Bryce Richter/UW-Madison
Heisman hopeful Jonathan Taylor (23) rushes the ball against the Michigan Wolverines last season.
Fourth-year Wisconsin Badgers head coach Paul Chryst has plenty of things to keep him awake at night, from higher-than-usual fan expectations to recent sexual assault allegations directed against several players.
Ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, Wisconsin kicks off the 2018 season by hosting the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Camp Randall Stadium on Friday, Aug. 31, at 8 p.m. The Badgers will be without junior wide receiver Quintez Cephus, who hauled in 30 catches for 501 yards and a team-high six touchdowns last year, despite missing the final five games with a broken leg.
Cephus was charged earlier this month with two felonies — second-degree sexual assault of an intoxicated victim and third-degree sexual assault — and subsequently announced a leave of absence from the team while proclaiming his innocence.
A few days later, Chryst suspended Cephus’ roommate, sophomore wide receiver Danny Davis III, for his involvement in the alleged assault. Davis broke a Wisconsin bowl-game record by catching three touchdown passes in last season’s Orange Bowl victory over Miami.
“It’s the most strict [suspension] that I’ve done to this point,” Chryst told the Wisconsin State Journal. “I certainly feel that it’s appropriate.”
National hype surrounds the team for other reasons. The Badgers posted an historic 13-0 record in 2017 and remained in contention for the College Football Playoff until falling a touchdown short against Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game — settling for the Orange Bowl bid. This year’s schedule is tougher, with away games at No. 14 Michigan on Oct. 13 and No. 10 Penn State on Nov. 10.
But this year’s Badgers also are a more seasoned bunch. At the helm will be junior quarterback Alex Hornibrook, last year’s Orange Bowl MVP, who is capable of taking Wisconsin — which also includes such standouts as senior inside linebacker T.J. Edwards, senior safety D’Cota Dixon, senior kicker Rafael Gaglianone (battling back injuries) and sophomore running back Jonathan Taylor (a 2018 Heisman Trophy hopeful) — back to the Big Ten Championship Game and beyond.
Five Badgers also appeared together on the cover of the Aug. 13 regional edition of Sports Illustrated: offensive linemen Beau Benzschawel, Tyler Biadasz, Michael Deiter, Jon Dietzen and David Edwards. The magazine predicted Wisconsin will join Clemson, Alabama and Washington in the College Football Playoff; too bad the accompanying article focused almost entirely on those guys (who each weigh more than 300 pounds) chowing down on burgers, shakes and “bottomless fries” at Red Robin.
