Kendric Pryor – Page 4 – Syndication Server

Wisconsin Football Season Review: Wide Receivers

How did the Badgers wide receivers play over the 2019 season?

Wisconsin finished its fifth season under head coach Paul Chryst as Chryst improved his overall record to 52-16 and has a posted a 34-10 record in conference games. After not winning the Big Ten West Division title in 2018 the Badgers were back in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game as the West representative for the fourth time in the last six years since the Big Ten went to its current format.

In this Badgers Wire feature we will examine the play of Wisconsin’s wide receivers from the 2019 season and take a sneak into what the 2020 season may have in store for the position:

The wide receiver unit was bolstered by the return of Quintez Cephus this past season. Cephus’ return to the team was big as he was Wisconsin’s most consistent wide receiver despite missing all of the 2018 season as he finished the season with 59 catches for 901 yards and seven touchdowns as all three led the team. In addition, Cephus caught a pass in every single game this season.

Not to mention as the competition took a rise in the month of November and over the Badgers last two games of the season Cephus was able to elevate his level of play.

In Wisconsin’s last six games he was dominant at times in particular over Wisconsin’s last three games in that stretch he caught a combined 14 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns.

Cephus’ ability to stretch the field over the last part of the season helped make sure opposing defenses couldn’t consistently load the box against Wisconsin’s run game.

The trio of Danny Davis (30-250-1), Kendric Pryor (23-278-0), and A.J. Taylor (23-267-2) caught a combined 76 passes for 795 yards and a combined three touchdowns.

With Cephus having such a productive season meant that Davis’ and Taylor’s numbers took a dip compared to what they posted in 2018. Davis led the team in both receptions (40) and receiving touchdowns (five) while Taylor led Wisconsin in receiving yards with 521 in 2018.

Davis was able to form a good connection with Jack Coan over the course of the 2018 season. In addition, with Coan being named the starter it was fair to expect that the chemistry Coan and Davis developed would carry over to this past season.

But Davis did disappear at times as there were four games where he went without a catch including a three game stretch in November. Compare that to his first two years at Wisconsin when he only had a combined three games where he didn’t register a reception.

Pryor was able to finish the season with 460 yards of total offense as he had 278 receiving yards and had 182 yards rushing to go along with two rushing touchdowns. Pryor was Wisconsin’s most effective wide receiver when it came to the Badgers jet sweep as he averaged 12.8 yards per carry. His longest rush of the season came against Michigan State when he registered a 66-yard rushing touchdown.

After Wisconsin’s big four in Cephus, Davis, Taylor, and Pryor Wisconsin also received contributions from Jack Dunn and Adam Krumholz as both played in all 14 games.

Dunn finished the year with five receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown he also had two rushing attempts for seven yards and a rushing touchdown. Krumholz caught two passes for 20 yards.

2020 Wisconsin Wide Receivers

Wisconsin was already set to lose Taylor to graduation but following Wisconsin’s appearance in the Rose Bowl Cephus announced he was entering the NFL Draft and sophomore Aron Cruickshank announced he was entering the transfer portal. With Cephus and Cruickshank departing Wisconsin the wide receiver room will look different than previously expected. The Badgers will still have Davis, Pryor, Dunn, and Krumholz as the four will all be seniors. Wisconsin knows what they have in those four as the Badgers will need either A.J. Abbott, Taj Mustapha, Stephan Bracey, or one of the three incoming wide receivers in the 2020 class to step up.

Quintez Cephus Declares for NFL Draft

Wisconsin will be without its top wide receiver Quintez Cephus who declared for the NFL Draft on Monday. Quintez Cephus WR

Wisconsin wide receiver Quintez Cephus on Monday announced his decision to forego his final year at Wisconsin and enter the 2020 NFL Draft.

Cephus announcement comes three days after it was announced by running back Jonathan Taylor’s decision to declare for the NFL Draft too.

Cephus as a redshirt junior led Wisconsin in all three major receiving categories as he finished the year with 59 receptions for 901 yards and seven touchdowns, which are all career highs. In addition, Cephus’ 59 receptions and 901 receiving yards are the most by a Badger since 2015 when Alex Erickson caught 77 passes for 978 yards.

