A fresh look for the Badgers
September 12, 2002 | Football
If the normal college football-playing freshman spends his initial season getting his feet wet, then it's safe to say that several Wisconsin rookies have jumped into the deep end of the pool and started doing the backstroke.
In fact, 12 Badger true or redshirt freshman dot the team's two-deep heading into Saturday morning's home game against Northern Illinois (11:10 a.m. CDT, ESPN Regional). Half of those dozen newcomers are in their first years of college.
It's tough to single out any one more than the other, but certainly receivers Brandon Williams and Jonathan Orr, fullback Matt Bernstein and running back Dwayne Smith have distinguished themselves over the first three games of the season.
Orr, a redshirt freshman from Detroit, is the team's leading receiver with 14 receptions for 285 yards and three touchdowns. He set a school freshman record for receiving yards in a game with 150 at UNLV and already has the fourth-highest receiving yardage total for a freshman in school history. Williams is the team's No. 2-leading pass-catcher with 10 receptions for 187 yards, including a six-catch, 125-yard performance last week against West Virginia.
Bernstein has carried the ball only eight times this season, but has scored three touchdowns, including two in the season-opening win over Fresno State. In doing so, he became the first Badger since Aaron Stecker in 1995 to score a pair of touchdowns in the first game in which he ever carried the ball. Smith has proven to be a good complement to All-American Anthony Davis. A Chicago native, Smith has rushed for 38 yards and a touchdown in each of the last two games.
Other freshmen who have seen action this season are offensive linemen Jason Palermo and Donovan Raiola (both redshirt freshmen), true freshman flanker Brandon White, redshirt freshman defensive lineman Mike Kleber, true freshmen linebackers Elliot Goode and LaMarr Watkins, and defensive backs Johnny Sylvain (redshirt freshman) and true freshman Levonne Rowan.
With this large crop of young players contributing so early in their careers, the future of the Wisconsin football program certainly looks bright.
