Luke Fickell Updates Badgers' O-Line Health, Evaluates Week 1 Performance

All eyes were on the Badgers' offensive line in Week 1 against No. 4 Notre Dame for a myriad of reasons.

First and foremost, Wisconsin was dealing with several high-profile injuries to starters up front. Right guard Emerson Mandell and right tackle Kevin Heywood were both question marks heading into Sunday night. The latter played, while Mandell sat out.

That led to a rotation at right guard between Arkansas transfer Blake Cherry and D-II Augustana transfer Stylz Blackmon. Neither were an abject disaster, but both had plenty to clean up.

Wisconsin fans were also anxious to get a glimpse of the Badgers' new-look offensive line under new position coach Eric Mateos, who's injected hope into a position that's been uncharacteristically poor during the Fickell era. The physicality and overall demeanor of the offensive front was undoubtably on every Badgers' fan's mind.

Facing FCS Western Illinois in Week 2 and the MAC's Eastern Michigan in Week 3, the Badgers have a little breathing room to figure out their offensive front before Big Ten play kicks off. Still, Fickell had plenty to say about his offensive line at his Week 2 press conference.

Updating the health of RG Emerson Mandell

Right guard was the biggest problem up front for the Badgers against Notre Dame, performance-wise. The way Fickell addressed Mandell's health, he doesn't sound too concerned with his long-term availability, although it's very feasible that he might miss another game or two at this juncture.

“We’ll see what Emreson has, we’ll see if we can get him in some this week, if not, next week. We’re hoping and believing he’s getting closer to that," the head coach said.

That's a classic non-answer from Fickell, but it doesn't sound as if the team is that confident he'll be ready to go against Western Illinois. Mandell's injury is certainly dragging out longer than expected, considering he was initially expected to be a go in fall camp. But it appears the Badgers will likely have to make do without their starting right guard for at least another week.

Evaluating play of Stylz Blackmon, Blake Cherry

Wisconsin offensive lineman Blake Cherry. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Blackmon and Cherry left a lot to be desired Sunday night, but we can't evaluate their performance without context. Neither player had started a game at the Power Four level yet, and it happened to be against one of the best defensive fronts in the sport and a team widely expected to compete for a national title. And again, it's not like either player's performance was a true disaster; there's just certainly some things to clean up.

“It was very promising. Both of those guys rolled in there. Blake ended up with a few more snaps that Stylz, but that was just based on the drives they were in. I thought it was a good plan. They switched every series, for the most part," Fickell said.

"It wasn’t too big for (them). I think that’s a really promising thing for us as we continue to grow.”

Wisconsin is going to need its offensive line to continue to improve as the season wears on, but Fickell likes the early returns even from a banged-up and relatively inexperienced group.

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