Beaver Stadium is Easily the Toughest Road Venue on Wisconsin's Schedule—And Luke Fickell Knows It

Wisconsin's head coach isn't shying away from an environment he expects to be "electric."

Penn State fans celebrate after the Nittany Lions score a touchdown. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

109,000 fans. A typically elite football program. The occasional white-out game. Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley is among the most difficult road venues in all of college football, and Luke Fickell knows it.

“There’s no place than can be a wilder, crazier, louder environment than Happy Valley, in a game that means a lot," he said in the opening statement of his Week 4 press conference.

The head coach is right; this is a massive game for both programs. The start of Big Ten play is always a big deal. Though we love to overreact to what we saw in out-of-conference play, those games never define the season. Conference games are what make or break any given campaign.

Forget rivalry games and trophy games, which are obviously always of massive importance. Head coaches are judged largely against how their team competes against its conference counterparts, and right now, Fickell is 10-17 against Big Ten opponents.

The head coach knows he needs to prove his team can compete in the Big Ten after it went 2-7 in conference play last fall. Facing the No. 13 Nittany Lions on the road is certainly a daunting task, and the Badgers are multiple-score underdogs — this isn't a game they're expected to win. But getting off to a second-straight 0-1 start in Big Ten play wouldn't do Fickell any favors with his seat among the hottest in college football.

“In my time in the Big Ten, there’s no tougher place to play than Happy Valley," he said, referencing his playing and coaching days at Ohio State.

Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For Penn State, head coach Matt Campbell is off to a tremendous start. The Nittany Lions have largely dominated their soft Group of Six non-conference slate (with the exception of Temple, who they beat 27-9 in a sleepy Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia in Week 2) and find themselves ranked No. 13 in the country ahead of Big Ten play. The defense, particularly the secondary, looks elite, and quarterback Rocco Becht is off to 751-yard, nine-touchdown, zero-interception start while completing 70% of his passes.

This is a game the Penn State fanbase is used to winning and wholeheartedly expects to win. For years under previous head coach James Franklin, the Nittany Lions' issue was an inability to get over the hump and slay the dragon by beating elite teams. They never had much of an issue as favorites.

But if Campbell loses this game? The questions will start to fly in Happy Valley. Can Campbell succeed in the Big Ten? Is his roster, heavily populated by Iowa State transfers, ready to compete against the top of the conference if it couldn't beat what most see as a middling Badgers squad? All has gone according to plan three games into the Campbell era. But a loss to Wisconsin would be a disaster for Penn State.

“This is another top-10, top-12 opponent, there’s an emotional side of things we’ve gotta be prepared for. Whether that’s from the very start in an environment like that, to coming out at half, being able to play 60-plus minutes," Fickell added.

"We have not been in an environment like this. It’s gonna be fun, it’s gonna be electric, don’t get me wrong.”