David Gilreath has a theory for why he dropped what would have been his first touchdown reception as a member of the University of Wisconsin football program last Saturday.

"I think I was thinking about what I was going to do (next)," said the sophomore wide receiver, who couldn't hold on to an Allan Evridge pass early in the first half of the Badgers' 38-17 victory over Akron at Camp Randall Stadium.

"I was thinking about running in the crowd and going to give (offensive coordinator Paul Chryst) a hug."

Gilreath is kidding, of course. But don't let his good sense of humor fool you: Behind that smile and friendly demeanor is a competitor who's frustrated because of a touchdown drought that has reached 14 games.

Of course, Gilreath is the first to admit he has nobody to blame but himself. On the opening play of the second quarter against Akron, he broke free on a corner route and was open in the end zone as Evridge delivered a perfectly thrown pass. But Gilreath bobbled it as he went out of bounds. The play was ruled incomplete, then upheld after a review.

"It was really up to me," Gilreath said. "It was in my hands."

Later in the second quarter, Gilreath again had visions of scoring his first career touchdown dancing in his head after breaking loose on a kickoff return. After speeding through a wide opening, Gilreath cut to his right and set his sights on the end zone, but Akron's Mike Thomas took a good angle and tackled Gilreath at the Zips' 18 after a career-long 63-yard return.

"I thought I had something," Gilreath said.

Gilreath, one of the fastest guys on the team, has even started to question his speed.

"Maybe I'm not as fast as I think I am," he said.

Gilreath can see signs that he's trying too hard to make big plays. His two punt returns against Akron went for a combined minus-three yards, including one where he risked a turnover. After letting the ball bounce, Gilreath didn't get out of the way and finally picked it up after it nearly hit him. A host of Akron players had surrounded him by that point and buried him for a loss.

"I was out there trying to do too much," Gilreath said. "I was catching it with guys in my face, balls were bouncing, and I was picking them up and running. That's where you can tell it kind of got to me."

There were some positive things to come out of the opener for Gilreath.

He was Evridge's favorite target, at least with star tight end Travis Beckum out of the lineup with a hamstring injury. Four of Evridge's 10 pass attempts were intended for Gilreath. He caught two for 17 yards, both of which resulted in first downs; dropped the one in the end zone; and never got a chance to catch another pass in the end zone because it was picked off by Akron safety Bryan Williams. The pick was the result of a poor decision and poor throw by Evridge, but Gilreath said after the game he should have made a play on the ball -- or, at the very least, prevented a turnover by interfering with Williams.