Tag: Nick Evers

Former Wisconsin wide receiver matching records in UConn win over Buffalo

Former Wisconsin wide receiver has record-breaking performance in UConn win over Buffalo

Former Wisconsin wide receiver Skyler Bell is in the midst of a career day as the UConn Huskies roll to a dominant win over Buffalo.

The Huskies lead 37-3 at the end of the third quarter. Bell’s line: six receptions, 153 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

Related: How Graham Mertz, Wisconsin’s recent transfer departures fared in Week 4 of 2024 football season

The former Badger is setting career highs across the board. His performance is also climbing UConn’s single-game leaderboard. His three touchdown receptions are tied for second-most all time and his 153 receiving yards are 25 yards short of the top 10.

This dominant performance continues a fantastic start to the 2024 season for Bell. His first four games included 15 catches for 347 receiving yards and a touchdown. Those combined totals: 21 catches, 500 yards and four touchdowns.

For reference, Wisconsin’s leading receiver through three games is Will Pauling with 19 catches for 191 yards and a touchdown. Bryson Green is second with eight catches for 89 yards. Bell alone has almost as many receiving yards (500) as Wisconsin’s entire team (547) — Bell through five games and the Badgers through three.

Bell was one of several Wisconsin receivers to transfer elsewhere this offseason, joining Chimere Dike and Keontez Lewis. Lewis has already registered a record-breaking performance of his own, while Dike is still working to find a groove leading the Florida Gators passing game.

The recent departures serve as an interesting comparison as Wisconsin continues to work toward finding an offensive identity. Bell is a clear success story of a Badger from the Paul Chryst era moving to a new location.

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Former Wisconsin quarterback shines for UConn in big Week 4 win

Former Wisconsin quarterback shines for UConn in big Week 4 win

Former Wisconsin quarterback Nick Evers tallied three total touchdowns for the UConn Huskies on Saturday.

Following a pair of subpar performances against the Maryland Terrapins and Duke Blue Devils, Evers notched nine completions for 88 passing yards and a passing touchdown. He also rushed a staggering 19 times for 78 yards and two rushing scores to secure a 48-14 win over Florida Atlantic.

The Flower Mound, Texas, native’s most dynamic passing play arrived on a second-down sequence in the first quarter. Pinned at his team’s 22-yard line, Evers dropped back, rolled to his right and launched to wide receiver Skyler Bell. Bell played at UW with Evers in 2023 — to further the Wisconsin connection.

Here’s the full clip:


While he did play well on Saturday, Evers did not look fantastic in his first two games as a Husky. He accounted for just 21 completions, 208 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a 44.7 QBR before Week 4.

Evers elected to transfer to UConn after a 2023 after playing third fiddle to Tyler Van Dyke and Braedyn Locke on Wisconsin’s depth chart. He will receive his next opportunity against Buffalo, who just took down No. 23 Northern Illinois, on Sept. 28.

How is former Wisconsin QB Nick Evers performing as the starter at UConn?

How is former Wisconsin QB Nick Evers performing as the starter at UConn?

The Wisconsin Badgers were dealt a massive blow during their 42-10 blowout loss to No. 4 Alabama on Saturday: Starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke went down with a knee injury, which was later confirmed to be a torn ACL.

The Badgers now turn to redshirt sophomore Braedyn Locke for the remainder of 2024. The backup: true freshman Mabrey Mettauer (three-star recruit in class of 2024).

Related: After losing QB Tyler Van Dyke, what makes this Wisconsin football season a success?

Van Dyke’s unfortunate injury is the second time in as many seasons that Luke Fickell’s starting quarterback has gone down. 2023 starter Tanner Mordecai broke his hand in mid-October last year, though he was able to return for the final stretch of the season.

The injury tests Wisconsin’s organizational depth at the position. More than anything, it will test OC Phil Longo’s ability to adapt to a new player at the helm.

The move to Locke, to no surprise, is leading many to wonder how former Badger QB Nick Evers is performing as UConn’s starter this season.

