Robert Wheelright shines, O-line flops at Wisconsin Badgers spring game
By Phil Watson
Reaching out to the Wisconsin Badgers recent trip to the championship game of the NCAA tournament, senior basketball players Josh Gasser and Duje Dukan were the honorary captains Saturday for Wisconsin’s annual spring football game at Camp Randall Stadium.
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Team Gasser rode two touchdown catches from junior receiver Robert Wheelright and two touchdown runs from junior running back Dare Ogunbowale to a 35-7 thumping of Team Dukan.
It was Wheelright, who had seven catches for 79 yards and the two scores, who was the breakout performer of the day after posting just three receptions for 26 yards and one touchdown in his first two seasons.
“Hopefully Rob can take this and gain some confidence from it,” coach Paul Chryst told the Wisconsin State Journal. “Because if we’re going to be any good we’ve got to get production at that position.”
Both of Wheelright’s scores came in the first half, the first on a 17-yard reception from starting quarterback Joel Stave in the first quarter and later hauling in a 20-yard score from backup quarterback Bart Houston to put Team Gasser up 14-0 at the half.
Ogunbowale helped Team Gasser put the game away, scoring on runs off 55 and 20 yards in the third quarter to give his side a 28-0 lead.
Ogunbowale finished with 86 yards on 11 carries, while redshirt freshman Taiwan Deal had 76 yards on 15 carries. Junior Serge Trezy later scored on a 2-yard run to make it a 35-0 game.
The lone touchdown for Team Dukan came with 1:37 to go on a 34-yard pass from true freshman Austin Kafentzis to sophomore receiver George Rushing.
Trezy, still listed as a cornerback on the roster, finished with 47 yards.
“I thought Taiwan had a couple of runs where he showed really good patience and his vision,” Chryst said after the game, via the school’s official athletic department website. “As he gets more comfortable with the offense and maybe with himself, too, that’ll help.
“Dare is a guy that’s been around it, a little bit more mature, a guy that I think can contribute in a number of different ways. Certainly, (he) had a couple big runs (Saturday) and did some good things.”
The offensive line sparked some scares. Long heralded as a strength of the Badger program, the O-line—playing without starting center Dan Voltz and left guard Ray Ball—did not cover itself in glory Saturday, surrendering 10 quarterbacks sacks and leading the running game to just 3.2 yards per carry.
“Repetition is going to help us,” left tackle Tyler Marz told the Wisconsin State Journal. “As you get older and you mature, the game starts to slow down for you. These guys just kind of need to mature quicker.
“Other guys have had time to develop because we’ve had such strong offensive lines in the past. So these guys just need to develop that much quicker, whether it’s the weight room or in the film.”
Chryst agreed that growth is necessary.
“(The O-line depth) isn’t nearly where we want it to be,” Chryst said. “Now, I’ve seen guys that have grown and done some good things, but right now we don’t have the depth that we’d like to have.
“We have guys that I think did a lot of things this spring and learned and I think they grew. … I think we’ve just got to learn from what they did this spring and be better.”
As far as the quarterback play goes, senior starter Stave completed both of his throws for 55 yards and a touchdown.
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Houston, a junior, was 9-for-16 for 103 yards and a touchdown. True freshman Alex Hornibrook completed 5-of-13 for 58 yards, Kafentzis went 3-for-3 for 53 yards and a score, redshirt freshman D.J. Gillins was 5-for-10 for 50 yards and junior Thad Armstrong’s only attempt was incomplete.
Defensively, junior linebacker Leon Jacobs went for eight tackles, 2½ for loss, with 1½ sacks and a pass breakup. Redshirt freshman safety Ryan Bondoc had 12 tackles and broke up two passes and sophomore defensive end Chikwe Obasih had 2½ sacks.
Chryst’s format for the spring game had first-teamers playing against second-unit players on both sides of the ball, making evaluation a bit more difficult.
Former quarterback Tanner McEvoy, moved to safety for the 2015 season, had one tackle on defense. He also worked out at wide receiver this spring, but did not have a catch in the game.
Wisconsin opens the 2015 season on Sept. 5 in Arlington, Texas, taking on Alabama in the AdvoCare Classic at AT&T Stadium.