The Badgers have seen a major connection unlocked this year on the boundary
The Wisconsin Badgers offense has seen a major change over the past few weeks, as they’ve unlocked a new gear when it comes to explosive plays, leading to 94 points scored over the past two weeks.
In their 52-6 win over the Purdue Boilermakers, the Badgers saw a ton of success through the air, with quarterback Braedyn Locke tossing for 369 yards and three touchdowns. Then, against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Wisconsin returned to the ground game with an emphasis, totaling over 300 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
Through both games though, there has been a common trend that has started to evolve: the usage of wide receiver Vinny Anthony, who leads the Badgers this season with 287 yards on just 11 catches.
Through the first six games of the year, Anthony leads all qualified receivers in college football with 26.1 yards per catch. That included two catches last week that totaled 81 yards, only adding to the impressive stat.
“It makes me feel good,” Anthony shared, “but I obviously have to stay humble because it’s still early in the season. You know, I still want to obviously, hopefully build on that, but, you know, just continue to make the easy plays and not always look for the long shot. Maybe if I have to make a 1-yard catch and it’s a fight for it, well, obviously do that. Obviously, always gonna try to score, but always take what’s given.”
Anthony’s ascension has been huge for the Badgers and quarterback Braedyn Locke, who has seen his deep ball develop quickly during the season into one of his biggest weapons.
“Yeah, I feel like [the deep ball], it’s part of our game,” Anthony said. “Like, we obviously didn’t have that aspect before, and showing that we can, it just opens up the whole offense. It makes them respect everything underneath and it just opens up everybody else. Just shorter passes to get more yards and even, like, their run game, it just makes everybody, like, back up a little bit. And I think even if we do have those opportunities, we’re going to continue to take them.”
It’s been a much different outlook for Anthony this year, as he was behind Bryson Green, Chimere Dike, Skyler Bell, and Will Pauling last year, leading to limited opportunities.
But, with a ton of opportunities opening up in the offseason, the wideout has risen to the occasion and capitalized as a result.
“[I] just stay patient and just trust the process,” Anthony said about waiting his turn. “Just doing, working on little details that the coaches are looking for, whether it’s big things or even small things, just building every little detail, whether it’s like foot angles and, like routes and stuff like that, and just obviously catching every ball that I can. Just little details and then just letting time do its thing.”
The rapport with Locke has evidently gotten stronger over the last few months, but the work began last year with both players seeing reps together with the second-team offense.
“I just have a lot of trust in him,” Locke said about Anthony. “Me and Vinny have been here quite a while. We’ve had a ton of reps together. We have a great, you know, relationship, a great rapport, you know, and I’m going to keep giving him opportunities and he’s going to keep making plays.
“And so, I think the reps, but I just think the trust is ultimately there. And so that’s what’s kind of allowed us to connect during the game.”
Now, the Badgers need to maintain their current momentum, which will mean more production from Anthony and Locke, starting this weekend when they play Northwestern on the road.
But, we’ve seen one of the more underrated duos in college football unfold and evolve here in Madison, and that has directly led to success for the Badgers.