Inside the Huddle: Rookies Edwards, Orr in this together

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Inside the Huddle: Rookies Edwards, Orr in this together

October 16, 2015 | Football, Mike Lucas

Badgers' young starters at inside linebacker learning on the fly

By: Mike Lucas

MIKE LUCAS
Senior Writer

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• Varsity Magazine

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. -- T.J. Edwards and Chris Orr arrived together for Wednesday's post-practice interviews. It was timely since they're working together, side by side, as starting linebackers; they're rooming together at the team hotel on the night before games; and they're growing up together as freshmen.

"He's a fun guy to be around, I think we mesh well," said Edwards, who has seniority as a redshirt freshman; Orr is a true freshman. "Being my roommate at the hotel helps, too. We keep it laid-back; we're watching movies, playing music … I listen to him sing a little too much."

Edwards was interrupted and pressed for an explanation.

"He thinks that he has a good voice, which is the real problem," Edwards contended. "And I've just got to sit there in the room and listen to him, and it hurts my ears. I can't even name the songs (that he sings) but they're not even close to what they're supposed to sound like."

Orr was within earshot and responded to what Edwards was saying about his singing voice.

"I consider it great," said Orr, who's always open to requests since he doesn't have a favorite artist. "It's whatever I'm feeling, from Michael Jackson to James Brown and all the way up to Katy Perry. And he loves it.

"This is all show (Edwards' mild protest). He'll sing with me, too."

Key Matchups

Wisconsin's offensive line vs.
Purdue's defensive front

Another week, another remake. At Nebraska, redshirt freshman Beau Benzschawel saw his first game action along with making his first career start at right tackle. In the process, he was the third different player to start there in as many weeks following redshirt freshman Jacob Maxwell, who started against Iowa, and redshirt sophomore Hayden Biegel, the starter in the first four games.

Redshirt freshman Micah Kapoi made his fourth straight start at right guard, but it was short-lived. After the first series, he was replaced by Walker Williams, who has swung between guard and tackle. "I go into the game thinking I'm going to be playing tackle and guard," said Williams, a redshirt junior from Tacoma, Washington. "It's just one of those things where you need to be prepared to play either."

Williams liked what he saw out of Benzschawel, who suffered a knee injury in training camp that forced him to miss the first five games. "In his very first game, he's starting at Nebraska in a big-time Big Ten game, and he stepped up and played pretty well," Williams said. "I think he really took advantage of his opportunity. He even got a pancake on his very first play against their best defensive tackle."

Benzschawel felt like Williams, who has had his fair share of injuries, was a stabilizing influence because of his smarts. He went so far as to call him the "brainiac" of the O-line, which drew laughter from Williams. "They like to call me that because I'm a mechanical engineering student," he said. "They especially like to beat me with that stick whenever I screw something up at practice."

Williams saw only limited playing over his first two seasons (six games) before starting at right guard against Alabama and Miami University. "Everyone wants their chance to play," he said. "And the wait was tough. But I had to earn it. And when you earn it, then it's very fruitful."

Against Purdue, Williams could make his first start at right guard. Up until now, the left side of the offensive line has been stable with Tyler Marz at tackle, Michael Deiter at guard and Dan Voltz at center. But Voltz was injured against the Cornhuskers on the incomplete pass preceding Rafael Gaglianone's winning field goal. Deiter has been groomed to play guard or center, and Kapoi can swing to left guard.

"They're a pretty decent defensive line," Williams said of the Boilermakers' front. "They definitely like to load up the box; they like to play their safeties down low and their safeties can tackle. We need to put our running backs in a good situation to make one guy miss."

Purdue's Jake Replogle (6-5, 275), who has started 18 consecutive games at defensive tackle, has the second-most TFLs (5) on the defense behind injured linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley. Replogle's three brothers (Tyler, Mike and Adam) all played for state rival Indiana. Ryan Watson (6-2, 298) and Evan Panfil (6-5, 262) have been fixtures at nose guard and defensive end, respectively.

Rush end Antoine Miles (6-3,236) has a team-high four sacks and two forced fumbles. Splitting time with Miles is Gelen Robinson (6-1, 250), who wears No. 13 out of respect for his father, Glenn (Big Dog) Robinson, a former Purdue basketball All-American and the No. 1 overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft by Milwaukee. Robinson averaged 21 points during his eight years with the Bucks.

Purdue's offensive line vs.
Wisconsin's defensive front

The Boilermakers returned all five starters on their O-line, one of only nine schools nationally in that category. The others were Ball State, Boise State, Bowling Green, North Carolina, Mississippi, Oregon State, Texas and Washington State. Overall, the Boilers returned six offensive linemen who started at least seven games last season. Experience is obviously not always a precursor of success.

Purdue center Robert Kugler (6-3, 294) is definitely the headliner of the group with 37 consecutive starts. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, Kugler already owns his undergraduate degrees (double major in political science and history) and is working towards a master's. Kugler, a Pittsburgh native, was a high school tight end. His father, Sean, is the head football coach at UTEP.

Second and third in seniority are the Purdue guards: right guard Jordan Roos (6-4, 312) has 24 starts and left guard Jason King (6-4, 305) has 23. Both of the tackles – David Hedelin (6-4,298) and Cameron Cermin (6-5, 301) are two-year starters. Hedelin is from Stockholm, Sweden, via City College of San Francisco. He sat out three games last year because of NCAA club team sanctions.

