Wisconsin safety Scott Nelson stands out again during Saturday’s practice

MADISON — Another warm August day, another Wisconsin Badgers fall camp practice on the practice field north of Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday.

“Every time we’re out here it’s a good day if we learn from it,” head coach Paul Chryst said afterward. “[It was a] little bit shorter practice today, but I thought the guys had a purpose and a focus to it so that we got something out of it.”

Safety Scott Nelson had another interception during team work, picking off an Alex Hornibrook pass intended for a receiver that appeared to be Danny Davis. It was the second straight day that the redshirt freshman intercepted a pass.

Chryst said he thought Nelson had a good spring, also citing his feel for the game.

“Even when we were recruiting him, he was a guy that you say, ‘OK, he could be good on offense. He could be good on defense.’ I think he does have a good awareness of, even just as a person, kind of life around him. I think it applies in football as well.”

Key observations

• In my humble opinion, I thought the defense looked better today than the offense until the end of practice. I like how the defensive backs like Nelson are playing, and as inside linebacker Ryan Connelly mentioned yesterday to B5Q, how they’re “flying around, making plays.” Along with the Nelson interception, Dontye Carriere-Williams helped break up a pass deep down the field, giving a Dikembe Mutombo-style finger wag thereafter.
• That’s not to say the offense didn’t make some plays as well. During 7-on-7 work early on, redshirt sophomore Adam Krumholz got behind Seth Currens for what was a long reception from the arm of Jack Coan. True freshman Aron Cruickshank also caught the ball well on a few receptions.
• Later in practice, junior Quintez Cephus caught a ball with Carriere-Williams in coverage for a would-be touchdown during what looked like red-zone 7-on-7 drills. Wide receiver Kendric Pryor also caught a couple of would-be touchdowns (one in what looked like red-zone 7-on-7, the other in red-zone team drills). Coan also performed well again on Saturday.
• Redshirt senior Micah Kapoi again worked with the presumed first-team offense. Redshirt junior David Moorman appeared to be the back-up center on the reserve offensive line.

Notes

• Davis caught a nice back-shoulder throw from Hornibrook later in practice against Alex Smith.
• Working with the reserves in red-zone 7-on-7 drills, wide receiver Cade Green came down with a couple of nice catches.
• Next week, I’ll watch more to see who gets reps in base and subpackages for the defense.. There has been some mixing and matching here and there, though I will say some sense of the depth chart is developing.

Injuries

Not much change from yesterday. I did see Logan Bruss with a boot on his right foot as he exited practice.

When asked during post-practice availability, Chryst said he didn’t think there were any players in danger of missing games outside of defensive end Isaiahh Loudermilk.