MIKE LUCAS Senior Writer Related Content • Varsity Magazine

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. – It made sense for Jack Cichy to tap into someone who was conversant in the language of playing inside linebacker. And he didn't have to go far to find him.

That someone was Ethan Armstrong, one of Wisconsin's graduate assistant coaches.

So when Cichy was informed Monday that he would be moving from outside linebacker to a starting spot inside to replace the injured Chris Orr against Rutgers, he went to Armstrong.

During a 52-game UW career, including 27 consecutive starts over his final two seasons, Armstrong became very well-versed on switching from outside to inside linebacker and back again.

Thus, he was the ideal resource for Cichy, who was making his first career start. Cichy last played inside during his freshman training camp. Back then, he was a walk-on – just like Armstrong had been.

"The run fits are definitely different than outside 'backer, so Ethan would walk me through different plays," said Cichy, a redshirt sophomore from Somerset. 

"We worked a lot on alignments, 'If they line up in this (formation) and we're in this (defense), then this is where to line up.' Once the alignments came, the rules were pretty much the same.

"Half the battle was getting lined up, and then it was about playing football."

Armstrong has definitely been down this path before.

"Obviously making the transition from week to week from outside to inside is a lot different, especially in this defense," he said. "That's something I had a little experience with.

"You have to change how you're playing things – everything is inside-out instead of outside-in. Your footwork is going to look a little different. What you're keying is going to look a little different.

"Seeing things from five yards off the line (as an outside backer) rather than on top of it is different. And that's just from a technique standpoint, not to mention an assignment standpoint.

"But Jack is a really intelligent guy and I've been impressed with how he has handled it. We all knew that he could, so there was never really any doubt."

Orr, a true freshman, was UW's third-leading tackler. He had started the previous five games at inside linebacker for junior Leon Jacobs, who has been lost for the season with a foot injury.

It has been a reoccurring theme on this football team. "It's the next guy in," said Armstrong. "And they kind of take ownership of it and kind of embrace it – and make it their own."

It just so happened that it was Cichy's turn to follow the blueprint. Besides being the leading tackler on special teams, he also had some exposure as a backup outside linebacker.

Cichy had five tackles against Troy and Hawai'i and three against Illinois. Those game reps, however limited, helped prepare him for Rutgers.

"My dad always says, 'With each play that you're in, everything slows down a little bit and you become more familiar with it,'" he said. "The plays at outside linebacker helped with what I had to do."

Steve Cichy was somewhat of a prep legend in the state of North Dakota, a member of four state championship teams in Fargo that were coached by his father, Sid Cichy, a Hall of Famer. Steve went on to Notre Dame, where he started at safety for two years. In the 1979 Cotton Bowl, he returned a blocked punt 33 yards for a touchdown.

That turned out to be one of the most memorable finishes in bowl history. The Irish trailed Houston, 34-12, in the fourth quarter but rallied for a 35-34 victory behind quarterback Joe Montana.

So you can see where Jack Cichy gets his football instincts – from his father and grandfather. Before playing against Rutgers, he got his marching orders from defensive coordinator Dave Aranda.

"He just said, 'Play fast,'" Cichy related.

UW outside linebackers coach Tim Tibesar told him the same thing.

"They both said, 'Get lined up and play fast – you're going to make some mistakes, but you might as well make them going 100 miles an hour,'" Cichy recalled.

"I was a little nervous but it helped that I got to go down on a kickoff right away (after the Badgers scored on their first series).

"That kind of got my jitters out of the way before the first defensive play."

Rutgers Justin Goodwin returned the kick only 11 yards and Cichy assisted on the tackle, it was one of eight that he would make Saturday, tying him for the team high with Michael Caputo.

"You're definitely more sore, but it's a good kind of sore after a win," Cichy said after the Badgers manhandled the Scarlet Knights, 48-10, at Camp Randall Stadium.

"It feels great to be out there with your teammates and contributing in any way that you can. It was a big responsibility (starting inside) and I'm glad the coaches thought I'd be able to handle it."

During the week leading up to the Rutgers game, Cichy had shared his excitement over the playing opportunity with his roommate, Joe Ferguson, a redshirt sophomore from Madison Memorial.

"Jack has been talking about it all week – he was really jacked up," said Ferguson, a backup safety. "And I'm glad that he played well. I knew that he could do it, and he did."

Cichy felt the same way about Ferguson.

"We knew that they were going to try and run on us," Cichy said of the Rutgers offense. "We knew that they were going to go with a lot of big bodies and Ferg stepped up and played really well."

Big is the operative word. That's what the Badgers call their defensive package – "Big" – when a team lines up with 22 personnel: two running backs and two tight ends.

Ferguson is the "big" corner, replacing Sojourn Shelton. And he made some big hits on the Scarlet Knights tailbacks; none bigger than the one on Josh Hicks in the first quarter.

The Badgers had just taken a 10-0 lead on a 12-yard run by tailback Corey Clement – whose return energized the offense – when Rutgers put together its most sustained drive of the day.

It was classic smash-mouth offense. The Scarlets Knights had consecutive runs of 3, 9, 6, 5, 9, 8, 3, 3, and 6 yards. That left them with a first-and-goal from the Wisconsin 6.

On first down, Ferguson slanted into the hole and held Hicks to a gain of 3 yards. After an incompletion, Cichy and Vince Biegel combined to tackle Hicks for no gain, forcing a field goal.

When the defense came off the field, Aranda greeted his players, though it was anything but warm and fuzzy in the greeting sense. Aranda raised his voice and challenged them to tackle better.

"He just emphasized fundamentals and wrapping up," said Cichy, noting that Aranda had seen too much complacency and too many arm tackles. "He wanted us to wrap up and finish."

Which is what the Badgers did the rest of the way – forcing eight 3-and-outs while holding Rutgers to 165 total yards. The Scarlet Knights had only two first downs in the second half.

Ferguson, who had been dealing with a neck injury earlier in the season, ended up with a career-high five tackles. He had only two on the season, and just 16 in 25 previous games.

"The first thing I did last week after we finished our game (at Illinois), I looked up Rutgers to see what they did (offensively)," said Ferguson, who has been primarily a special teams contributor. 

"We had been playing all of these spread teams and it was nice to get a team that ran 22 personnel. I knew it was going to be a big-boy fight with a lot of runs."

Ferguson, like Cichy, had some early anxiety just because he hasn't seen much action.

"After the first play, I was ready to go, ready to step in and do my job," said Ferguson. "Once you get hit, you know this is college football and it's fun to be playing.

"There's nothing more that I want to do than be out there on the field. And when I get the chance, I just have to make the most of it."

Ferguson is no different than a starter in that he places his trust in Aranda's defense.

"Personally, I have the utmost confidence in him and I know the other guys do, too," he said. "We value what he says because he knows what he's talking about.

"Going in, we know the game plan is going to work. That's the biggest thing. We know we just need to do our job and everything will be fine."

Cichy cited the confidence factor. "We all know what we can do and we've had success disrupting offenses," he said. "We all take pride in that."

That attitude permeates the defense.

"It all trickles down from the senior leaders," said Cichy, singling out Caputo, Joe Schobert and Darius Hillary, among others. "We all want a goose egg up there at the end of the game."

Armstrong has witnessed how it has all added up since the opener against Alabama.

"They've grown up a lot," he said. "We were young in some spots and we had a lot of experience in others. That has meshed well.

"The younger guys are learning and the older guys are leading. We're a very talented defense and we're putting it all together and executing the scheme. And this is the result of that."

The result? The Badgers lead the country in scoring defense.