BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Journeying down West Dayton to East Campus Mall through the heart of campus to a lakeshore path and back to Camp Randall Stadium,
Ted Gilmore and
John Settle will cover about three miles on their daily walk, during which the UW assistant coaches will converse about anything and everything.
"We talk football, we talk movies, we talk about what is going on with our families," said Gilmore, the wide receivers coach, who along with Settle, the running backs coach, is completing his fifth season on Paul Chryst's staff. "Every day that conversation is a little bit different."
Coming off Saturday's 24-22 win over Iowa, they had plenty to talk about.
Settle could talk about Jonathan Taylor rushing for 250 yards, backup Nakia Watson delivering some timely runs and fullback Mason Stokke's blocking. Gilmore could talk about Quintez Cephus stretching the defense on vertical routes and Danny Davis, Kendric Prior and A.J. Taylor each catching at least one pass. Pushing the ball downfield opened up other avenues to the offense.
"They're all at the point where they understand — whoever is on the field — that they've got to value that moment and then obviously celebrate each other's success," Gilmore said of his receiving corps. "I saw that firsthand last weekend, there were guys in different roles and different formation groups, and they all had a chance to make some plays and they were genuinely excited for each other."
Nobody was more excited to get into the end zone again than Davis, who scored on a 17-yard jet sweep (his first rushing touchdown in 10 carries over 33 career games) and a 4-yard pass (his first TD reception in 2019 after producing five scoring receptions in each of the last two seasons).
"It has been on my mind a little bit," admitted Davis, who last scored against Minnesota in the 2018 regular-season finale at Camp Randall Stadium, a nine-game scoreless span. "But you can only control what you can control. I try to go out there each week and whenever my number is called, I try to make those plays. You never know. I didn't know this would happen Iowa week."
Considering that quarterback Jack Coan has more targeting options with the return of Cephus (who last played in 2017) and Taylor's development as a trustworthy receiver out of the backfield, Gilmore has appreciated how Davis has handled his business in a changing landscape.
"His maturity has been called into play at times and he has handled it fine," Gilmore said. "When you add one more body (Cephus) to the room, it changes it for everybody, including him. I've been proud of how he has handled that. And I've been proud of how he has controlled his self-talk — those conversations that you have with yourself to keep working and fighting through it."
Most wide receivers are wired to want the ball. Davis is no different. "You can say all you want, but it's not easy," he said of accepting fewer targets. "It's not easy being a receiver and being competitive and wanting to make those plays. But you have to do what is best for the team and know it's going to come your way, and when it does, you have to make those plays and be the guy you are."
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As a true freshman, Davis was a big-play guy when he burst on to the scene. Three of his first six catches went for 32, 35 and 50 yards. He also had "explosives" of 27, 28 and 33 yards and averaged 16.1. By contrast, he's averaging 7.8 yards on 25 receptions this season. His longest is 14 yards.
"Let's make no mistake about it," Gilmore said, "the playmaking capability is still there."
It's more a case of opportunity, to which Davis conceded, "You've just got to stay patient."
Gilmore has been nurturing that type of mindset in all of his receivers. "That has been the biggest thing for me to watch in his growth," he said of Davis. "It's got to be, 'You know what? I'm not going to be the guy every single play. But when I'm called upon, I've got to be ready.'"
Davis, a junior from Springfield, Ohio, is different in many respects from his first year.
"He's a lot more physical," Gilmore said, "and he knows what he's doing."
He also has been more conscientious of nutrition and taking care of his body. Since he's an Ohioan, it was only natural for him to read up on LeBron James, who has always been fanatical about his training and diet. In addition, he led some off-season preparation for several of his teammates, including hot yoga. Davis convinced running back Jonathan Taylor, cornerback Faion Hicks and a few others to give it a shot.
"This summer, I wanted to try something different," Davis said. "I wanted to eat healthier and get more agile and more flexible and that's why I started doing yoga. It was another way to work and help your body besides lifting. You think going in there, it's pretty easy. But the yoga kicked my butt, no lie. There were moves I had never done before and I was working muscles I've never worked before."
Davis weighed 205 pounds during spring practice and "I found out that I didn't like the way I felt" so he has since dropped down to 195 and "I love how I'm feeling right now." Besides cutting back on soda and Kit-Kats ("I'm a candy fanatic"), he has been limiting his late-night snacks to fruits.
"I'm way more comfortable and I'm happy where I'm at," said Davis, who credited Gilmore's influence on his game and gamesmanship. "I used to be a little hot-headed, but he got me to be more relaxed and not so uptight and he got me to be more of a team player. I love the way he coaches."
On the other hand, Gilmore was not in love with the way his receivers, as a whole, started the Iowa game. "Obviously, we made some plays post-snap," he said. "But we had some hiccups pre-snap whether formation issues or false starts. Those are controllable. Since I've been here, that's never been an issue for us. That was very glaring and we have to clean that up."
Especially on the road. Especially since one of the Big Ten's loudest venues is Memorial Stadium (capacity: 85,458) in Lincoln, Nebraska. Saturday's game will mark the 374th consecutive sellout, a streak that began in 1962 (five years before even Gilmore was born). "It gets pretty loud and there's great energy in that stadium," Davis said. "We have to feed off it and use it to our advantage."
Per usual, the UW wide receivers will be the last position group to leave the field during pregame warmups. They will gather together and form a tight huddle. "We've been doing that since my freshman year," Davis said. "It's a little motivation to get everybody in our brotherhood going: 'Let's show everybody what we can do. Whenever anybody's number is called, let's go make those plays.'"
They all have a sweet tooth for that.
