University of Wisconsin-Madison wide receiver Vinny Anthony II has taken off in his junior year with Badgers football. The big-play threat has been all over the field during his first five games of the season, and Anthony has proven to be an asset on the field for quarterback Braedyn Locke.
Anthony, a three-star recruit out of Louisville, Kentucky, has rarely been featured on this Badgers offense throughout his freshman and sophomore career outside of his special teams role.
In his first five games, Anthony has already produced more total yards than his previous two seasons with Wisconsin. So far on the season, Anthony has registered nine catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns in his last two games against the University of Southern California and Purdue.
Impressively, Anthony has averaged 22.9 yards per catch in the campaign so far, leading the Big Ten in this category. For a wide receiver core predicted to be led by junior Will Pauling, Anthony is currently carrying the statistical title as the leading receiver thus far for the Badgers.
Wisconsin has been looking for that one dynamic receiver for some time, and Anthony could be the one they’ve searched for.
Along with his impressive start to the season, Anthony is the first Badger since Jared Abbrederis in 2013 to record multiple 50+ yard catches in a single season. In the Badgers’ last two games, Anthony recorded long touchdowns through the air on 63-yard and 52-yard heaves from Locke.
Anthony is bringing to life offensive coordinator Phil Longo's air raid offense with his big play touchdowns in back-to-back weeks. Executing big plays down the stretch on offense will be crucial towards the Badgers’ potential success.
The air raid offense has been in question since Longo took the role as the offensive coordinator in Madison. An offense that averaged just over 23 points per game last season was averaging around 21 points per game this season prior to the Purdue game.
Longo and his air raid offense came over to Badgers with Fickell last season. The hype and excitement of the offense was real, but the production was not. Badger fans had yet to see its full potential until the Badgers’ dominance over the Purdue Boilermakers.
The Badgers dropped 52 points on the Boilermakers operated by Longo's offense. Through the air, Locke threw for three touchdowns, all at least 25 yards. Locke registered the most passing yards in a game since Joel Stave in 2015 for the Badgers.
Wisconsin will head to New Brunswick, New Jersey this weekend to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Rutgers currently ranks as 27th in passing yards allowed per game.
Anthony will have a chance to extend his touchdown streak to three games come Saturday if the Badgers can figure out the Scarlet Knights defense. The game plan is clear for the Badgers: give Anthony the ball.