Evers transferred in with Locke during the 2023 offseason. Both were redshirt freshmen and former four-star recruits when they joined the Badgers. Both are now starting as redshirt sophomores. Evers transferred to UConn after the 2023 season concluded after he was buried on the depth chart behind Van Dyke and Locke.

It is safe to say his start at UConn has been less-than-stellar.

The former Badger is 21 of 46 passing for 208 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions and a 44.7 QBR  through two starts. He’s also added 73 rushing yards on 16 carries.

The former top recruit was injured in the Huskies’ Week 1 loss to Maryland, then returned for the team’s narrow loss to Duke on Saturday. While there were signs of improvement against Duke, he has mostly struggled during his time on the field.

The one former Badger at UConn who is having immense success is WR Skyler Bell. Bell has 14 catches for 304 receiving yards and a touchdown through three weeks. That’s an average of more than 21 yards per catch, and more than 100 yards per game.

Bell is Evers’ top target when in the game. While the duo has put up solid numbers, it would be a stretch to say both would be doing so at Wisconsin.

Evers, at best, would currently be the backup if he had stayed in Madison. His transfer elsewhere should not be used against Luke Fickell or his staff — it’s the reality of the current age of the sport. It’s challenging to build depth in the quarterback room given how easy it is to find playing time elsewhere.

That leads to injuries only having more significance — a reality Wisconsin is currently dealing with.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

Three Connecticut football players to know ahead of their clash with the Duke Blue Devils

Duke will host Connecticut in its penultimate non-conference game of the 2024 season. Here are the most important Huskies to know.

The Duke Blue Devils and Connecticut Huskies are set to go at it on the football field this Saturday.

While it may not be the blockbuster matchup it would be if this took place on the hardwood, the game should still provide plenty of entertainment to both fanbases and serve as an appetizer of sorts before the two fanbases spend basketball season jockeying for position as one of the nation’s best teams.

We’ll see Jim Mora oppose first-year Duke coach Manny Diaz on the football field. Duke comes in on the road after winning an overtime thriller against Northwestern. The 26-20 win was made possible by an inspired performance from starting quarterback Maalik Murphy in the second half.

The Huskies, 1-1 on the season, lost to Maryland 50-7 in Week 1 but handled Merrimack 63-17 this past weekend, so they should enter Durham with some confidence.

UConn won’t be a cakewalk for Duke, but the game is more than winnable for Manny Diaz’s program. The Huskies have some talented players they’ll depend on, and we’ll look at what some offer below.

Joe Fagnano, QB

Jim Mora is set to let senior Joe Fagnano hold things down at the quarterback spot. Fagnano enters off the best performance of his Huskies career, in which he went 13/19 for 328 yards and tossed five touchdowns. He was at the controls as the offense put together a 35-point first quarter.

As a sixth-year senior, Fagnano isn’t lacking in experience. He’s less of a creator in the pocket as much as he is a distributor who gets the ball out quickly to his playmakers, allowing them to operate with the ball in their hands. Look for Duke to try to speed things up for him and force him to make plays out of structure.

Skyler Bell, WR

The Huskies’ most dangerous playmaker is Skyler Bell, a junior wideout from the Bronx, New York. He already has seven catches for 246 yards and a touchdown on the young season, and he’s led the Huskies in receiving yards for both of their first two games.

He transferred to UConn after three years with the Wisconsin Badgers. With the Huskies, he’s been able to showcase himself a little more. He is dangerous with the ball in his hands, has some burst, and is a capable route runner. Duke has the secondary options to neutralize him, but it will take a coordinated effort.

Jayden McDonald, LB

The most impactful Huskies defender is another transfer, Jayden McDonald. McDonald spent the majority of his college career at Troy and spent the spring with Indiana before ultimately landing at Connecticut.

He led Troy with 75 total tackles last season. He’s a smaller linebacker, standing just six feet tall, but he’s unfazed and uses his speed to make plays sideline to sideline. With Duke struggling to get its run game going, seeing a veteran linebacker like McDonald certainly won’t make things easier.

Three former Wisconsin quarterbacks struggle in Week 1 debuts with new programs

Three former Wisconsin quarterbacks struggle in Week 1 debuts with new programs

It was a rough Saturday for several former Wisconsin quarterbacks making their debuts with new programs: Nick Evers (UConn), Myles Burkett (Albany) and Deacon Hill (Utah Tech).

