The Wisconsin football team took another step toward its season-opener today with an intrasquad scrimmage at the Bishop O’Connor Center on August 8. Head coach Barry Alvarez was very pleased with the overall effort of his team and what was accomplished during the more than two-hour session.

“We really got a lot of work done today, a lot of things we can teach off of,”Alvarez said. “I thought our kickers did a real good job today. I even surprised them a couple of times during the scrimmage, just stopped and called for a field goal. In both those cases, both guys knocked it through the uprights.”

The Badgers opened the morning session with a 40-minute practice followed by a 100-plus play live scrimmage. At the end of the scrimmage, the team broke down into short-yardage offense against defense with more than just pride at stake.

“We struck up a little competition right at the end, offense against defense, winners do nothing and the losers do up-downs,” Alvarez said. “That gets your attention and makes it interesting for everybody.”

The Badgers resume twice-daily sessions on Thursday.

Alvarez also announced that senior defensive lineman Jake Sprague had surgery to repair a sprained knee and will miss approximately 2-3 weeks.