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Home > The Swing > Wisconsin lands transfer QB Colton Joseph
Podcast: The Swing
Episode:

Wisconsin lands transfer QB Colton Joseph
Category: Sports & Recreation
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2026-01-04 15:58:28
Description:

Wisconsin has its next starting quarterback.

Former Old Dominion signal caller Colton Joseph committed to the Badgers on Sunday and has two years of eligibility remaining.

Sources: Wisconsin has signed quarterback Colton Joseph, the school’s top quarterback portal target. He’s an Old Dominion transfer who threw for 21 TDs this year and ran for 13 more. He threw for 2,624 yards and ran for 1,007. pic.twitter.com/tPAALr7md0

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 4, 2026

Joseph started 20 games over the last two seasons for the Monarchs after being a three-star recruit coming out of Newport Beach, Calif. He was the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year in 2025 when he threw for 2,624 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also did a lot of damage on the ground, running for 1,007 yards and 13 more touchdowns.

Old Dominion went 10-3 on the season, with their only losses coming against College Football Playoff teams Indiana (27-14) and James Madison (63-27), along with conference rival Marshall (48-27). Jospeh struggled throwing the ball against a very good Hoosiers defense, tossing three interceptions, though he did run for 179 yards and two scores. In his other game against a Power 4 opponent, an upset at Virginia Tech, Joseph had 276 yards passing, a couple touchdowns, along with 63 yards rushing and another score.

Joseph led an offense that finished 16th in the country in total yards, seventh in rushing and 83rd in passing, while ranking 29th in scoring (32 points per game).

Wisconsin went to the transfer portal for its starting quarterback for a fourth straight year and need it to go much better than the first three. Injuries at the position led to the team’s preferred starter being able to finish just 11 of the 37 games in the Luke Fickell era and that played a major role in back-to-back seasons without a bowl game for the first time since the early 1990s.

The injury situation really hampered offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes in his first year. He lost starter Billy Edwards Jr. in the first game, forcing him to adjust the offense to the skillset of backup Danny O’Neil. The San Diego State transfer shined against Middle Tennessee State but it didn’t last and was replaced by senior Hunter Simmons at the start of October. That move did not jump start the offense as hoped, with Wisconsin managing just 17 points in the entire month. O’Neil returned against Washington but suffered a serious leg injury early in the game, giving way to true freshman Carter Smith for the final month of the season.

All of that led to the Badgers scoring the fewest points by a Big Ten team since 1997, with the group finishing 135th in the country in scoring, 132nd in passing and 116th in rushing.

With Edwards Jr hitting the transfer portal, Simmons exhausting his eligibility and O’Neil’s uncertain medical status, Joseph joins Smith and incoming true freshman Ryan Hopkins as the scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. That will likely force Wisconsin to take more than one from the portal.

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