That does not even include second-year Florida starter Graham Mertz, who left the Gators’ 41-17 loss to No. 19 Miami with a concussion.

Related: Big Ten Power Rankings after Week 1: Our first look at the expanded conference

Evers started UConn’s Week 1 contest against Maryland. He exited midway through the third quarter after taking a big hit from Terrapins linebacker Caleb Wheatland. The former Badger and Oklahoma Sooner completed six of 17 passes for 73 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception. UConn failed to score during his nine drives.

Burkett had the best afternoon of the three. He completed 12 of 26 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown in Albany’s 27-21 win over Long Island. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but he did enough to lead the Great Danes to a win despite managing just 255 yards of offense.

Hill, who is technically a former Wisconsin quarterback despite playing 2023 at Iowa, had a pedestrian outing in Utah Tech’s blowout loss to Montana State. He completed 11 of 23 passes for 104 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. He added 25 rushing yards and an impressive rushing touchdown.

The three former Badgers went 1-2 in their debuts with new programs and combined to go 29 of 66 (44%) for 342 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The performances of these former Badgers are worth monitoring, especially that of Evers. Wisconsin again opted for a veteran transfer in Tyler Van Dyke in 2024 with redshirt sophomore Braedyn Locke behind him on the bench. It would be notable if Evers finally blossomed at his third collegiate stop.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. 

Four former Wisconsin quarterbacks will start elsewhere in 2024

Four former Wisconsin quarterbacks will start elsewhere in 2024

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell and offensive coordinator Phil Longo have discussed building a ‘quarterback factory’ at Wisconsin.

That ‘factory’ would include a strong high school recruiting pipeline at the position, star players at the college level and an increased level of professional-caliber players.

Related: Ranking the biggest storylines entering Wisconsin’s Week 1 contest vs. Western Michigan

It’s early, Fickell and Longo are only entering their second season at the helm. But it’s safe to say Badgers fans are still waiting for results in the ‘quarterback factory’ department.

Of course, Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke is expected to be the first in the line of strong play at the position. Former SMU transfer Tanner Mordecai was expected to be that in 2023, but an injury and inconsistent play made that not the case.

Wisconsin’s method of taking one-year transfers while building up its high school recruiting base will need a further deep-dive after the season. An initial thought is the high school recruiting results have not been impressive at the position. But it’s reasonable to counter that better on-field results with Van Dyke in 2024 will help that cause.

Along these lines, it’s worth mentioning that four former Wisconsin quarterbacks are set to start elsewhere in 2024. Graham Mertz at Florida, Nick Evers at UConn, Deacon Hill at Utah Tech and Myles Burkett at Albany.

All three will do so under different circumstances. Mertz transferred to Florida after the 2022 season, Hill also left during the coaching transition, Evers left for UConn this spring after getting buried on the depth chart and Burkett recognized his chance to start would be at a lower level.

None of these four are indictments on Wisconsin’s vision at the position, except maybe Evers who was a blue-chip transfer addition by Fickell and Longo during the 2022 offseason.

But having numerous former players starting at quarterback at other schools will hopefully not be the case moving forward. Wisconsin is working to create a pipeline of high school recruiting to the field in Madison, not to the field elsewhere.

Again, Evers, Hill and Burkett were never in line to start for the Badgers. And Mertz’s transfer made sense given the circumstances. Wisconsin is likely in better shape with Van Dyke under center than any of the four teams listed.

Still, it would be better for the Badgers long-term to not have a large collection of players starting elsewhere.

It will be interesting to watch how all four perform in 2024, how Van Dyke does in his one year with the Badgers and what Wisconsin does recruiting at the position moving forward.

This will be a topic that we revisit during the offseason.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. 

Former Wisconsin QB secures starting job with UConn

Former Wisconsin QB secures starting job with UConn

The 2024 college football season is officially here and the Wisconsin Badgers will begin their season at Camp Randall Stadium on Friday night against Western Michigan. Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke will be the Badgers’ starting quarterback

Former Badgers quarterback Nick Evers, who was once considered a viable option for the team’s starting role in 2024, was named UConn’s starting QB for Week 1 earlier this week.

