BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — As soon as Wisconsin junior wide receiver Jazz Peavy made the connection, a small, knowing smile creased his face.
This was late Saturday afternoon after a career outing by Peavy helped the 10th-rated Badgers batter Akron 54-10 in a home opener at Camp Randall Stadium.
Peavy caught seven passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns — all personal milestones, all coming in the first half, all from senior quarterback Bart Houston — as UW won its 36th-consecutive non-conference outing at home to extend the sixth-longest streak in NCAA history.
Peavy, from Kenosha, also checked in with a 23-yard run on a jet sweep and made key catches in three early scoring drives that set the tone for a balanced, dominating show.
"We knew what we wanted to do this game," Peavy said after the Badgers (2-0) amassed 292 yards passing and 294 rushing. "We just had to execute it and that's what we did."
Peavy strode out of Camp Randall feeling content, which was definitely not the case after his previous outing at home.
He was upset and bewildered, at the epicenter of controversy, after a costly 13-7 Big Ten loss to Northwestern last Nov. 21.
"I wouldn't say anger as much as maybe more confusion," Peavy said of his postgame emotions after that setback. "A little upset for sure."
Peavy appeared to catch a 1-yard scoring pass from quarterback Joel Stave in the waning seconds only to have the potential game-tying reception nullified via video review. It gave way to an unsettling rules debate about what constitutes a legal catch.
"I don't even think about that no more," Peavy said. "The game's gone. I've built off that. I've learned from it."
What did he learn?
"Finishing was the biggest thing I took from it," Peavy said. "Finishing every play. Finishing every catch that you can and giving everything you can."
Coincidentally, Peavy caught the first TD passes of his career Saturday in the same south end zone as that ill-fated sequence last November.
Both came on slant routes. Both came in the second quarter. Both came off strong, humming feeds from Houston.
When the Badgers opened the season with a 14-13 upset of then-fifth-ranked LSU in Green Bay on Sept. 3, Houston fielded questions about his impressive chemistry with junior tight end Troy Fumagalli.
Fumagalli caught seven passes for 100 yards — both career highs — and it looked as though Houston had a reliable security blanket.
But the Zips (1-1) made a point of bracketing Fumagalli with multiple defenders, encouraging Houston to look elsewhere for help.
Enter Peavy.
"We don't say we're going to go in and get this guy going or get that guy going," Houston said. "All of our guys are options and Jazz just happened to be open. Jazz won his one-on-ones."
Another target was senior wide receiver Robert Wheelwright, who caught four passes for a career-high 99 yards, including a career-best 47-yarder.
Wheelwright said members of the UW receiving corps were still in search of a rhythm last week during the victory over LSU at Lambeau Field when the group combined for eight catches for 89 yards.
"This week we're trying to attack and make plays, put the ball in our playmakers' hands and see what they can do," he said.
Houston eliminated the mistakes he made against LSU — two interceptions, one of which was returned for a TD — while completing 15 of 22 passes for a career-best 231 yards.
"I feel like we did a great job," Wheelwright said. "Bart made some great calls, some great reads, and threw it to receivers who made catches."
Two true freshmen — A.J. Taylor and Quintez Cephus — also made strong impressions in the playmaking department. Taylor hauled in a 35-yard strike from redshirt freshman backup quarterback Alex Hornibrook and Cephus made an acrobatic grab on 10-yard dart from Hornibrook.
"Since fall camp I've known we've got a lot of talent on this team," Peavy said. "Any receiver out there can go and make plays.
"It's a week-to-week thing. Guys are competing."
Houston aimed his first throw at Fumagalli on a designed rollout early in the first quarter, but overthrew him and didn't aim in that direction again until midway through the third.
"Next week it may be Rob and Fum again," Houston said, pointing toward another non-conference assignment with Georgia State on Saturday at Camp Randall. "You just don't know. We'll just see how it goes."
One of the questions about the Badgers coming into the season had to do with the depth and quality of their passing attack.
It's looking better each week. In all, 10 different players have caught passes and four — Fumagalli, Peavy, Taylor and Wheelwright — have receptions in excess of 20 yards.
If fans and opponents are surprised, "They shouldn't be," Wheelwright said.
"We put in the work and now it's time to show it. This is our breakout year, showing that we can pass the ball and will pass the ball."
