Inside the Huddle: Peavy, Steffes working to catch on

September 25, 2015 | Football

Peavy

MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Insider

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Sept. 25, 2015

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com

MADISON, Wis. -- Eric Steffes doesn't mind toiling in the shadows of others, notably tight ends Austin Traylor and Troy Fumagalli. It's something that Steffes has in common with his position coach, Mickey Turner, a UW alum and a 2009 team captain along with O'Brien Schofield, