Badger Rewind: Wheelwright, passing game riding high
September 13, 2015 | Football
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Sept. 13, 2015
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com
MADISON, Wis. -- It was THE route in the rout. The back-shoulder fade and/or throw. And it was executed perfectly by Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave and wide receiver Rob Wheelwright on two touchdown strikes of 13 and 15 yards in 58-0 blowout of Miami University in the Badgers' home opener.
The beauty of the pattern is that the receiver doesn't necessarily know that the back-shoulder throw is coming. It's all about reaction and the placement of the ball, and those elements diminish the effectiveness of the defensive back regardless of how tight the coverage might appear to be.
"It's just a lot of trust -- you've got to trust that your guy is going to be able to react to it," Stave said after notching his 22nd win (22-8) as a UW starter. "The biggest thing is that they don't run a back-shoulder throw. They run a 'Go' (route) and they need to adjust to the ball.
"If you start running a back-shoulder route, that's when you start slowing down (as a receiver) and you start looking (for the ball) and the DB can react to it. You don't want it to be a surprise but you want them to be running the 'Go' thinking, 'I'm running past this guy' and then the ball stops him."
On his two scores, Wheelwright outmaneuvered two different Miami cornerbacks. One was a starter, junior Heath Harding; the other was a backup, freshman Deondre Daniels. What they shared in common was their height. Both are 5-10. Wheelwright is 6-3, 202 pounds. Size does matter.
"I would think so," said Wheelwright, whose older brother Ernie played at Minnesota (2004-07) and is the Gophers' fourth-leading leading all-time receiver. "It always helps being a bigger guy and being able to adjust to the ball, along with Joel putting it in places where smaller defenders can't get it."
| "Since the summer, we've been working on that play," Wheelwright said. "Coach has been telling us, 'We're going to throw the fade this year' and it has been doing tremendous." |
So what are the keys for Wheelwright, or any receiver, on the back-shoulder fade?
"I usually run it to win," he said.
And that translates how?
"I run it to get over the top of the corner," he explained. "I'm looking for a high fade ball and if he (Stave) throws it back-shoulder, I have to be able to adjust. Sometimes it's one of the hardest catches for a receiver. But, then, again, it works well against the defender because it's so hard to cover it.
"Since the summer, we've been working on that play," Wheelwright said of his offseason reps with Stave. "Coach has been telling us, 'We're going to throw the fade this year; we're going to throw the back-shoulder pass and we're going to see how well it does,' and it has been doing tremendous."
Coach? Who was he talking about? It could be head coach Paul Chryst. Or it could be wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore. Both are on the same page of the playbook, especially when it comes to the back-shoulder throws because they know how tough they are to defend.
If the receiver doesn't know what's coming, neither does the defensive back. Harding and Daniels were seemingly in good shape, crowding Wheelwright, but they got beat. "It's timing and just knowing -- knowing how the defender is playing and how Joel is going to throw it," Wheelwright said.
Not every situation is ideal for such a throw. "It depends on the look," Stave said. "You want to get the right defensive look. If you're getting press-man (coverage) and you know it's a good matchup then that's when you want to give it a shot. You see guys in the NFL do it all the time."
In particular, Stave singled out Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has mastered the back-shoulder fade with any number of receivers, most notably with Jordy Nelson, now injured. Nelson's size (6-3, 217) and speed are key ingredients. "You have to trust your guy," Stave said, "and the look."
Wheelwright would be the first to admit that he has been forced to earn that trust. Injuries have slowed his development. Through his first two seasons, 24 games, he had only three catches. But his lone reception of 2014 was huge: a 17-yard touchdown grab in a critical divisional win over Minnesota.
Although Wheelwright was injured and missed some practice time in training camp, he still got off to a promising start by catching a couple of passes, one for a touchdown, in the opener against Alabama. Saturday, he led both teams in receiving with six catches for 79 yards and two scores.
Wheelwright credited "getting more reps" for bolstering his confidence. "Just showing the coaches that I'm able to make plays has been great," he said, adding that another key has been "Joel Stave believing in me when he throws the ball -- knowing that I'm going to make the catch."
Gilmore, who spent the last three seasons coaching receivers for the Oakland Raiders, has been a positive influence on Wheelwright's emergence. "He has meant a lot to me," said Wheelwright, a junior from Columbus, Ohio, and Walnut Ridge High School.
According to Wheelwright, Gilmore has been consistent in his message: "I've taught you, so go out and play. Use what I've taught you and be you. Play to your best abilities. Be a playmaker."
So far, he has heeded those words and applied them to his ever-expanding game and impact.
You could say the same about Tanner McEvoy, whose personal expansion included starting at safety and wide receiver against Miami. "I felt fine, I didn't get too winded at all," McEvoy said after playing more than 70 snaps. "A few TV timeouts at the right time helped, too."
Was McEvoy on a pitch count? He laughed at the suggestion and said, "I just kind of communicated with the coaches and I was honest with them in letting them know when I was winded, so that was really our game plan. We do it every day in practice, so I was comfortable going both ways."
McEvoy got most of his snaps on defense and it paid off with an interception and a 41-yard return. "On back-to-back plays, we ran a corner blitz," he said. "I have the receiver (Jared Murphy) man-to-man and I saw on the first play that they were communicating with clapping."
Maybe only a former quarterback, like McEvoy, would pick up on that. "They (the RedHawks) tried to go back to the play," he said, "and the quarterback (Billy Bahl) threw it and receiver wasn't ready so I jumped it (the route). Should I have scored? Absolutely. So I'm a little mad right now."
In addition to his pick -- one of three by the Badgers, Leo Musso had the other two -- McEvoy had three catches for 29 yards. He also took a snap at quarterback in the shotgun formation and rushed for 2 yards. It was a pretty busy afternoon. "It's fun," he said. "It's fun getting out there that much."
Even without tailback Corey Clement and tight end Troy Fumagalli, both of whom were injured and didn't suit up for the game, Stave had multiple throwing options; so did his backup, Bart Houston. For a second straight week, the offense featured eight different receivers catching at least one pass.
It's pretty clear that if the Badgers are going to utilize McEvoy on offense, they have to find ways to get the ball in his hands. "Tanner is a really good athlete and he's pretty unique in what he's able to do," Stave agreed. "He's a guy whose role I think will continue to expand."
The same could be said of Wheelwright, who admitted, "This was a confidence booster."
