Colton Joseph ready to change Wisconsin’s recent history of misfortune with transfer QBs
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin has struggled to keep quarterbacks healthy or produce many points lately.
None of that bothers new Badgers quarterback Colton Joseph, who believes his success at Old Dominion can translate to the Big Ten. Joseph heads a list of 34 transfer newcomers — 27 from Football Bowl Subdivision programs — eager to help Wisconsin bounce back from consecutive losing seasons.
“I don’t really like to think about what happens in the past,” Joseph said after Wisconsin’s Tuesday morning practice. “That already happened. I’m really here to show what I can do in the future and show what we’re building towards and what plays we can make, and the offense that we’re going to build here.”
He will try to spark a Wisconsin offense that scored just 12.8 points per game and gained 253.1 yards per game last year to rank ahead of only UMass among FBS schools. Wisconsin went 4-8 last year after finishing 5-7 in 2024, ending what had been a Power Four-leading streak of 22 consecutive winning seasons.
Joseph was convinced he could succeed here after seeing highlights of quarterbacks working with Jeff Grimes, who is back for his second season as Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator on Luke Fickell’s staff.
He particularly took note while watching Zach Wilson, who led BYU to an 11-1 record in 2020 when Grimes was BYU’s offensive coordinator. Wilson was the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
“I saw some of the things (Wilson) was doing,” said Joseph, who threw for 2,624 yards and rushed for 1,007 at Old Dominion last season. “I thought, ‘Man, if I could get in that offense, I could probably do those things, too.’”
Fickell likes the way Joseph has adjusted to the challenge of leading a team he has just joined.
“There’s a guy with high expectations coming in and you can see a little bit of a natural tightness, that he wants to lead but he’s got so much to learn,” Fickell said. “Each and every day, especially practice-wise, you’re seeing him become a little bit more loose in what he’s doing.”
Fickell could use some better luck at the quarterback position as he begins his fourth season at Wisconsin. The Badgers’ intended season-opening starting quarterback has been available for the entirety of only 11 of their 37 games the last three years.
Tanner Mordecai came over from SMU in 2023 but missed 3 1/2 games with a broken hand that season. Tyler Van Dyke arrived from Miami the following year but tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the third game of the season.
Fickell added multiple transfer quarterbacks with starting experience as an insurance policy a year ago, and it still didn’t work out.
Maryland transfer Billy Edwards Jr. left with a sprained knee in the second quarter of the Badgers’ season-opening victory over Miami (Ohio). He returned to lead a couple of series Sept. 20 against Maryland but didn’t play again the rest of the season.
Danny O’Neil, who started 11 games at San Diego State, took over for Edwards and started three games but struggled and eventually suffered a leg injury. Southern Illinois transfer Hunter Simmons and freshman Carter Smith each started multiple games after Edwards’ injury.
While Edwards has since transferred to North Carolina, O’Neil and Smith remain on Wisconsin’s roster. But the Badgers expect Joseph to be their starting quarterback for their Sept. 6 opener with Notre Dame at Lambeau Field.
His status as a dual-threat quarterback makes him an injury risk if the offensive line doesn’t adequately protect him, but it also should produce a more dynamic Wisconsin offense as long as he stays healthy.
“Our coaches really emphasize scrambling,” Joseph said. “When the first play’s not there, there’s always a second play that’s within the play. I think I add an element that helps make explosive plays.”
Joseph passed for 4,251 yards with 32 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while rushing for 1,654 yards and 24 more scores at Old Dominion the last two years. He completed 59.7% of his passes and averaged 6.4 yards per rush in 2025.
He showcased how his rushing ability could make an impact against elite competition when he ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries in a 27-14 loss to eventual national champion Indiana, though he also threw three interceptions and had just 96 yards passing in that game.
What impresses Fickell the most is the 9-3 record Old Dominion posted in the games Joseph started last season.
“It doesn’t matter what level it is,” Fickell said. “Winning is winning.”
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