UW freshman center forced into duty
Wisconsin’s offensive line took a considerable hit during its 14-6 loss to Indiana on Saturday when junior center Kayden Lyles suffered a right leg injury in the first half, bad enough that Lyles needed to be wheeled into the locker room.
With Lyles sidelined and backup Cormac Sampson announced as inactive before the game, Wisconsin turned to freshman Tanor Bortolini, an in-state recruit from Kewaunee High School.
“Center is literally the biggest, most important job on the O-line,” Badgers tight end Jake Ferguson said. “He’s making all the calls. He and all the linemen around him picked it up and made it easier for him. Hat off to Bortolini, the kid’s good.”
Quarterback Graham Mertz was able to save at least two shaky snaps and turn them into plus-yardage plays, and another low ball came on UW’s final offensive snap of the game, a 4thand-10 snap that Mertz was able to loft toward the end zone. The pass was tipped incomplete away from Chimere Dike.
“I’m so proud of how he came in and battled,” Mertz said. “That dude came in ready to play. He’d been on all week. I knew he wouldn’t skip a beat. He really rallied the guys, and I’m proud of him, especially being that young and coming into a spot where he hadn’t gotten a lot of snaps.
“It goes to show our young linemen, they’re learning. They’re going to be read to go. I’m grateful how he attacked that week and kept that mental preparation going. It showed tonight.”
It was the first college action for Bortolini.
“Certainly from the flow of the game, I thought he did a nice job,” Badgers head coach Paul Chryst said of Bortolini. “We didn’t have any, to my knowledge, snap problems there. We had a day in camp where we had centers go down and he jumped in and really took all the reps for the day, and I was really impressed with the poise he had then.”
“I thought he battled his butt off for us today,” left tackle Cole Van Lanen said. “I’m really proud of him, I thought he fit right in with us. There was no dropoff with him coming in. Obviously, we helped him in that huddle, but I think he calmed down and just played football.”
Receiving depth compromised
Sampson was just one of several notable absences announced before the game.
As anticipated, wide receiver Danny Davis was unavailable with an injury that also held him out two weeks ago against Northwestern, and though the Badgers did get senior Kendric Pryor back and available for most of the game, Pryor left in the second half with an upper body injury and did not return. Pryor caught three passes for 48 yards but couldn’t reel in a pair of third-down passes in the end zone, resulting in field goals both times.
Receivers Adam Krumholz and Stephan Bracey, who typically handles kickoff returns, were also missing. In Bracey’s stead, Devin Chandler was credited with two returns for 37 yards, and he also muffed a kick that turned into a touchback.
Reserve offensive lineman Joe Tippmann and backup safety Titus Toler were additions to those listed as out for the year.
IU receivers kept in check
Yet another player listed as inactive was redshirt freshman Semar Melvin, who figured to get some opportunities at cornerback with news that Rachad Wildgoose won’t be back.
But if the game had a silver lining, it was UW’s secondary holding Indiana to just 13 receptions for 130 yards.
Ty Fryfogle made just one catch for 35 yards, and though he drew a pass interference penalty, he’s been one of the best receivers in the country. Fryfogle caught 25 passes for 560 yards over a three-game stretch before catching two passes for just 10 yards last week against Maryland. He racked up 200 yards against Michigan State and 218 against Ohio State, with three touchdowns.