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The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Friday, March 29, 2024
Offense struggles while defensive backs impress

brinkley: Senior cornerback Niles Brinkley broke up two passes in Saturday?s spring game, drawing praise from head coach Bret Bielema.

Offense struggles while defensive backs impress

Any time three players with the combined talent of junior running back John Clay, junior wide receiver Nick Toon and sophomore linebacker Chris Borland are not on the field, the game is sure to be less exciting. When that game is essentially a glorified practice, excitement can be very difficult to find.

Aside from the general lack of explosive plays in Saturday's annual Spring Game at Camp Randall, execution lacked on both sides of the ball, leaving plenty of room for improvement before the Badgers play a meaningful football game in Las Vegas Sept. 4.

While the first-string offense moved the ball regularly throughout the afternoon, they did so without many big plays. Senior wide receiver Isaac Anderson accounted for the longest play from scrimmage in the first quarter with a 22-yard reception. The Cardinal squad, made up of the starters, managed only 110 rushing yards on 37 attempts, a paltry average of 2.5 yards per carry. While the absence of Clay puts a major hole in the backfield, more is expected out of a unit that returns all five offensive linemen.

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""It wasn't a good day for the offense,"" said senior lineman Bill Nagy. ""The intensity level was night and day from last [Saturday's scrimmage].""

On the defensive side of the ball, most of the questions center around the play of the secondary and the interior defensive line. The secondary has to find a way to replace last year's free safety and playmaker, Chris Maragos. Head coach Bret Bielema said he thought senior safety Jay Valai, who interceptd redshirt freshman Jon Budmayr in the second quarter, continued to show progress and he was impressed by the overall play of the cornerbacks.

""Niles [Brinkley] really stood out to me today in terms of the [passes he broke up] and the things that he was doing,"" Bielema said.

Brinkley, who has missed time this spring due to a hamstring injury, started on the White squad, behind juniors Devin Smith and Antonio Fenelus. Brinkley said both have made big plays this spring and he welcomes the competition for playing time.

""I don't think we're where we need to be all the way yet but I think we're making really good strides,"" Brinkley said. 

As for the defensive line, both the Cardinal and the White squads were effective in limiting the running game and pressuring the quarterbacks in passing situations. Even when the offenses moved the ball, they had trouble finishing drives with touchdowns. Junior defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who disrupted multiple pass attempts, said resiliency will be important throughout the year.

""That's one thing that we did last year that we have to continue to do this year is put out fires after big plays,"" Watt said.

Those big plays came in short supply for most of Saturday's scrimmage, but with key players missing time and the regular season still over three months away, Bielema said he thought the team appeared ready to attack summer training.

""It's a group that hopefully has understood that what they do today is going to determine their success tomorrow,"" he said. 

 

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