Badgers Fall Camp Day 5 Notebook: Intensity Soars, Unexpected Playmaker on Offense

Emptying the notebook from the Badgers' fifth practice of fall camp.

Wisconsin RB Juju Pope. | Christian Borman.

Wisconsin football had another eventful practice on Tuesday, completing session No. 5 of fall camp indoors as inclement weather pushed practice inside.

Badgers On SI was on hand once again, and has no shortage of notes from another busy practice in Madison:

Eric Mateos' intensity remains high

Eric Mateos | Christian Borman.

The last time Wisconsin took the practice field on Sunday, offensive line coach Eric Mateos berated his offensive line so ruthlessly that the UW communications staff had to instruct the media not to get too specific with who he scolded or what he said. That's fair; most of it wasn't fit for print.

Mateos' energy was just as high Tuesday morning. His offensive line played better than it did at practice No. 4, but he continued to chew into his players during a break in the action. He didn't exactly deny it in his media availability afterwards.

"At this stage, practice five is all about I'm trying to kill them," he said. "I mean, I'm trying to break them. I'm trying to break them down like a wild bronco...they have to understand there's a wall in their mind, built of softness thoughts. We all have it, and we're attacking that."

That intensity permeated throughout the entire practice. It was honestly surprising that a fight didn't break out with how much extra contact and jawing there was between the offense and defense. Sept. 6 against the Fighting Irish looms large.

Lots of jet motion from the offense

The Badgers' defense won the day emphatically, particularly up front; the front seven was a nightmare for Wisconsin's offense Tuesday morning. But an area where it was able to find some success? Jet sweeps and motions that spread the defense out.

Tyrell Henry and Eugene Hilton Jr each had a would-be big gain on a jet sweep, and even when the jet motion man doesn't get the ball, it looks to be a staple of what offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes wants to do on offense this season.

Mason Posa is simply insanely instinctual

Wisconsin LB Mason Posa. | Christian Borman.

As mentioned, the Badgers' front seven feasted Tuesday morning. But while most of that production came from defensive tackles and outside backers, Posa had arguably the most impressive TFL. Wisconsin tried to run one of its aforementioned jet motion plays, but Posa was having none of it. He flew into the backfield in an instant, wrapped up the ball-carrier for a loss of what would've been five or six yards. He read the play and snuffed it out in what felt like literally the blink of an eye. He's going to have a monster season.

Unexpected playmaker on offense

On a largely forgettable day for Wisconsin's offense, a player several rungs down the depth chart produced one of the Badgers' best highlights. JUCO transfer tailback Juju Pope, who rotated in with the second-team offense as USC transfer Bryan Jackson continues to deal with an injury, broke off a long touchdown run with the twos. There's a lot of mouths to feed in this offense, but Pope looks like no slouch himself.

Edge rushers moving on up

Wisconsin OLB Nick Clayton. | Christian Borman.

Nick Clayton took reps with the starters later in practice, while Jaylen Williams repped with the twos. Both are notable considering how deep the top of this outside linebacker room appears to be, with Sebastian Cheeks, Justus Boone, Tyreese Fearbry and Michael Garner all seeing plenty of snaps. Clayton and Williams are more of the speed-rusher archetype, meaning they're competing with Cheeks and Fearbry for playing time.

Rough day for Gavin Lahm

The Badgers' starting place-kicker had a forgettable Tuesday. I didn't manage to chart all of his attempts throughout practice, but during one period, he missed a 47-yarder, a 50-yarder and a 52-yarder back to back to back — all wide left. The job looks like his to loose, but punter Sean West also took some place-kicker reps at practice No. 4.

Assorted highlights

Wisconsin running back Darrion Dupree carries the ball during fall camp. | Christian Borma

Not every highlight play gets written about, but here's a few miscellaneous plays from Tuesday morning worth mentioning:

Darrion Dupree, who's been lauded for his pass-protection this offseason, had a nasty chip block on a blitzing Jaylen Williams, sending him flying and eliciting some hype from his offensive sideline.

Ryan Hopkins didn't have the best day; in fact, Deuce Adams may have made a statement in the race for the QB2 gig. But another aspect of his game that impressed me? He can throw from a variety of arm angles, dropping his elbow and sidearming throws like a shortstop around oncoming pressure.

Tight end Jacob Harris hasn't been all that involved in camp, but he's a vacuum cleaner who catches everything thrown in his general vicinity. He made a few more nice grabs in 11-on-11 work Tuesday.

Two big-time pancakes, one from the offense and one from the defense. Second-year outside backer Jayden Loftin put an offensive lineman on his rear end right in front of head coach Luke Fickell during a physical run game drill. The offense got its get-back, however; second-year tight end Nizyi Davis pancaked Lofton on a run play in 11-on-11s, taking him completely out of the play before driving him into the turf.