There were plenty of good things on display Thursday afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium, when the Wisconsin football team took the field for another crack at a full-contact scrimmage.

Both the first- and second-team offenses and defenses rotated through several drives, beginning at different points on the field.

Neither the first- or second-team offense or defense established firm control over the other, although toward the end of the day, the defense began winning on a few more plays.

The No. 2 offense started slow but looked better as the day went on.

News from infirmary

Linebackers Mike Taylor and Kevin Claxton returned to action Thursday and participated in all drills, while Chris Borland remained on the sidelines for scrimmages.

Wide receiver Nick Toon returned to practice, running routes with the quarterbacks and participating in a brief, light-contact scrimmage early in the day. He did not take part in the full-contact scrimmage.

After injuring his foot earlier in fall camp, Toon ran routes without a limp of any kind and looked impressive during his limited practice time.

“Felt good to be back out there,” he said.

Cornerback Devin Smith returned to practice and participated in all drills.

Wilson shows off arm in light contact scrimmage

• On what might have been the play of the day, quarterback Russell Wilson stepped up into the pocket and launched a 32-yard pass downfield to redshirt sophomore Jeff Duckworth, who roped in the ball between two defenders with only his right hand. That left the defensive backs shaking their heads.
• On one of his first plays from scrimmage after returning from a foot injury, Toon outran cornerback Antonio Fenelus and got behind the safety to catch a lofted pass from Wilson in the deep middle for a 65-yard touchdown. Obviously, Badger fans will want to see the Wilson-to-Toon connection often this season.
• Toon also took snaps with the No. 2 offense, and shortly after his welcome-back touchdown, he connected with Joe Brennan on a 15-yard out.
• UW’s starting backfield continues to show deft ability in the passing game. Montee Ball caught an over-the-shoulder pass from Wilson approximately 15 yards downfield near the left sideline, with Smith and safety Shelton Johnson nearby.
• By the time individual drills and the light contact scrimmage finished, however, five wide receivers and tight ends had dropped at least one pass. As the day went on, that trend dissipated.

Tug-of-war in full contact scrimmage

• UW’s highly anticipated running game started the day well when the offensive line carved open a gaping hole for Ball, who went 25 yards on the first play.
• Shortly thereafter, however, the defense struck back. Ball later ran to the defense’s left and defensive end Louis Nzegwu, who lined up on the far right side of the line, ran across the way to nab the running back for about a two yard loss. A couple plays after, defensive tackle Patrick Butrym blew past the offensive line and smacked Ball for another loss. Nzegwu later recorded another tackle-for-loss on a 3rd and 5 play.
• Freshman running back Melvin Gordon again impressed onlookers today with his speed and surprising power. The 200-pound back started the day working mostly with the second-team but eventually saw ample carries with the first. His speed allowed him to turn the corner on the defense multiple times, gaining 15-20 yards in the process and on one specific play, probably made contact with four or five defenders as he powered his way to an 8-yard gain and a first down. He also outran the defense on a 45-yard touchdown run. It wasn’t a field day for him, though. He had his turns of being brought down behind or near the line of scrimmage and also dropped an easy 5-yard dump-off from Wilson. Still, he was quite impressive.
• Overall it was a solid, but not utterly spectacular day for the defense. Zero turnovers were forced, but tackling was not sloppy by any means (which is impressive, given how little opportunity they’re given to practice that). Quarterbacks felt pressure and the secondary got in the way of a few passes.
• Despite either being absent from out or seeing limited time in practice over the last three sessions due to injury concerns, Taylor showed he’s still ready to play at a high level. Early in the scrimmage, Wilson completed a 7-yard pass to Jake Byrne near the sidelines and Taylor promptly caught the tight end and brought him down soundly.
• Both defensive units came out on top during redzone drills. On three attempts, the first team came away with only one touchdown, when Wilson lobbed a 5-yard pass to Jacob Pederson in the back of the endzone. The second offense, meanwhile, failed to cross the goal line in two attempts. No turnovers were committed.
• Freshmen tight ends Austin Maly and Sam Arneson had a few good catches with the second team Thursday. On one particular drive Maly caught a pass for a first down and three plays later, Arneson hauled in a 28-yard catch. It was one of three receptions Arneson had that went 20 yards or more.a
• The No. 1 and 2 offenses had differing degrees of success to close out the day. The first-team went out by Wilson hitting Byrne on a 20-yard touchdown pass. The second-team, meanwhile, put together three consecutive plays that moved the chains, accumulating about 56 yards in the process, But on the last play of the day with the ball inside the 5-yard line, Brennan fumbled the snap and it was not clear who landed on it.