A season ago, Wisconsin had the chance to derail a perfect season. A season ago, undefeated Oregon entered Camp Randall Stadium and walked out with a 16-13 victory decided in the fourth quarter. Dillon Gabriel converted a crucial fourth down to tight end Terrance Ferguson, and Matayo Uiagalelei sealed the win with a tip-drill interception. A season ago, Wisconsin was close.

This season, the Badgers, who own the nation’s third-most difficult schedule, are kingmakers in the Big Ten – or, at least, they could’ve been.

On Saturday, Oregon (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) will encounter a Wisconsin (2-5, 0-4 Big Ten) team riding the bottom of the conference, on its third-string quarterback and a shadow of the one that posed it a real threat in 2024. The Badgers are winless in five straight entering Week 9 and struggling on both sides of the ball. Head coach Luke Fickell’s program has already faced then-No. 20 Michigan and No. 1 Ohio State, and will take on No. 2 Indiana and No. 23 Illinois back-to-back in November.

Since its two season-opening nonconference victories, Wisconsin has struggled in conference play, where it remains winless ahead of Saturday’s matchup with Oregon. It hasn’t scored a touchdown since the first quarter of its Week 6 loss to the Wolverines and has no points in its last two games.

A defense averaging 341.9 yards of total offense per game against, too, hasn’t helped. The Badgers’ leading tackler from 2024, Hunter Wohler, was picked by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft and while they’re 14th nationally in rushing yards against per game, it’s mostly because they’re leaky on the back end, where they allow 8.2 yards per pass (112th in FBS).

After starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. suffered a sprained knee in Wisconsin’s Week 1 win over Miami University (Ohio), time under center has largely been split between Danny O’Neil, a sophomore who transferred to Madison from San Diego State before the season and won the starting job, and Hunter Simmons, a senior who logged his first game action this year. Neither has been efficient. O’Neil has thrown five touchdowns and five interceptions, and was replaced by Simmons following the Badgers’ Week 4 27-10 home loss to Maryland. 

In the three games where Simmons has thrown at least 12 passes, Wisconsin hasn’t looked much better – albeit against stronger opposition. After a 24-10 loss at Michigan where he logged 177 passing yards and an interception, the offense was shut out in back-to-back losses to Iowa (37-0) and Ohio State (34-0). Simmons tossed a pair of picks against the Hawkeyes and one last week against the Buckeyes. It’s not clear whether Edwards will return this season and Fickell was noncommittal about his quarterback’s timeline following the loss to Ohio State. 

It’s not much better on the ground, where the Badgers rank 122nd among the 136 FBS teams in rush yards per attempt, with 3.1. Sophomore Dilin Jones leads in attempts (76), yards (300) and touchdowns (two), but no other Badger has more than 169 yards. Darrion Dupree and Cade Yacamelli complete the room, and neither has a score this year.

The five-game slide that delivers Wisconsin to tie-dyed Autzen Stadium began with a 38-14 loss to Alabama (the second of a home-and-home that began in 2024), before the Badgers entered conference play with a 27-10 loss to Maryland, which was O’Neil’s last game. 

Since, they’ve dropped to Michigan before the back-to-back shutouts against Iowa and Ohio State, and enter Eugene searching for salvation in a season that they’re trying to prove hasn’t been completely lost yet.

Kickoff between the Ducks and Badgers on Oct. 25 is set for 4:00 p.m. on FS1.