Cephus who did not play during the 2018 season caught at least two passes in every single game this season. Cephus was big for Wisconsin down the stretch providing a reliable target for Jack Coan. Considering, in five of Wisconsin’s last six games he caught at least five passes and over Wisconsin’s last six games he had 491 yards receiving and caught four touchdown passes.

Wisconsin was already set to lose A.J. Taylor to graduation and without Cephus, the Badgers top two wide receivers entering spring camp will be Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor with Jack Dunn, Adam Krumholz, and Aron Cruickshank, among others behind them.

Between Davis and Pryor the two caught a combined 53 passes for 528 yards this past season as Davis was responsible for the lone receiving touchdown.

Cephus will look to become the first wide receiver drafted from Wisconsin since Jared Abbrederis when he was drafted in the fifth round by the Green Bay Packers in 2014.

Cephus finishes his career at Wisconsin with 93 receptions, 1,496 yards, and 13 touchdowns.

Grading Wisconsin’s 38-17 Victory over Minnesota

Handing out grades from Wisconsin’s 38-17 victory over Minnesota in Wisconsin’s regular season finale.

Grading No. 12 Wisconsin’s 38-17 win over No. 8 Minnesota.

Offense: A

Jonathan Taylor was responsible for three of Wisconsin’s five touchdowns but he was not the offensive MVP. That award goes to quarterback Jack Coan.

Coan was simply fantastic against Minnesota as he picked the Gophers secondary apart for a Big Ten season high 280 yards passing on 15-for-22 passing and two touchdowns.

Coan had a clean pocket to work with the entire game as he wasn’t sacked as his two biggest throws of the game came on Wisconsin’s opening possession in the third quarter.

Coan’s first throw resulted in a 31-yard completion to wide receiver Quintez Cephus on first and 10 from Wisconsin’s 9-yard line. Three plays later Coan once again connected with Cephus this time for 47 yards resulting in a touchdown to give Wisconsin a 17-7 lead.

Coan was certainly great for Wisconsin but Cephus certainly had a heck of a game too. Cephus was one of seven players to catch a pass but his five receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown were all team highs. It was Cephus’ second game this season where he went over 100 yards receiving.

Wisconsin certainly needed to have a strong passing attack against Minnesota considering Taylor was held to 76 yards on 18 carries and two rushing touchdowns. Taylor was also responsible for Wisconsin’s first passing touchdown of the game, which went for 28-yards. Wisconsin finished the game with 173 yards on 35 rushing attempts.

One of the unsung heroes from Wisconsin’s offensive performance was fullback Mason Stokke. Stokke finished the game with 44 yards of total offense as his three receptions were the second most on the team resulting in 30 yards. He also carried the football twice for 14 yards.

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Three Takeaways from Wisconsin’s 45-24 Victory over Purdue

Three takeaways from Wisconsin’s 45-24 senior day victory over Purdue. Jonathan Taylor RB, Kendric Pryor WR, Rachad Wildgoose CB

Wisconsin beat Purdue for the 14th straight time winning 45-24 on senior day as it also marked the Badgers third straight victory after dropping two straight games. Here are our top three takeaways from the game for the Badgers.

1. Wisconsin’s offense needs to fix their turnover problem

Over Wisconsin’s last five games the Badgers have committed a total of 12 turnovers.

In order for Wisconsin’s season to end on a high note, the Badgers offense will need to revert back to the beginning of the season in terms of valuing the football as over the first six games Wisconsin only turned the football over a combined five times.

The four turnovers Wisconsin had against Purdue was a season high as the Badgers fumbled the football five times losing three of them and Jack Coan also threw an interception. Although Wisconsin turned the football over four times against Purdue the Boilermakers only were able to cash Wisconsin’s mistakes into seven points.

Wisconsin’s defense may not have had its best day against Purdue but they did come up with some timely defensive drives. Considering turnovers can be momentum changers and with Purdue needing a win just as badly as Wisconsin to make sure Purdue couldn’t capitalize off of Wisconsin’s mistakes is a sign of a good defense.

Jonathan Taylor dealt with fumbles as a true freshman and at the beginning of his sophomore season too. Taylor appeared to have put the fumbling issues to bed this season although he did have a costly fumble against Illinois was responsible for two of the three fumbles lost yesterday.

