UW goes on after suspensions
MADISON – There were no outward signs of disappointment, frustration or bitterness.
Senior linebacker T.J. Edwards and senior safety D’Cota Dixon, two of Wisconsin’s four captains for the 2018 college football season, were asked Sunday to describe the players’ reaction to the recent suspensions of wide receivers Quintez Cephus and Danny Davis.
The consensus: We’re here to offer support if needed but we have to move on and prepare for the season.
“Obviously it is guys you care about,” Edwards said Sunday. “So that is definitely difficult because you want to be there and support them.
“But you also have to focus on the season. So I think guys who are closer to them will try to comfort them ….
“But at the end of the day, those two guys know we have a game to play. Everyone’s focus is right where it needs to be.”
UW, No. 7 in the Amway coaches poll and No. 4 according to The Associated Press, opens the season at 8 p.m. Friday against visiting Western Kentucky.
Cephus, charged with two counts of sexual assault, has been suspended indefinitely by UW under the studentathlete discipline policy.
Davis, Cephus’ roommate, purportedly took at least one photo of one of the alleged victims. Davis has been
suspended for the first two games of the season by head coach Paul Chryst.
“I think, honestly, guys have handled it well,” Dixon said. “We’ve grown closer together from it. I don’t think it will be a problem for us. There is no distraction. It just pulls us closer. They are our brothers and we support them. They support us.
“There is no conflict or anything like that. Everything is good in the locker room.”
The absence of Cephus and Davis, who had a combined 56 catches for 919 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, has left UW thin at wide receiver for at least the first two games.
Junior A.J. Taylor, who had 31 catches for 475 yards and five touchdowns last season, and redshirt sophomore Kendric Pryor, who had 13 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown, open the season as the top two wide receivers.
The third and fourth options, at least according to the team’s depth chart, are walk-ons Adam Krumholz from Stoughton High School and Jack Dunn from Madison Edgewood.
Both are redshirt sophomores. Neither player has a college reception.
“I would expect them to be in the right place and get the job done,” quarterback Alex Hornibrook said. “And make some plays if they are called upon to do so.”
Dixon and Edwards were asked whether the suspensions of Cephus and Davis have altered their expectations for the season.
“Absolutely not,” Dixon said. “I have complete confidence in my quarterback, my receivers, my tailbacks.
“No matter who is in the game, I have complete trust in them and in our coaches. They are calling the shots and obviously putting players in position to win for us.
"I’m confident with that.” Edwards concurred. “Obviously those are two guys that have a lot of things here in the past, and we’re still supporting them," he said. "But we do have a game Friday and it is something that has to be our main focus.
“From our standpoint I think we’ve done a really good job of just keep moving forward. Not that we’re moving forward without those guys, but it’s something that we can’t control.
“I think everyone has accepted it.”