Wisconsin
How Wisconsin quarterbacks Billy Edwards, Danny O’Neil fared, plus 4 other observations from Spring Showcase
An aerial view of Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis.
An aerial view of Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., home of the Wisconsin Badgers.
MADISON – The Wisconsin football team held its Spring Showcase on April 19 at Camp Randall Stadium, fans’ first chance to see the 2025 team.
If the 7,840 fans in attendance were looking for offensive fireworks from the intrasquad scrimmage they went home disappointed.
Billy Edwards and Danny O’Neil, the Badgers’ top two quarterbacks, each engineered one scoring drive. Neither threw a touchdown pass during the almost two-hour scrimmage, but also didn’t turnover the ball.
That was a positive. So was the team’s play at running back and in pass defense.
Here are five observations from the afternoon.
Jeff Grimes’ Wisconsin offense showcases each QB’s strengths
You’re not going to get deep into the playbook in a scrimmage, but the event offered some insight into how offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes can suit the offense to different types of quarterbacks.
O’Neil, the more mobile of the Badgers top QBs, was given the opportunity to do more with option pitches and seemed to be put into space more.
Here are each players’ unofficial passing stats: Edwards – 9 of 16 for 58 yards; O’Neil 4 of 9 for 62 yards.
Forty-two of O’Neil’s yards came on a deep ball down the sideline to Joseph Griffin on the first possession. Griffin’s ability to adjust to the ball was key as he was able to slow down and keep the defensive back behind him in order to give himself space to make the catch.
Wisconsin running back Dilin Jones gets the sure yards
If the season started today, Jones, a redshirt freshman, would be the Badgers’ starting running back. His unofficial stats were 13 touches for 68 yards, an average of 5.2 yards per play. That included 10 rushes for 49 yards with a long of 13 yards and no negative yardage runs.
Jones has big-play potential, but he didn’t get greedy and pass on sure yards in order to attempt to make a bigger play.
Junior Joe Brunner gets snaps at left tackle
Since left tackle Kevin Heywood went down with an ACL injury that is expected to end his season, the Badgers have gone with the No. 1 line of left tackle Leyton Nelson, left guard Joe Brunner, center Jake Renfro, right guard Kerry Kodanko and right tackle Riley Mahlman.
In the second half Saturday Brunner played a couple of series at left tackle. For one of the series the line combination from left to right was Brunner, Kodanko, Renfro, redshirt freshman Emerson Mandell and Mahlman. For the other, the combination was Brunner, Colin Cubberly, Renfro, Kodanko and Mahlman.
Wisconsin RB Cade Yacamelli continues to produce; Gideon Ituka moves chains
Yacamelli, a redshirt junior and Jones ran with the No. 1 offense. Sophomore Darrion Dupree (leg) did not play. Redshirt freshman Gideon Ituka’s work came with the second offense.
Yacamelli was unofficially the game’s leading rusher with 94 yards in eight carries. Fifty-five of those yards came on a burst of the middle created by blocks by Kodanko and Renfro that resulted in the No. 1 offense’s only touchdown of the day. About 10 yards into the run Yacamelli ran through the arm tackle of junior safety Matt Jung.
Even without the long run, Yacamelli averaged 5.6 yards per carry
Ituka was productive as well. He ran for 51 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry.
The secondary makes plays
Based on the scoring system set up by the coaches, the defense won the game and the team’s pass coverage played a key role.
Freshman safety Luke Emmerich had the only interception of the day on a deep ball from freshman Carter Smith. There were two other big plays in pass defense: Miami transfer D’Yoni Hill won a one-on-one battle with Chris Brooks to break up a deep throw, and in the next series redshirt freshman Jay Harper made a similar play on a long ball throw by Milos Spasojevic to Griffin.
The defense often had the quarterback on the run, pressure that was often the result of good pass coverage.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin authorities put total arrests from clashes at beagle breeding facility at about 25
MADISON (AP) — Around 25 protesters were arrested as around 1,000 animal welfare activists tried to gain entry to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin and were met by officers firing pepper spray and rubber bullets, authorities said Sunday.
Saturday’s protest was the second attempt in as many months by demonstrators to take beagles from Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were turned back by officers who arrested the group’s leader.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said the situation was “significantly calmer and more peaceful” on Sunday, when around 200 people assembled outside the farm. They dispersed after around two hours, it said.
“We’re pleased with the group’s cooperation today, and their willingness to remain peaceful, while still sending their message of concern for the dogs at Ridglan Farms,” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a statement. “We are happy to support anyone who wants to exercise the right to protest, as long as they do so lawfully.”
Owen Ziliak/The Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The sheriff had said in a video statement Saturday that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property.” They tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Some got through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Those arrested included the leader of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs, Wayne Hsiung, 44, of New York, who was being held on a tentative felony charge of conspiracy to commit burglary. But most arrestees were just booked and released, the sheriff’s office said Sunday.
“No one should be assaulted for giving aid to a dog, even if damage to property is part of that rescue effort,” Hsuing said in a statement from jail Sunday that also accused authorities of using excessive force. “The animals of this Earth are not “things.” They’re sentient beings. And we have the right to rescue them from abuse,” he concluded.
Protesters took 30 dogs when they broke into the facility in March, when authorities arrested 27 people.
Ridglan denies mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 in a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website, the company says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
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Wisconsin
US animal rights activists clash with police over Wisconsin dog breeder
About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin basketball signs Miami transfer Eian Elmer, who gives ‘scoring punch’
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
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