One year ago, freshmen wide receiver Kyle Jefferson and freshmen defensive back Aaron Henry were relative unknowns to the Badger faithful. Today both are seeing significant playing time for UW and elevating their status to impact freshmen.
Wide receiver Kyle Jefferson has had the biggest impact of any of UW's freshmen. He not only leads freshman wide outs nationally in average yards per reception at 19.7 yards, but also ranks 12th in the country in that category among all receivers.
It's scary that he's so young and what he's been able to do within our offense,"" senior quarterback Tyler Donovan said.
""We don't see a lot of freshmen receivers come out the way he has, and be productive the way he has.""
When senior wide receiver Luke Swan went down with a season-ending injury, the 19-year-old Jefferson was promoted to UW's No. 1 wide out. He has been a welcome surprise hauling in 16 receptions for 315 yards over seven games this season, proving he is a solid target for Tyler Donovan.
""It feels good,"" Jefferson said. ""It tells me that my quarterback is really trusting me to catch the ball ... so I'm just happy.""
Playing in a program coached by Ted Ginn at Glenville High in Cleveland, Ohio, Jefferson has not lost much in his career.
Clearly, even at his young age, losing is not an option for the wide out.
""I'm growing up every game,"" Jefferson said. ""I don't like to lose, and losing is something that I want to stop because I know we're better than that.""
One of the major problems for UW in this two game skid has been the inconsistent play of the defense.
As the game proceeded against Penn State last Saturday, freshmen defensive back Aaron Henry was inserted for struggling junior defensive back Allen Langford.
Henry made the most of his opportunities as he recorded a sack and set a new UW record for sacks by a defensive back with 3.5 in just seven games.
""I feel like I did a pretty decent job, I was just trying to go in and play my butt off and try to do what is best for the team,"" Henry said. ""I'm a team player and I just try to go out there and make plays.""
The 18-year-old freshmen from Immokalee, Fla., much like Kyle Jefferson, has been a product of a winning high school program and knows what needs to be done in order to turn the season around.
""We're not comfortable with the losses at all,"" Henry said. ""We [have] got to take this '1-0' mentality. [Personally] since last week [at Illinois], I haven't lost a football game in two years, so it was kind of rough on me.""
""We're not going to get comfortable with this losing thing, not at all, that's not us, that's not this coaching staff, so we're going to do what we have to do to win.""
It seems that the UW football team has two solid, determined players that will lay the foundation not only the rest of the 2007 season, but for years to come.
