MADISON—The Wisconsin Badgers again took to the field on a beautiful, nearly cloudless Sunday morning at a field just north of Camp Randall Stadium.
Again, like the kickoff to fall camp on Saturday, the team practiced for just over 90 minutes in just helmets and shorts. As seen a day prior as well, the Wisconsin coaching staff worked mostly on special teams, positional and modified team drills.
During skelly drills, back-up quarterbacks Kare’ Lyles and Jack Coan each threw the ball relatively well—both completing 4-of-6 passes each. Lyles connected with redshirt sophomore tight end Kyle Penniston on a pretty pass to the sideline with decent coverage for about 25-30 yards, while Coan’s deep completion to sophomore wide receiver A.J. Taylor may have been the highlight of the day.
Safety Seth Currens did intercept a Coan pass, and it appears safety Evan Bondoc also picked off a Lyles pass—though for the latter I’m not exactly sure when during practice it was (wasn’t during the skelly portion I saw).
✈️ @ebondoc13 ✈️ #OnWisconsin #Badgershttps://t.co/lAyaYxlmqj
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) July 30, 2017
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Alex Hornibrook did not have a great day stats wise (I had him 2-of-9 with an interception, while others reported 3-of-12—I didn’t count two incompletions from what probably would have been pass interference calls). The interception came at the hands of redshirt junior T.J. Edwards.
Again, very, very early on, but the defense seemed sharp against the southpaw starter.
Practice 2 in the books. @OSagapolu takes you behind the scenes in our Instagram Story.
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) July 30, 2017
https://t.co/d9B2nESFLx#OnWisconsin || #Badgers pic.twitter.com/J9Ut1t7TqY
Ricky Finco, Henry Houden leave program
A UW official told B5Q and reporters right before practice that wide receivers Ricky Finco and Henry Houden left the Wisconsin football program.
Houden, a Madison, Wis. (Memorial) product, was not on the 105-man fall camp roster and did not play during the 2016 season.
Finco actually practiced yesterday—reeling in a deep reception that ended the team’s first session. The Hartland, Wis. native came to Wisconsin from UW-Whitewater during the 2015 season. He earned his first letter last season, playing in 12 games on special teams.
According to a UW official, it appears both will stay at the university.
Observations
- Through two days and watching certain position groups the first 30 minutes for photography and video purposes, I like the leadership of this team. The older players are giving instruction to the younger ones, and during one team conditioning drill, it appeared the vets were pushing a group of players to redo it faster.
- Freshman wide receiver Deron Harrell appeared shaken up (shoulder, per UW official) towards the end of practice during the skelly drill.
- During modified team drills, it looked like sophomore Garrett Rand lined back up at nose guard, though he’s listed as a defensive end (and played there during the spring) with many being told he would bump back out from the position he played last season. Billy Hirschfeld was outside to end and is listed as so on UW’s official roster, though it was reported he would play nose guard. Again, very early on and the coaching staff is probably moving players around in the first set of practices. It should be interesting how the deep defensive line shakes out.