BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — With an opportunity to get away from football, and even his teammates for a weekend, thanks to a bye in the schedule, Kendric Pryor purposely did neither. Instead, he attended a couple of games and took advantage of a bonding road trip with his fellow Wisconsin wide receivers.
Last Friday night, Pryor watched his alma mater, Homewood-Flossmoor (Illinois) High School, lose its first game of the season to No. 1-ranked Lincoln-Way East. His little brother plays for the H-F Vikings.
Last Saturday, Pryor welcomed a handful of his Badgers teammates to his hometown, Hazel Crest, 25 miles south of the Chicago Loop. Joining him that afternoon for lunch in the "city" were wideouts A.J. Taylor, Danny Davis, Jack Dunn, Adam Krumholz and quarterback Jack Coan.
That night, they made the 90-minute drive to South Bend, Indiana, where they watched Notre Dame roll to a 38-17 win over Stanford. Pryor knows Irish cornerback Julian Love, who's from Westchester in Chicago's western suburbs.
Coan knows a little bit about the campus. As a high school freshman (Sayville, New York), Coan verbally committed to Notre Dame in lacrosse. But it was a short-lived commitment once the college football recruiters began showing up on Long Island and he opted to pursue that sport instead.
The Badgers contingent soaked up the atmosphere at Notre Dame Stadium ("It doesn't compare to here," Pryor opined in favor of Camp Randall) and took note of Stanford's Bryce Love, who was held to 81 yards on 17 carries. Love and Jonathan Taylor were among the preseason Heisman favorites.
"It was a little different watching in the stands than being on the field," said Pryor, who checked out the moves the receivers were using to get open. Miles Boykin, another Chicago-area product, had 11 catches. "I was more focused on the corners and how they played. You can always learn something."
At the very least, the Chicago/South Bend excursion solidified the esprit de (receiving) corps.
"I would say that we're like brothers — the bond we have as a receiving group," said Pryor, a 20-year-old redshirt sophomore. "We enjoy hanging out and doing things together just to keep that bond. We always have each other's back on the field and off the field."
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After redshirting as a true freshman, Pryor appeared in only one of the first five games in 2017 while recovering from a moped accident. He made the trip to Nebraska but didn't see any action in the 38-17 victory. His first "moment" was a clutch third-down catch against Purdue in mid-October.
Once in the rotation, he began making plays. He had a receiving and rushing touchdown against Iowa, a rushing TD against Michigan and three catches against Minnesota. He finished the season with 13 receptions, just five more than he has through the first four games this year.
"The game is slowing down for me," said the 5-foot-11, 181-pound Pryor, who opened the 2018 season with four catches for 51 yards and a score against Western Kentucky. "Just the experience from playing the second half of last season has helped me become a better receiver. Just the little details."
Pryor is the first to admit that he must become a better route-runner.
"It has gotten better," he proposed, "but it's still not where it needs to be."
Neither is his blocking. But he's not alone.
"We're inconsistent and we need to get better," wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore said of his position group. "We're hit and miss. And it's effort and a mindset. I'm not happy with what we're doing in the run game right now."
Gilmore is looking for more big plays on the ground. A well-executed downfield block might turn an efficient run into an explosive one and score. It's part of the equation with getting Jonathan Taylor to the second level of the defense. His longest run against BYU was 16 yards. At Iowa, it was 15.
"There's always things that you can go back on film and say, 'I could have done this better or maybe if I took this type of angle, I could have gotten the block,'" Pryor said.
There was a play in the second quarter against the Hawkeyes that Pryor knows that he should have made in the passing game. On third-and-2 from the Iowa 46, quarterback Alex Hornibrook put a deep throw on his chest, but safety Amani Hooker jarred it from his grasp and the Badgers had to punt.
Once it became a contested play — with Hooker arriving shortly after the ball to support his cornerback — Gilmore noted that Pryor still had the ability to make the catch in traffic. "Now that we're there, let's finish it," he said, encouraging all his receivers to do likewise. "I'm glad he recognized it."
That he did. "Personally, I should have held on to that pass," Pryor acknowledged. "I've made those plays plenty of times. That was a drop on me. When Alex gives us a chance, it's time for us to make a play on the ball as receiver. I told him (Hornibrook), 'I got you next time … I'll bring it down.'"
And he kept his word. On the fourth-quarter drive that staked the Badgers to a 21-17 lead, Hornibrook completed 5 of 5 passes; two of them were to Pryor, for 5 and 28 yards. "My challenge with KP," Gilmore said, "is each day, how are we getting better?"
