MADISON – Wisconsin’s Danny Davis entered the 2019 college football season in the best physical shape of his young life.

After missing spring ball while recovering from injuries, Davis decided that he would use the summer to whip his body into shape.

Candy and other sweets? Gone.

Soda? Verboten.

“I wouldn’t call it a diet,” the junior wide receiver said this week. “But I had a problem eating a lot of candy and sweets. This summer I cut out all the sweets.”

He also began partaking in hot yoga, along with teammates Jonathan Taylor and Faion Hicks. Hot yoga is performed with the room temperature set at about 100 degrees.

“I know the first time I was shaking,” Davis said when asked about his first one-hour session. “But once you go a couple times you know what to expect.

“You’ve got to make sure you bring your water and a towel because it is about 95 in there. It’s no joke. They kick your butt.”

His goal was to avoid suffering nagging injuries.

“I got more flexible with yoga,” he said. “I was grinding in the weight room and was eating right. I felt that has gotten me in my best shape yet so I’m going to continue to do that.”

Despite being suspended for the first two games last season, Davis led UW in catches (40) and touchdown catches (five) and finished third in receiving yards (418). His most memorable game came in UW’s 47-44 victory in three overtimes at Purdue. Davis had touchdown catches of 5 and 18 yards in the final quarter to help UW wipe out a 27-13 deficit.

With No. 9 UW (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) set to host Kent State (2-2, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) on Saturday, Davis is third on the team in catches (11) and fourth in receiving yards (97).

The return to the team of Quintez Cephus has reunited UW’s top four wide receivers – Cephus, Davis, A.J. Taylor and Kendric Pryor.

Cephus was suspended from the team after being charged with two counts of sexual assaults and eventually missed the entire season. He was eventually expelled but was reinstated in August after being found not guilty on both charges.

Cephus leads UW in catches (14), receiving yards (235) and is second on the team in touchdown catches (two). A.J. Taylor has 12 catches for 111 yards and Pryor has six catches for 72 yards.

“When he got here it felt surreal,” Davis said, referring to Cephus' return to the team in August. “It felt like two years ago when were all together making plays.

“This fall camp felt great. Everything felt like it was back to normal. I’m excited to keep going. It’s a great start to the season but we’ve got a long season left.”

Third down a charm

UW entered the week limiting opponents to a third-down conversion rate of 15.5% (9 of 58), the No. 1 mark in the nation.

Through four games last season, opponents had converted 38.8% of their third-down chances (19 of 49).

Breaking up is easy to do

The Badgers have successfully defended at least 10 passes in each of the last two games.

They had 12 in the victory over Michigan (10 broken up, two interceptions) and 11 in the victory over Northwestern (10 broken up, one interception).

UW last accomplished that feat in 1998. That team had 16 passes defended vs. Purdue (12 broken up, four interceptions) on Oct. 10 and 10 passes defended (eight broken up, two interceptions) at Illinois on Oct. 17.

Taylor should extend rushing streak

Tailback Jonathan Taylor has rushed for at least 100 yards in all four games this season and for the last nine games dating to last season.

Kent State enters the game last in the nation against the run at 261.0 yards per game. The Golden Flashes allowed 171 rushing yards to Arizona State, 252 to Kennesaw State, 467 to Auburn and 154 to Bowling Green.

Extra points

Freshman linebacker Leo Chenal (head) has been cleared to play after missing the Northwestern game. Nose tackle Bryson Williams (left leg) remains questionable. He has not played since the opener…

UW is 4-0 for the third time in four seasons (2016, ’17 and ’19). The Badgers can record their second 5-0 start in three seasons with a victory Saturday. They won their first 12 games in 2017.