With how much Wisconsin feeds Taylor as he’s averaging 23.7 carries a game opposing teams are going to try and rip the football out of his arms. Making it important that he keeps the football high and tight in order to avoid fumbling the football. If Taylor is successful it should allow for Wisconsin’s offense to continue to move the football effectively down the field.

2. More touches for Kendric Pryor

Pryor against Purdue showed what he’s capable of doing once you get the football in his hands as he registered 103 yards of total offense. Pryor was able to hurt Purdue’s defense either on the ground or through the passing game as he rushed for 56 yards on two carries and caught four passes for 47 yards.

Pryor over the last two games has become more active in the passing game as he has caught a combined seven passes for 77 yards. That will need to continue considering prior to Wisconsin’s wins over Purdue and Nebraska in the five games previous he caught only one pass in each game.

Pryor has shown that he’s capable of creating chunk plays in the passing game considering against Kent State he had one catch for 33 yards and against Illinois, he hauled in a 35-yard pass. The chunk plays have been missing from Wisconsin’s offense through the air and if Pryor can help stretch the field it will only help Wisconsin’s offense become more balanced.

3. Wisconsin’s finding ways of breaking up passes

Over the last three games, the Badgers have faced teams who are capable of throwing the football. Although the Badgers have allowed chunk plays through the passing game at times the Badgers have been able to break up 15 passes and have registered two interceptions over the last three games.

Wisconsin’s secondary has been responsible for eight of the 15 pass breakups as Rachad Wildgoose has registered four over the past three games. Wisconsin will certainly get a test against Minnesota and the secondary will be counted on to help slow down the Gophers talented wide receivers.

Although Wisconsin’s pass defense has been up and down over the last three games the Badgers will need to be able to continue to give themselves a chance of making a play on the football when it’s in the air. Not to mention Wisconsin’s linebackers are also more than capable of defending the pass as between Wisconsin’s starting linebackers they have combined to pick off four passes and have broken up 12 passes this season.

Grading Wisconsin’s Victory over Purdue

What grades did Wisconsin earn from their 45-24 senior day victory over Purdue?

Grading No. 14 Wisconsin’s 45-24 win over Purdue.

Offense: C

Wisconsin’s offense certainly had success moving the football down the field against Purdue as they finished the game with 606 yards of total offense on 74 plays.

Despite the 606 yards being the most gained by Wisconsin this season they uncharacteristically struggled to take care of the football as Wisconsin fumbled the football five times losing three and threw one interception.

Although Jonathan Taylor rushed for over 200 yards for a third straight game he was responsible for two of the three lost fumbles while A.J. Taylor was responsible for the other lost fumble. Jack Coan also fumbled the football on a strip-sack and Danny Davis had the other fumble on a jet sweep play.

When Wisconsin was able to hang on to the football they were able to average 8.19 yards per play. In particular, Purdue had no answer for Wisconsin’s rushing attack as the Badgers as a team finished with 403 rushing yards on 55 carries. Taylor was responsible for 222 of those rushing yards on 28 carries, including one run of 51-yards that resulted in a touchdown.

Wisconsin went to the wildcat formation early and often with Garrett Groshek and Aron Cruickshank as the Boilermakers struggled to defend the play. Groshek rushed for a season-high 55 yards on nine carries and had a touchdown. While Cruickshank registered 47 yards on three carries and had Wisconsin’s opening touchdown of the game, which was a 27-yard rush.

Outside of Coan’s interception, he was efficient once again for Wisconsin’s offense as he finished the game 15-for-19 (78.9 percent) for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Coan’s touchdown passes were 18-yards to Jack Dunn and 29-yards to Quintez Cephus.

Six different players for Wisconsin caught one pass as Cephus led the way with five catches for 79 yards. Kendric Pryor was second on the team in both receptions and receiving yards with four and 47 yards respectively.

Coan was able to play an efficient game thanks to the play of Wisconsin’s offensive line as Coan was only sacked once the entire game. The Badgers offensive line did a good job of consistently clearing paths for Wisconsin’s running game to consistently pick up positive yards against Purdue.

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