Vinny Anthony II has begun to take off in his junior year with the Badgers. The big play threat has been all over the field during his first five games of the season. Anthony has proved to be a security blanket for Braedyn Locke.
Anthony, a junior from Louisville, Kentucky, has rarely been featured on this Badgers offense, throughout his brief career, aside from his special teams role.
In his first five games, Anthony has already produced more total yards than his previous two seasons with Wisconsin. So far on the season, Anthony has registered 9 catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns in his last two games against USC and Purdue.
Impressively, Anthony is averaging almost 23 yards per catch in the campaign so far. Anthony currently leads the Big Ten in this category as well. For a wide receiver core predicted to be led by Will Pauling, Anthony is currently carrying the statistical title as the leading receiver thus far for the Badgers. Wisconsin has been looking for that one dynamic receiver for some time. Could Anthony be the one they’ve been looking for?
Along with his impressive start, Anthony is the first Badger since Jared Abbrederis in 2013 to record multiple 50+ yard catches in a single season. In his previous two games, Anthony has recorded long touchdowns through the air on 63-yard and 52-yard heaves from Braedyn Locke.
Anthony is embracing offensive coordinator Phil Longo's air raid offense with his big play touchdowns in back to back weeks. Executing big plays down the stretch on offense will be crucial towards the Badgers potential success.
The air-raid offense has been in question since Longo took the role as the offensive coordinator in Madison. An offense that averaged just over 23 points per game last season, was averaging around 21 points per game this season prior to the Purdue game last Saturday.
Longo and his air-raid offense came over to the Badgers with Luke Fickell last season. The hype and excitement of the offense was real, but the production was not. We had yet to see its full potential until last Saturday against the Purdue Boilermakers.
The Badgers dropped 52 points on the Boilermakers operated by Longo's offense. Through the air, Braedyn Locke threw for three touchdowns that were all at least 25 yards. Braedyn Locke registered the most passing yards in a game since Joel Stave in 2015 for the Badgers.
Wisconsin will head to New Brunswick, New Jersey this weekend to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Rutgers currently ranks as 27th in passing yards allowed per game. The Badgers are currently listed as a 2.5 point underdog going into Shi Stadium.
Vinny Anthony will have a chance to extend his touchdown streak to three games come Saturday if the Badgers can figure out the Scarlet Knights defense. The game plan is clear for the Badgers: get Vinny Anthony the ball.
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