After catching seven passes for 131 yards and a touchdown Saturday in the Badgers’ 20-19 victory over Arizona State, senior tight end Lance Kendricks drew high praise from head coach Bret Bielema at his Monday press conference.

“Lance Kendricks was off the charts,” Bielema said. “Obviously seven catches for the 100-plus yards, but just the way he’s playing and competing and the difference he’s making in our run game is really, really jumping out on film.”

At a program known for the success of its tight ends in recent years, including Travis Beckum, Owen Daniels, and Garrett Graham – now all on NFL rosters – Kendricks is making his own mark on the position.

“If you took a vote I bet our kids would say he is one of the top five workers in our program,” Bielema said.

Kendricks, whose seven receptions on Saturday tied a career high, drew even higher praise from the head coach himself.

“He’s playing as good of football as we’ve seen at that position,” Bielema said.

Special Teams Concerns

The up-and-down performance of the special teams units, which gave up a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown and was one missed tackle shy of allowing another right before halftime, didn’t seem to faze Bielema.

“It’s just a learning curve,” Bielema said, referring to kick coverage.

Bielema also explained that roles on special teams are not the most exciting task for players, so the coaches are responsible for instilling the proper understanding of its importance in their players.

“It’s up to us to breed that mentality into them,” Bielema said.

Despite its several lapses, there were positives in the performance of the special teams. After the Sun Devils scored a touchdown with 4:02 remaining in the fourth quarter to pull within one point of tying the game, senior safety Jay Valai blocked the extra point attempt, which led to a one-point victory for the Badgers. For his performance, Valai was declared co-Special Teams MVP for the game.

Dealing with the injuries

As the Badgers move closer and closer to Big Ten play, the injury list keeps growing larger. Linebacker Chris Borland, who has had recurring shoulder issues, missed most of the contest after re-injuring his shoulder. According to Bielema, there are “no updates” on Borland’s status but he confirmed the sophomore linebacker will not play this week.

The setbacks for the defense didn’t end with Borland against ASU. Middle linebacker Culmer St. Jean also missed some time, as well as defensive end J.J. Watt.

On the offensive side of the ball, wideouts Nick Toon and David Gilreath are both questionable for Saturday’s game against Austin Peay, although if the Badgers were to play tomorrow, both wouldn’t play, according to Bielema.

Despite these misfortunes, Bielema lauded his team for its resiliency.

“No one flinched when others went in,” Bielema said, highlighting the performances of Kendricks as well as Isaac Anderson and Jared Abbrederis, who saw increased playing time because of the absence of Toon and Gilreath.

As for the offensive line, Bielema complimented right tackle Rickey Wagner, who filled in for the injured Josh Oglesby. Bielema also noted that Oglesby will probably be cleared to play for Saturday’s game. At right guard, Bill Nagy and Kevin Zeitler both have a share of the position, although Bielema hinted that Nagy is ahead of Zeitler as of right now.

Regardless of problems and setbacks, the Badgers have demonstrated that they have a host of capable players that can fill in whenever necessary.

“I expect whoever it is to step up,” Bielema said.

Preparing for Austin Peay

After struggling to put away San Jose State and Arizona State, there are some concerns among followers of Badger football about the team’s ability to play a complete game and demonstrate consistent play in all facets of the game.

But Bielema didn’t express concern about the way the games were won.

“Each game is totally independent of each other,” Bielema said, dismissing any worries about the specific circumstances of his team’s three victories.

Now the Badgers turn their attention towards Austin Peay out of the Football Championship Subdivision. With several upsets involving FCS teams occurring early this season, notably Jacksonville State defeating Mississippi and South Dakota prevailing over Minnesota, it is becoming clear that there are no guarantees in college football. As a result, the Badgers won’t be taking their upcoming opponent lightly.

“It’s still 11-on-11, and it’s playing football,” Bielema said.