There’s already a look ahead to next season for the University of Wisconsin football program. That included Luke Fickell having a conversation with one of his transfer quarterbacks.
A number of questions from reporters Fickell fielded Monday could be grouped into the “roster management” category nearing the end of his second season. He said that they have had talks with some players during the bye week. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear on the first series against Alabama in September, was among them.
Van Dyke is a fifth-year senior who completed over 63% of his passes for 422 yards and one touchdown to zero interceptions in two-plus games.
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Whether or not Van Dyke can and will return is one of the many storylines among Wisconsin quarterbacks that could be in flux entering the offseason.
“He's got a long way to go, and his mindset is, he thinks he would like to have another year,” Fickell said. “But he still doesn't know how well he's going to heal, how fast he's going to heal.
“He's obviously feeling better, and he's moving around, but there's still a long way to go for him, and I think that those are things that are on his mind.”
Here are three other things that stood out from Fickell’s weekly news conference Monday.
James Thompson Jr.’s ‘very limited’ return
Another redshirt senior, defensive lineman James Thompson Jr. played for the first time this season against Nebraska after suffering an upper-body injury in August, though he received limited snaps. Fickell talked about the thought process of him playing, but also briefly spoke about what could be ahead if he wanted to stay at Wisconsin for another year.
There are other roster management decisions to be made with early signing day Dec. 4 and the transfer portal running Dec. 9-24, and a program without an offensive coordinator after Fickell fired Phil Longo.
Hunter Wohler, Will Pauling injury updates
Two All-Big Ten honorees, safety Hunter Wohler and wide receiver Will Pauling, missed Saturday’s game at Nebraska. Wisconsin (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) has a shorter week of preparation for its 11 a.m. Friday kickoff against Minnesota (6-5, 4-4).
Minnesota’s offense balanced offense "solid across the board"
Wisconsin will need to contain sophomore running back Darius Taylor (730 yards rushing, 4.8 yards per carry, nine touchdowns). The Gophers’ ground game hasn’t been menacing, gaining only 104.8 yards rushing per game on 3.5 yards per attempt.
FCS transfer quarterback Max Brosmer has completed 67% of his passes for 2,426 yards and 15 touchdowns to five interceptions in 2024.
