The Wisconsin football team opened fall football camp Monday at Camp Randall Stadium. The first-hand report from Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Brian Lucas follows.

Breakdown: The Badgers practiced for 25 periods (just over two hours) on the field at Camp Randall Stadium wearing only helmets (well, shorts and jerseys as well). It was a hot, muggy day with temperatures in the upper 80s and high humidity. There were a couple of sprinkles during practice but the cloudy skies never opened up.

Much of the practice centered around individual drills, as head coach staffid=559"> --> Bret Bielema alluded to in his postid=1204"> --> blog entry . Everyone on the 105-man roster participated in practice, including the many players who were injured during spring practice.

'I went around and watched seven guys during individual (drills) the first 10 minutes of practice just to see how they were moving,' Coach Bielema said. 'I watched athid=5639&deptid=111"> --> Matt Shaughnessy run off of the ball during our pursuit drill and he really had a great gait. He had had some weight room numbers two weeks ago that were above what he was when he was injured, so I think mentally he was into it.'

mid=2398"> --> Complete video from Coach Bielema's post-practice media session

Six starters did miss about half of practice due to class conflict (the final week of the second summer session comes to a close on Friday), including defensive backs Jay Valai, Shane Carter and Aaron Henry. That resulted in a lot of defensive backfield time for Niles Brinkley, Chris Maragos and Aubrey Pleasant.

Play of the Day (offense): Sophomore wide receiver athid=6570&deptid=111"> --> David Gilreath made a diving catch, showing great hands, of a short pass during skeleton passing drills.

Play of the Day (defense): During the same drill (that was really the only drill where the offense and defense went heads up at full speed), cornerback athid=5255&deptid=111"> --> Allen Langford made a triumphant return to the practice field by picking off a tipped pass.

New Kid on the Block: Heading into camp, the Badgers knew they would have to replace a pair of kickers that were very dependable for them over the last few years, punter Ken DeBauche and kicker Taylor Mehlhaff. On Monday, the team may have gotten a glimpse of their punter of the future.

'One of the surprises of the day, which as coaches we had hoped for silently, was the emergence of our punter,' head coach Bret Bielema said. 'One thing I think all of our players would say if asked about the surprise of camp was that Brad Nortman was able to go out there and show that he definitely has a live leg and has the ability to put the ball in the right area for us to have success in the coverage game. '

Nortman, a true freshman from Brookfield, Wis., put on quite a show during the special teams period in the middle of practice. After hitting his first punt off the side of his foot and out of bounds, Nortman found his groove. Each punt got progressively longer and higher, and he had the players standing behind the punt team making a lot of noise ( 'There it is, 98!'). His final three punts each traveled at least 50 yards with the final one being the longest.

Honorable mention NKOTB goes to sophomore manager Joe McKillip who spent roughly seven periods as the scout team quarterback against the first- and second-team defense. Dressed in only a t-shirt, shorts and sneakers, he ran everything from the sprint option to dropback passes (all without any observed water breaks).

Overheard: 'Watch the guy in front of you.' ' Running backs coach staffid=778"> --> John Settle talking to redshirt freshman athid=6725&deptid=111"> --> John Clay , stressing the ability to learn from your teammates after sophomore athid=6579&deptid=111"> --> Zach Brown made a nice read and cutback on a draw play during an 11-on-11 period.

On the same page: One of the more interesting drills of the day came around period 20. The defense was lined up, as was the offensive line. The skill players formed two huddles. The first set broke the huddle, lined up and then proceeded to go into pre-snap motion. The ball was snapped but no play was run. As soon as that 'play' was done, the next set of skill players lined up, shifted and snapped the ball.

The point of the rapid-fire drill, according to Bielema, was pre-snap communication on the defensive end. At one point, Bielema stopped the drill and asked a defensive lineman if he knew the down and distance. He didn't and Bielema made the point that everyone must handle their pre-snap responsibilities, whether your job is to shout out down and distance or call out the secondary calls. That communication allows all players to be on the same page and able to react better once the play starts.

'Communication-wise, we did a period in the middle of practice where we kind of shotgun fired two huddles at a time at our defense, a little faster than normal game speed and everybody handled it pretty well,' Bielema said.

Roster Shuffling: Junior running back Lance Smith, who was suspended from the team indefinitely on July 24, has left school and will be exploring his transfer options. 'I really believe that he feels a fresh start is going to be in his best interests,' head coach Bret Bielema said ' junior defensive back Josh Nettles will not participate in fall camp due to academic issues ' Chris Garner, a true freshman, 'won't be with us this fall or probably any time in the future,' according to Coach Bielema due to a 'family decision' ' Mike Taylor, an incoming freshman, had surgery in late July and will be out for 4-6 weeks. He will miss fall camp but will re-join the team after camp and most likely redshirt, according to Bielema ' freshman walk-on athid=7164&deptid=111"> --> Matt Groff was added to the roster. A linebacker from Mahtomedi, Minn., Groff will wear No. 56 ' also added to the roster was junior athid=5663&deptid=139"> --> Jordan Hein , a member of the UW wrestling team the last three years. He will wear number 64 and play along the defensive line. 'He gave up some money to walk on with our football team so I respect him for that,' Bielema said. 'We really felt that we needed a couple more bodies that we felt could project to play for us this year at the defensive line.'

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