As the midway point of spring practice draws near, the Wisconsin football team finally held its first scrimmage. Because of the nice weather, the team had its first practice outside this spring.
Injury report
Redshirt sophomore running back John Clay was tackled low as he entered the open field and seemed to suffer a minor ankle injury. He came out of practice for a short period but returned seemingly unbothered by the injury.
""He actually took an ankle, it was just a contusion and there wasn't anything done structurally,"" Bielema said. ""I think he responded and showed a little toughness.
""He's a big body so everybody's going to tackle him low. He's aware of that, he has to be guarded for it, but bottom line is its just part of being the size that he is.""
Senior linebacker Eric Prather was also injured during the latter portion of the scrimmage and was fitted with a knee brace before being carted off the field.
""I don't know what happened exactly with Eric Prather,"" Bielema said. ""He got caught in a pile up over there.""
Depth chart movement
After losing his spot on the first team offensive line Thursday, sophomore lineman Josh Oglesby was back with the starters to begin the scrimmage portion of Saturday's practice. Freshman Peter Konz, who had replaced Oglesby at right tackle earlier this week, was back on the second team offense.
""He responded,"" Bielema said of Oglesby. ""I thought he had his best practice on Thursday that he's had as a player here, but he's nowhere close to as good as he can be. I think he understands that, but some of the things we're asking, just the simple things. Being right, being onside and trying to play with intensity. He was able to do that Thursday and hopefully carried forward today.""
The rest of the offensive line stayed consistent to what it has been all spring with junior Gabe Carimi at left tackle, junior Jake Bscherer at left guard, junior John Moffitt at center and junior Bill Nagy at right guard.
Standout performers
Freshman running back Erik Smith had arguably his best practice of the spring as he received more carries than any other back.
""We just didn't want to put John (Clay) and Zach Brown out there,"" Bielema said. ""Really, he's our next best option because Bradie Ewing isn't out there. We wanted to get him some reps.""
During red zone drills, Smith was able to turn in some big plays for touchdowns. On the first play from scrimmage with Curt Phillips under center, Smith took the handoff and broke it out wide. He got past the defensive line and turned on the jets to speed into the end zone.
Then, three plays later, Smith took the handoff from Phillips, broke up field, quickly displayed a nasty spin move at the five yard line and walked in for the score.
""Erik did a good job with the ball in his hands,"" Bielema said. ""There was a couple big-time busts in protection that cost us plays.""
Senior safety Shane Carter also stood out on the defensive side of the ball. Although the defense has seen its fair share of struggles with tackling over the past few seasons, it was relatively effective during Saturday's scrimmage.
""I thought Shane Carter was one of the guys that popped out to me,"" Bielema said. ""I was interested to see how Shane responded, and he had a couple nice hits and he had a couple short-yardage hits as well.""
