The biggest audience so far this spring saw the University of Wisconsin football team’s practice on Saturday.
A busy recruiting day and a visit from a couple hundred high school coaches from the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association spring clinic added a different element to the cool, breezy environment at Camp Randall Stadium. And in the end, it was the Badgers’ defense provided some of the biggest plays in a morning that was dominated by red-zone work.
The first fully-padded practice open to reporters this spring saw a few collisions near the goal line that pointed to the team being ready for a chance to get closer to live-hitting situations. Freshman Grant Dean snared his second interception of the week when quarterback Danny O’Neil threw a bit behind his target during a red-zone period. Dean stepped in front and kept his sprint at full speed down the sideline for what likely would’ve been a touchdown.
Receiver Quincy Burroughs had arguably his best day of the spring thus far with a one-handed touchdown grab, another score around tight coverage during skeleton work, a long catch down the sideline and a sweep run that gained a chunk during 11-on-11 plays.
Here are four observations from the Badgers’ seventh spring practice:
Jackson Acker’s role is a little bit of everything
Being called a Swiss Army Knife can be a backhanded compliment. Yes, it means that a person or item has multiple uses and can handle a number of tasks, but there’s a connotation that it’s not a first option for anything.
Perhaps the better description for what senior and Verona High School product Jackson Acker will do for the Badgers is a little bit of everything. In the span of about 25 minutes, he had a fullback dive in a short-yardage situation coming out of the end zone and a touchdown catch of roughly 20 yards off a wheel route from a slot tight end alignment.