The lack of continuity at the quarterback position has been a drawback to the O-line. As a unit, the Boilermakers have given up 15 sacks through six games. Only Penn State has given up more (19). By comparison, Michigan State leads the Big Ten in sacks against with only four. Wisconsin has nine. Last year, Purdue gave up 24 sacks, which was 14 fewer than 2013, when the Boilers were a sieve upfront.

Wisconsin defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield has been utilizing different combinations among the three down linemen in the base defense. Depth and flexibility are the keys. Against Nebraska, for instance, the Badgers often lined up with freshman Olive Sagapolu at nose guard, sandwiched between Arthur Goldberg and Conor Sheehy, who has gotten the majority of the starts at NG.

Goldberg and Sheehy are interchangeable parts. You might see either over Kugler, along with Sagapolu and Jeremy Patterson. The most experienced member of the UW front is redshirt sophomore Chikwe Obasih, who has 13 career starts, one more than Goldberg, a redshirt junior. Alec James, Zander Neuville and T.J. Watt have been getting reps when the Badgers go with their nickel, or Peso, package.

- Mike Lucas

Despite a geographical divide – Edwards is from Lake Villa, Illinois, an hour from Chicago; and Orr is from DeSoto, Texas, 20 minutes from Dallas – they approach things from the same direction. They've definitely gotten closer since Orr took over for the injured Leon Jacobs, who has been lost for the season to injury.

"He's just being my big brother, I guess you could say," Orr said.

"He's an energetic dude all the time and that's good to have," Edwards said.

As first-year starters, they've been learning on the fly. Saturday, they will face someone who's going through the same transition to college football as they are. Purdue quarterback David Blough is a redshirt freshman from Carollton, Texas, which is about 40 minutes from where Orr grew up.

For the record, Blough is the Boilermakers' 10th different starting quarterback since 2008. After the third game of the season, he replaced Austin Appleby, who had taken over for Danny Etling last year. In his first start, Blough completed 29 of 39 passes for 340 yards in a 35-28 loss to Bowling Green.

"There's a savviness to him," said Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda. "He has a great instinct in the pocket to run the ball and he doesn't mind getting dirty (taking on contact). I think that he plays better when he's dirty – when he's hit when he's moving around. He's a gamer."

The 6-foot-1, 202-pound Blough came to Purdue with some pretty impressive credentials. He was in the same Elite 11 quarterback class with Kyle Allen (Texas A&M), Sean White (Auburn), Will Grier (Florida), Brad Kaaya (Miami), Deshaun Watson (Clemson) and DeShone Kizer (Notre Dame).

Like Edwards and Orr, he's learning on the fly. He's also learning how to fly. The same can be said of Purdue running back Markell Jones, a true freshman. Blough and Jones, who's working towards a degree in aviation technology, spent the summer taking flying lessons. Both want to be pilots.

Jones (5-11, 207) was Mr. Football for the state of Indiana. And he played like one in a narrow 24-21 loss at Michigan State. Against one of the most tenacious defenses in the Big Ten, year-in and year-out, Jones rushed 22 times for 157 yards and two scores in his first collegiate start.

Jones has been sharing carries with sophomore D.J. Knox (5-7, 197), who had 22 carries for 102 yards against Marshall in his first career start. Knox and Jones had 40 touches in that game, a 41-31 loss, without a single negative yardage play. Jones had 62 consecutive carries before his first loss this year.

"They're good players – probably the most skillful guys on that offense," Aranda said of Jones and Knox. "They can go the distance on you. And you're concerned because they run stretch – which has been an issue for us the last two weeks – and I'm sure that's coming our way."

The zone stretch extends a defense laterally to create natural running seams on cut-backs.

"I look specifically at the inside linebackers group," said Aranda, referencing Edwards and Orr, "and I have to help them play better. We're over-pursuing. The ball is going sideways and we're turning our shoulders and running sideways as opposed to pacing the ball inside out."

Edwards and Orr both agreed that they have to get sharper in their execution.

"Coach Aranda does a great job of seeing what we need to get better at," said Edwards. "The past couple of weeks, Iowa and Nebraska have been doing positive things off that stretch play. Other teams are obviously going to see that on film and we definitely need to improve."

Aranda has purposely raised the bar for Edwards, UW's second-leading tackler with 38, two behind the leader Joe Schobert. "I'd like to see him be more productive, and we've talked about that," Aranda said. "I feel confident he has improved, but I'm still asking for more production."

Edwards is fine with it, too. "I can completely understand if he feels that way," he said. "I'm still trying to get my confidence knowing that I can do those things. After the Alabama game (his first career start), I'm starting to get a little smoother. But I'm still working into it."

When Edwards and Orr come off the field, they will talk and compare notes; one functioning as a sounding board for the other. It's part of their maturation process. It would be ideal if they had a veteran mentor at inside linebacker, but they don't have that luxury. That leaves it up to Aranda.

"With young guys," he said, "you have to put out the fires."

Aranda has accelerated their growth while Edwards and Orr have been adapting to a new environment, new scheme and new position – in Edwards' case. The Badgers rank No. 3 nationally in red zone defense and Edwards and Orr, UW's third-leading tackler, are right in the middle of it all.

"It begins with discipline," Edwards said. "That's the biggest thing. One false move, one false step and you're out of place and they're scoring." It's a testament to everybody involved – and music to Aranda's ears – that the Badgers have given up just six scores on 10 possessions in the red zone.