Practice Report No. 2: Warming up
December 23, 2008 | Football
For those of you that don't remember the practice reports here on UWBadgers.com from fall camp, each day Brian Lucas and Rudy Nigl will bring fans inside the team's Champs Sports Bowl practices with an in-depth look at the day's work.
Breakdown: The nice thing about playing on Saturday is that the team can lay out its schedule the same as a normal game week. With that in mind the Badgers ran through a normal Tuesday practice today, full pads, 22-periods in length. The only abnormal part was that the temps were in the low 70s, a stark contrast to the mid 30s of the last outdoor practice in Madison (prior to the Cal Poly game) and even better than the 60s we practiced in yesterday.
Play of the day (offense): The young wide receivers seem to be carrying over their good play from the latter half of the regular season. Both Nick Toon and Isaac Anderson made several nice grabs during practice. One of Anderson's grabs is pictured below. The two of them combined for 16 catches and 253 yards over the last two games of the regular season.
Play of the day (defense): Defensive linemen usually don't get to touch the ball much but today was different. The linemen knocked down several passes, with Mike Newkirk, Matt Shaughnessy and Jeff Stehle all breaking up passes.
Return man: Tight end Lance Kendricks has practiced the last two days, his first practices since breaking his leg in the Michigan State game. He participated in all the drills today, catching a couple passes when the first-team offense went against the scout team defense.
Overheard: 'Congratulations seniors, you're last padded practice. Well, full pads, that is.' Head coach Bret Bielema addressing the team after practice.
Also, 'Man, I'm too big for those rides.' Running back John Clay responding to a question about whether he was going to Universal Studios after practice.
Up Next: UW will have its final tough work day tomorrow, going for another two hours in half packs (shoulder pads and helmets). The mercury is supposed to rise again tomorrow with temperatures reaching the 80s. It will feel just like fall camp again.
