Fresh off a 38-14 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide in Week 3, the Wisconsin Badgers are returning home to face the Maryland Terrapins in Week 4, with kickoff set for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday at Camp Randall.
Ahead of the contest, the Badgers revealed their depth chart for Week 4, which looks relatively similar to their Week 3 depth chart, set aside a few changes.
With Corey Walker and Charles Perkins out this past week, the Badgers bumped up
redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Nolan Vils into the two-deep, while true freshman Nicolas Clayton also had his first appearance on the depth chart at outside linebacker.
Neither player saw any defensive action this past weekend against Alabama. But, both got into the game in Week 2 during Wisconsin’s 42-10 win over Middle Tennessee. Vils played 14 snaps, out-snapping Dillan Johnson (11 snaps), and playing the most after the top four (Brandon Lane, Jay’Viar Suggs, Parker Petersen, Ben Barten).
Clayton, on the other hand, saw nine snaps. He also played in Week 1, being seen rushing the quarterback on a few third downs.
Looking elsewhere, we could potentially see the return of Billy Edwards after he missed a second consecutive week with his lower-body injury against Alabama.
At wide receiver, it was notable that the Badgers shortened their rotation against a tough opponent. True freshman Eugene Hilton saw only three snaps, while Joseph Griffin Jr. didn’t play at all, and Dekel Crowdus got just one snap.
The offensive line will continue to be the team’s biggest question. With Jake Renfro back on Saturday, the Badgers stuck with redshirt freshman Colin Cubberly at right guard. Renfro did go down temporarily with an ankle injury, and Kerry Kodanko was the first lineman up off the bench, not redshirt freshman Ryan Cory.
However, Kodanko was hurt after one snap, so Cory did see 10 snaps before Renfro played through the rest of the game. The Badgers center looked clearly injured and is now battling both knee and ankle injuries ahead of Week 4. We’ll see what his status is later in the week.
If Renfro and Kodanko can’t go, Wisconsin could have three redshirt freshmen offensive linemen starting heading into conference play.
Along the defensive line, there is a clear top four, as mentioned above. Each of the four played at least 22 snaps, while Dillan Johnson, Wisconsin’s fifth defensive lineman, saw only five snaps against Alabama.
Similarly, Wisconsin went top-heavy at outside linebacker, with Mason Reiger and Sebastian Cheeks getting a majority of the workload. Darryl Peterson continues to see his 25-ish snaps per game, moving from the outside to the interior for a few plays. Tyreese Fearbry is the other reserve outside linebacker, playing 11 snaps this weekend. But, it seems Wisconsin will rely more on its top three guys heading into conference play.
The same goes for linebacker and cornerback. The Badgers have true freshmen as the reserves in the two-deep at both spots, so the starters are getting a majority, if not all of the reps.
Interestingly, at safety, the Badgers are getting Matt Jung rotating at both spots more often. He saw 25 snaps in Week 3, while fellow reserve Matthew Traynor didn’t play at all. It seems Wisconsin has a clear top three at the moment.
Stay tuned for the rest of our coverage ahead of Wisconsin’s Week 4 game!