Evers transferred to Wisconsin ahead of the 2023 season after beginning his career at Oklahoma as a four-star recruit in 2022. Evers was buried on the depth chart behind Tanner Mordecai and Braedyn Locke last season, failing to appear in a game with the Badgers.

After entering spring camp as the team’s third option behind Van Dyke and Locke, Evers decided to enter the transfer portal and ultimately ended up with the Huskies.

He joined 2023 teammate wide receiver Skyler Bell in transferring to UConn. He’s also the second quarterback to depart Madison and earn starting job in 2024, as Myles Burkett did the same at Albany.

Wisconsin receives low grade for its spring transfer portal window haul

Wisconsin receives low grade for its spring transfer portal window haul

National college recruiting website Rivals awarded Wisconsin football a letter ‘C’ grade for the program’s moves during the spring transfer portal window.

The window was open from April 16-30 for players to enter. Some in the portal remain uncommitted, as there is no deadline to find a new destination.

Wisconsin in total saw seven players enter the portal: QB Nick Evers, DL T.J. Bollers, DL Gabe Kirschke, WR Tommy McIntosh, DL Mike Jarvis, CB A.J. Tisdell and CB Michael Mack.

It has added three thus far: Vanderbilt offensive lineman Leyton Nelson, Illinois offensive lineman Joey Okla and Boston College wide receiver Joseph Griffin Jr.

Despite the necessary depth additions along the offensive line and one at receiver, Wisconsin witnessed some of its key defensive line transfer targets commit to other Power 4 programs. Top DL transfer targets C.J. West, Jay’Viar Suggs and Khurtiss Perry committed to Indiana, LSU and Virginia Tech respectively.

 

The Badgers remain on the hunt for defensive lineman in the portal — they are still a finalist for former Wyoming DL Gavin Meyer.

Rivals’ grades all fell into the range of B+ to C-. That tight range is likely due to a lack of impactful transfers, with most top players having already moved during the winter period.

The Badgers total transfer class from winter to spring remains ranked as one of the Big Ten’s best. It is set to play an integral role in the team’s success this season.

Former Wisconsin QB Nick Evers announces transfer destination

Former Wisconsin four-star quarterback commits to UConn

Former Wisconsin quarterback Nick Evers announced his transfer commitment to UConn on Wednesday.

The former four-star recruit and top-ranked transfer joins other former Badgers WR Skyler Bell and WR/CB Dean Engram with the Huskies.

Related: Top candidates to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft

Evers transferred to Wisconsin before the 2023 season after one year with the Oklahoma Sooners. He was the No. 137 overall player in the class of 2022 and No. 8 quarterback. That rating didn’t translate onto the field, as he could not crack the depth chart at either of his first two stops.

The highly-touted quarterback was third on the pecking order at Wisconsin this offseason — behind projected starter Tyler Van Dyke and sophomore Braedyn Locke.

He now joins a UConn program where a starting job could be available. The Huskies are off a 3-9 record in 2023, that after a program-best 6-7 2022 season.

 

For more on Wisconsin’s transfer portal activity this spring, check out our 2024 spring transfer portal window tracker.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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Wisconsin Badgers quarterback entering transfer portal

Wisconsin Badgers quarterback entering transfer portal

The Wisconsin Badgers football team is nearing the halfway point of its  spring practices, but it had a quarterback announce his intentions to transfer Saturday.

After one full season with the Badgers, quarterback Nick Evers has decided to seek his next opportunity elsewhere. The former four-star recruit joined Wisconsin ahead of the 2023 campaign, transferring from Oklahoma after his freshman year.

Evers battled true freshman Mabrey Mettauer for reps behind Tyler Van Dyke and Braedyn Locke during the Badgers’ first seven spring practices and appeared unlikely to be in a position to compete for the starting job with Luke Fickell’s squad in Madison.

The spring transfer portal officially opens on April 16 (Tuesday) and it will close on April 30.

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