The same could be said for everyone, including Davis, who had four catches in his first game of the season against BYU and one at Iowa. "Each day, he's getting better, "Gilmore said, "and he's getting more and more in sync with things. I expect that to continue."
Two true freshmen wide receivers, Aron Cruickshank and Taj Mustapha, have gotten limited reps and that's by design. "We're still not ready to completely turn them loose," said Gilmore. "They haven't earned that trust yet. It's still a game-by-game situation depending on what's happening."
To this point, the Badgers have complemented their wideouts with redshirt freshman tight end Jake Ferguson, who's the second-leading receiver behind A.J. Taylor. Ferguson has 12 catches (13.8). Another complementary piece has been tailback Garrett Groshek, who has nine receptions.
"With what opportunities that they've had in the passing game," Gilmore said, "the guys for the most part have done their job catching the ball. But we can get better there, too. There are plenty of examples where you can turn on the tape and see that we're not winning our one-on-ones."
The Badgers scored touchdowns on each of their final two series against the Hawkeyes. As for any carryover coming off a bye week, Pryor insisted, "We want to continue where we left off as an offense. It's how we want to start our first drive against Nebraska. Let's not take a step back."
First and 10: Nebraska
1. Only three opposing RBs have rushed for over 100 yards against UW in the last 31 games. Nebraska's Devine Ozigbo (112) and Ohio State's JK Dobbins (174) last year and BYU's Squally Canada (118) this year. Ozigbo had a career-high 170 vs. Purdue last week.
2. Senior WR Stanley Morgan has caught at least one pass in 30 consecutive games (7 shy of Johnny Rodgers' record) and at least three passes in 16 straight. Morgan has 136 career receptions for 2,012 yards and 16 TDs, including a career-long 80-yarder vs. the Badgers last year.
3. Sophomore WR JD Spielman, the son of Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, had 10 catches and 2 TDs last Saturday. He's the fastest player in school history to reach 1,000 receiving yards. Last year, he caught 55 passes for 830 yards (11 for 200 vs. Ohio State).
4. Redshirt freshman WR Kade Warner made his college debut vs. Purdue and caught two passes. Warner, a walk-on, is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, now a TV analyst.
5. Quarterback Adrian Martinez (6-2, 220), a true freshman from Fresno, California, poses a dual-threat as a runner and thrower. Against Purdue, he rushed 18 times for 91 yards and threw for 323 yards (25-of-42). Martinez was an early enrollee and star of the spring game.
6. The Cornhuskers have one of the more balanced offenses in the Big Ten, averaging 203.5 rushing yards and 207.2 passing yards. By comparison, the Badgers are averaging 266.2 on the ground and 200.8 through the air.
7. Penalties, penalties, penalties. The Huskers rank 128th out of 129 FBS teams in average penalty yards per game (96.75). Only South Alabama is worse (96.80). They've had 12 personal fouls (eight on defense), 7 offensive holdings and 5 delay of games.
8. The last time Nebraska played at Camp Randall (2016), D'Cota Dixon broke up a pass from Tommy Armstrong to Morgan in the end zone, allowing UW to escape with a 23-17 overtime win. Dare Ogunbowale rushed for 120 yards, including the game-winning TD.
9. The Huskers have 12 sacks through four games (Badgers have three). Luke Gifford, Freedom Akinmoladun, Khalil Davis and Ben Stille have two or more each. Linebacker Mohamed Barry is the leading tackler overall despite missing two-plus quarters for a targeting foul vs. Troy.
10. Nebraska head coach Scott Frost has been mentored by the elite. He played for three Hall of Fame coaches: the late Bill Walsh and Tom Osborne (as a college QB) and Bill Parcells (as an NFL safety). He was also in camp with Mike Sherman's Green Bay Packers (2001-02).
Note to Quote
There were a couple of pick-sixes in last season's matchup. Wisconsin linebacker Chris Orr picked off a Tanner Lee pass and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. Nebraska's Aaron Williams picked off an Alex Hornibrook pass and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. The Badgers won the turnover battle, 2-1, by also recovering a fumble by Stanley Morgan. Since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten, UW has never lost that turnover statistic against them in seven games, one of the factors in the current five-game winning streak.
Quote to Note
On how he spent last Saturday's bye, Gilmore said, "I got a chance to watch other people stress."
