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The Student News Site of University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Badger Herald

The Student News Site of University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Badger Herald

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Football: Wheelwright, Houston shine as Team Gasser picks up win in Wisconsin spring game

Football%3A+Wheelwright%2C+Houston+shine+as+Team+Gasser+picks+up+win+in+Wisconsin+spring+game
Jason Chan

This year’s annual Wisconsin football spring game wasn’t like most spring games, when the Cardinal would typically play the White.

Instead, it was Team Dukan against Team Gasser, as the two former men’s basketball players — Duje Dukan and Josh Gasser — served as opposing honorary coaches for their teams Saturday afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium, with Team Gasser walking away with a 35-7 victory.

Gasser’s team was made up of the first-team offense and the second-team defense, while Dukan’s consisted of the first-team defense and the second-team offense.

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Fifth-year senior quarterback and presumed starter Joel Stave was the first one out on the field under center for Team Gasser, and he was as impressive as he has ever been in his lone drive of the afternoon. After three consecutive running plays, Stave hit fifth-year senior Alex Erickson for a 38-yard gain and followed that up a little later with a 17-yard back-shoulder throw to junior wide receiver Robert Wheelwright for a touchdown.

Jason Chan/The Badger Herald

Redshirt junior Bart Houston had the best day for quarterbacks, completing 9-of-16 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown, while early-enrollee freshman Alex Hornibrook went 5-of-13 for 58 yards.

Redshirt freshman D.J. Gillins completed 5-of-10 passes for 50 yards while another early-enrollee freshman Austin Kafentzis was limited in his on-field action, but still completed all three of his passes and threw a touchdown pass late in the game.

In terms of who the quarterbacks were throwing to, Wheelwright stood out for the Badgers’ offense, as on top of his touchdown catch from Stave, he made a catch in stride from Houston in the back corner of the end zone to give him his second touchdown of the day. He finished the day with seven catches for 79 yards and the two touchdowns.

Beyond Wheelwright, sophomore George Rushing finished with four receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown, while fifth-year senior and top wideout Alex Erickson had just two catches for 50 yards. Redshirt sophomore Jazz Peavy added three catches for 28 yards.

But despite some solid performances from a position that has been a major question mark for this Wisconsin team coming into the season, Wheelwright and the rest of the receiving core still have their work cut out for them.

“We still got work to do,” Wheelwright said. “We all need to get better and continue to listen to Coach Gilmore and Coach Chryst. We all help each other to get better, and I really appreciate those guys. We all work and when fall comes around, we tend to do more.”

For the running backs, junior and starter Corey Clement sat out, which allowed redshirt freshman Taiwan Deal and redshirt junior Dare Ogunbowale stake their claims for the second running back spot behind Clement.

Jason Chan/The Badger Herald

To start the game, Deal went up against the second-team defense while Ogunbowale went up against the first-team defense.

In the first half, it was Deal who had the more impressive performance, carrying the ball 12 times for 60 yards with a long carry of 15 yards while Ogunbowale had nine carries for just 11 yards.

But in the second half, the script was flipped, as when going up against the second-team defense, Dare broke out two touchdown runs of 55 and 20 yards in the third period, and he finished with a total of 11 carries for 89 yards.

Deal didn’t have as strong a second half but still finished with 15 carries and 76 yards, while redshirt junior and junior-college transfer Serge Trezy put in some solid work at running back, totaling 17 carries for 47 yards and a two-yard touchdown run of his own.

https://badgerherald.com/sports/2015/04/26/football-notes-running-back-competition-heats-up-bondoc-obasih-shine-on-defense/

Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst, in his first season at the helm of his alma mater, is feeling more comfortable in the development of the depth for the running back position behind Clement.

“I think that [Deal] had a couple runs where he showed really good patience and vision,” Chryst said. “As he gets more comfortable with the offense and maybe with himself too, that will help.

“[Ogunbowale] is a guy that has been around it, a little bit more mature, a guy that I think can contribute in a number of different ways and certainly had a couple big runs today and did some good things.”

Jason Chan/The Badger Herald

Defensively, players were bringing the heat all game and pressuring quarterbacks into uncomfortable situations in the pocket.

In total, the defenses racked up 10 sacks, 15 tackles for a loss and nine pass break-ups. And while some drops prevented them from recording an interception, they did force three fumbles and recovered two of them.

Redshirt sophomore Chikwe Obasih led the way defensively, as he was relentless in his pursuit of the quarterback, recording 2.5 sacks and four total tackles.

Obasih sees the growing confidence in himself as a way to not only better his own game, but the overall performance of the team.

“As long as I keep on correcting myself and getting better and not dwelling too hard on the things I mess up on, I feel like the sky is the limit for all of the things that we can do together as a team,” Obasih said.

 

Jason Chan/The Badger Herald

Redshirt freshman Evan Bondoc recorded a team-high 12 tackles, while fellow redshirt freshmen T.J. Edwards and Ryan Connelly each counted for nine tackles on the afternoon.

Overall, Wisconsin saw solid performances from a wide range of positions, but it is only spring ball, and with over three months before the season is in full swing, Chryst and his team know they still have a ways to go before they are ready for the daily grind of the regular season.

“We appreciated the way the group worked this spring, and I think it was important for all of us coaches to get to know this team,” Chryst said. “There is still a lot of getting to know them and getting a feel for who they are, but it was fun this spring being with this group of guys.”

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