on Saturday as the Badgers concluded the third week of their 2024 fall training camp.

One final week remains before game-week preparation officially begins on Aug. 26. Wisconsin then opens its season on Friday, Aug. 30 at home against Western Michigan.

Related: Projecting Wisconsin Badgers two-deep depth chart heading into Week 4 of 2024 fall camp

Fickell’s session with the media came after the Badgers’ last full scrimmage of the fall camp session. He explained where the team stands after the scrimmage, now entering the final stretch before the upcoming season kicks off.

“[Saturday’s scrimmage] was one of the last days where we could really truly kind of get after it in a way that we would like to before we find out on [Aug. 30] what we really got,” Fickell said. “That doesn’t mean we’re done. That doesn’t mean camp is over. There’s a different mode here as we move forward. I think we’re in a really good place.”

Wisconsin’s head coach continued to explain the balance between preparing for the upcoming games, and ensuring health before the schedule begins.

“I think it’s a little bit unique now to say ‘okay, we have to continue to work, we have to continue to do things we need to do.’ But we also need to get ourselves healthy. We need to try to find a way to get our legs and our minds back in this next phase of where we’re headed here,” Fickell continued. “So we can take advantage of not having our guys in school — that routine where we can spend more time. Not too much [time]. But spend more time. Where that’s even taking care of themselves physically. And that’s what we have to do.”

The Badgers open their 2024 season against Western Michigan, ESPN SP+’s No. 110-ranked team in the country (out of 133). They then host South Dakota, the No. 5-ranked team in the FCS preseason coaches poll.

All of that leads to Week 3 against No. 5 Alabama, arguably the biggest game at Camp Randall in over a decade.

Any of Wisconsin’s remaining preseason work before the days leading up to Aug. 30 will almost certainly be done with the Alabama matchup in mind.

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