BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin football coach Paul Chryst said Monday that it's too early to gauge the explosiveness of his offense.
Through two games UW is averaging 35 points, has a pass completion ratio of 67.2 percent and has amassed 462.5 yards of total offense per outing. Each of those stats would rank among the top four in program history going back to 1946.
Those eye-catching numbers have been compiled against collectively stiff competition.
LSU was ranked fifth in the nation, projected by many as a College Football Playoff participant, when the Badgers claimed a 16-14 victory on Sept. 3 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
Akron, fresh off an eight-win season in which it fielded the No. 15 overall defense in the country, came to Camp Randall Stadium and endured a 54-10 spanking on Saturday.
But Chryst said a larger sample size is needed before measuring the big-play capabilities of his ninth-rated club.
"I wouldn't limit this group," he said during his weekly press conference, "but we've got to get better."
The next opportunity for that comes Saturday when the Badgers host Georgia State (0-2) in their final non-Big Ten Conference assignment of the regular season.
Chryst is understandably focused on the day-to-day of a long season. He wants everyone striving to improve, not getting bogged down in a single moment.
But there are encouraging signs that UW might have one of its more potent and balanced attacks, certainly an upgrade from 2015 when it had to rely heavily on the pass because standout tailback Corey Clement was injured.
The Badgers have already had different pass-catchers turn in 100-yard days. Junior tight end Troy Fumagalli caught seven balls for 100 yards vs. LSU, while junior wide receiver Jazz Peavy had seven receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns vs. Akron.
The last time UW had different 100-yard receivers emerge in consecutive games was 2008 when David Gilreath and Isaac Anderson did it against Minnesota and Cal Poly, respectively.
A year after most of the passing offense went through one guy — then-senior wide receiver Alex Erickson had 77 catches, more than twice as many receptions as the next target — there seem to be more options.
Does that translate to a more lethal game plan?
"I'd like to say so, yes," Peavy said. "As an offense we all know that we have a lot of guys who can make plays and a lot of guys we can trust to make those plays. As long as we keep doing that I think we're going to be a (more) explosive team for sure."
What's the big difference from last season when senior tailback Dare Ogunbowale was second on the club with 36 receptions?
"Could be maturity. Could be the focus we all had this year," Peavy said.
"Everyone's locked in. Everyone knows what the season could be like for us this year. We all really want to make sure we do our part."
The current veteran mix of pass catchers also includes senior wide receiver Robert Wheelwright, who has eight receptions and is averaging a team-best 19.9 yards per grab, and junior wide receiver George Rushing, who has a third-down conversion among his four catches.
"Everybody's made a lot of improvements and we're using them better," senior quarterback Bart Houston said of his receiving corps.
The group has some budding promise in a pair of true freshmen. Quintez Cephus and A.J. Taylor have both made some nice athletic plays and appear to be in line for more usage.
"They're coming along," Chryst said of the rookies. "We just have to help them get better."
In all, Houston and redshirt freshman backup Alex Hornibrook have spread the ball around to 10 different receivers. Four have catches of 27 yards or longer.
"Everyone will have his turn," Houston said Monday. "Who's ever open is going to get the ball."
It's really that simple.
"Who's ever open at the right time in my reads and progressions" will get the most attention, Houston said. "Jazz was open most of the time (against Akron), so he got the ball most of the time."
Houston said he doesn't typically look at the postgame stat sheet, but he did after going 15-for-22 for 231 yards and two TDs vs. Akron.
He said a point of emphasis after the LSU game was third-down conversion success. The Badgers were 10-for-15 after going 3-for-15 in the season opener.
"We made a lot of strides," Houston said.
It helps to have run-pass balance. The win over Akron featured 294 yards on the ground — Clement picked up 111 yards on 21 carries and two TDs — and 292 through the air.
A season after averaging 15 double-digit gains from scrimmage per game, that ratio is 20 after two outings. UW ranks 12th nationally with 27 pass plays of at least 10 yards.
"I feel good with how they're approaching it, but we still have a lot of work to do to be better in the passing game," Chryst said.
