Lucas at Large: Musso embracing big opportunity
September 02, 2015 | Football
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September 2, 2015
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com
MADISON, Wis. -- After Paul Chryst accepted the University of Pittsburgh's head coaching job, he brought three Wisconsin assistant coaches with him, including Joe Rudolph, and hired a strength coach, Todd Rice, with strong ties to the Madison area. Rice's brother, Pat Rice, was the uber-successful head coach at Waunakee High School. All of these local connections factored into Leo Musso's decision-making process as a recruit.
Musso seriously considered Pitt but after UW coach Bret Bielema upped the ante with a full scholarship offer, he accepted an opportunity to stay close to home and play for the Badgers. Musso was part of one of the smallest recruiting classes, 12 tendered players, in recent memory; a class that was assembled by Bielema and just three assistants: Chris Ash, Charlie Partridge and Thomas Hammock.
The Badgers were in the midst of a major staff turnover, a common occurrence in college football. Ash was Musso's first position coach; Bill Busch was his second; Daronte' Jones is his third. And, yes, Musso, the former Waunakee tailback, is finally going to get that chance to play for a Chryst-coached team. Musso will be starting at safety when Wisconsin takes on Alabama in its season opener Saturday.
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This will be his second start; the first came in 2013, and it was memorable from the standpoint that it took place in front of 105,826 fans at the fabled Horseshoe, Ohio Stadium, in Columbus. The Badgers opened with five defensive backs against the Buckeyes. Musso, then a redshirt freshman, joined Sojourn Shelton, Darius Hillary, Michael Caputo and Dezmen Southward in the secondary.
"I remember walking out of locker room and it was like a big valley,'' Musso recalled. "I was standing out there and it was like one of those video games. I was watching Braxton Miller at quarterback and Carlos Hyde running up the gut and you have to make a play and tackle him. That was a crazy, crazy game. It was my second year of playing defense and I was still trying to figure things out.''
The Buckeyes won, 31-24. Musso had five tackles, including a TFL. But his playing time dwindled and he had only three more tackles the remaining eight games. At the beginning of last season, he was slowed by a hamstring injury. That dropped him behind freshman Lubern Figaro and fifth-year senior Peniel Jean. Musso ended up with more tackles on special teams (six) than at defensive back (five).
Reflecting on 2014, his third year in the program, Musso said, "At end of the day my motto has always been to control what you can control and make the most of your opportunities. Whether I was getting reps with the ones, the twos or the scout team, I knew I had to make sure that I was doing the right thing and that was about being in the right place at the right time.''
Since then, Musso's fortunes have been tied to Tanner McEvoy, who started the first six games at quarterback last year before relinquishing the position to Joel Stave. When UW athletic director Barry Alvarez took over the team as the interim head coach for the Outback Bowl, one of the first things he did was move McEvoy into a starter's role at safety. And that's where McEvoy played the entire spring.
"It was one of those things where you had to keep working and keep playing and wherever the chips may fall that's where they fall,'' said Musso, who took a pragmatic approach to how the Badgers were planning on utilizing McEvoy, whether at safety or wide receiver which is where he has spent a majority of the practices during training camp. "Credit to him. He's an awesome, awesome player.''
Because the 6-foot-6, 231-pound McEvoy, a former prep receiver, is filling a need on offense -- he's still expected to get reps on defense, too -- it created an opening at safety. Figaro had the first crack but he was eventually beaten out by Musso who had more interceptions, by far, than anyone else during camp. Prodded to explain his ball skills, Musso shrugged and said, "I really don't know how to.''
At Waunakee, he was used exclusively as a running back and "I came here not knowing a lick of defense'' before finding free safety to his liking. "I love getting into the box with the front seven guys and taking on a big, 333-pound pulling guard, that's fun,'' claimed the 5-10, 194-pound Musso. "I also love being in the back end -- trying to read the quarterback and trying to make a play.''
Musso knows that he has plenty of help. "The front seven gets great pressure,'' he said. "The corners are locking down and Mike (Caputo) is doing a great job communicating with me. Everyone else has a hard job and they're making my job a lot easier. Obviously, it helps with film work to know where you have to be at the right time, but I've got to give credit to the rest of the defensive unit.''
The Captain, in particular, has been influential. That would be Caputo. "He's awesome,'' Musso said. "Anybody who works with Mike is going to come out a better player … he's pretty much always intense. We were in the DB room and he was drawing up concepts that our offense runs and what to expect on certain plays. He's one of those guys that is wired and very passionate and I love him for it.''
Alabama plans on returning to smash-mouth football by featuring its one-two tailback punch of Derrick Henry (6-3, 242) and Kenyan Drake (6-1, 210). How does Musso compensate for his lack of size? "I try to get as low as I can and use it to my advantage,'' he said. "Being 5-10 definitely helps my cause in that aspect. In terms of people looking at me, they might think size is a factor. But I don't think it is.''
What about the physical mismatch between Musso and Alabama's receivers, specifically 6-6, 242-pound tight end O.J. Howard? "If it's a bigger guy, there are different ways you can handle the situation,'' said Musso, suggesting it's about positioning and leverage "depending on what kind of route is run, what kind of coverage you're in'' which "changes your alignment and where you are on the ball.''
Find the ball and you're likely to find No. 19.
