Spring practice report No. 12: Defense controls final tune up before launch

MADISON -- Luke Fickell brought his team back outside after going indoors this past Tuesday. Thursday morning marked the shortest practice of the spring so far with the team going through a heavy amount of scrimmaging during the roughly hour and a half of practice.

BadgerBlitz.com was there for the 12th of 15 practices and will be in attendance for the other four over the next two weeks. Here are notes from the session.

OFFENSE:

First team:

Quarterback: Tanner Mordecai

Running back: Braelon Allen/Chez Mellusi

Wide receiver: Chimere Dike, Will Pauling and CJ Williams

Tight end: Jack Eschenbach/Riley Nowakowski

Offensive line (from left to right): Jack Nelson, Joe Huber, Tanor Bortolini, Michael Furtney, Riley Mahlman

Second team:

Quarterback: Braedyn Locke

Running back: Grover Bortolotti/Jackson Acker

Wide Receiver: Skyler Bell, Keontez Lewis and Vinny Anthony

Tight end: Jack Pugh/Hayden Rucci

Offensive line: Nolan Rucci, Joe Brunner, Dylan Barrett, JP Benzschawel, Trey Wedig

*Zach Gloudeman and Cade Yacamelli rotated as the third back

*Huber and Barrett split time as the second team center.

DEFENSE: 2-4-5

First team:

Defensive line: James Thompson, Rodas Johnson

Inside linebacker: Maema Njongmeta, Jordan Turner

Outside linebacker: CJ Goetz, Darryl Peterson

Cornerback: Alex Smith, Jason Maitre and Ricardo Hallman

Safety: Kamo'i Latu/Hunter Wohler/Travian Blaylock

Second team:

Defensive line: Gio Paez, Isaiah Mullens, and Curt Neal

Inside linebacker: Tatum Grass, Jake Chaney

Outside linebacker: TJ Bollers/Jeff Pietrowski/Kaden Johnson

Cornerback: Jace Arnold, Jonas Duclona and Amaun Williams

Safety: Austin Brown/Preston Zachman/Owen Arnett

*Inside linebacker Bryan Sanborn and outside linebacker Marty Strey were consistently disrupting plays with the third team.

*'/' is meant to indicate the two players saw an equal amount of reps with the team they are with.

Special teams:

Punter: Jack Van Dyke, Gavin Meyers

Punt returner: Chimere Dike, Will Pauling

Field Goal: Nathanial Vakos, Nate Van Zelst, Gavin Lahm, Vito Calvaruso

Kickoff specialist: Vito Calvaruso, Gavin Lahm

Kickoff returners: Chimere Dike, Quincy Burroughs, Will Pauling, Vinny Anthony

DL Darian Varner

QB Cole Lacrue

TE Cole Dakovich

TE Cam Large

WR Bryson Green

DE Mike Jarvis

LB Ross Gengler

LB Luna Larson

CB Max Lofy

OL Sean Timmis

LB Aidan Vaughn

LB Aaron Witt

OL Jake Renfro

WR Chris Brooks Jr.

Non-contact jerseys: RB Jackson Acker, S Preston Zachman, S Travian Blaylock

For the first three weeks of practice, what really stood out about the top signal callers was an ability to avoid poor decisions or trying to force throws. That was far from the case today.

Senior quarterback Tanner Mordecai wasn't able to pick himself up on Thursday morning after going through a tough Tuesday practice. Back outside on the Camp Randall Field, Mordecai wasn't nearly as accurate as he's been for most of camp and had three interceptions on the day.

Aside from what was a good day for backup Braedyn Locke, he got a throw away after what was a poor snap that threw off the timing. The window was never there and safety Preston Zachman stepped in front of a throw intended for tight end Jack Eschenbach and returned it for what would have been a touchdown.

Mordecai got off to a rough day right away. On the first play of team period about 10 or 15 minutes into practice, Ricardo Hallman stepped in front of a pass and would have easily had a pick-six. During a red zone period, he flushed out to his left and tried to squeeze a throw in to what had been an open Chimere Dike. The late throw resulted in an easy slide over and interception for Hallman.

The third-year corner would get Mordecai again later in the day in a similar situation. During a move the ball period with the line of scrimmage at about the 40-yard line, Mordecai was forced out of the pocket and moved to his right. Instead of throwing it away, he lobbed it up without a receiver in the area which led to an easy pick for Hallman.

Dike's sure-handed ability to came through as the inaccurate day made for some throws his way from all over the place.

"There's a lot of things that we'll be able to hammer out from this," Fickell said after the practice. "Hopefully you won't see it on Saturday on what the points differentiate when you commit a turnover in the red zone because it's astronomical. But it's not just the points, it's an incredible momentum shift that for one side, it's unbelievable and for the other, it's so deflating."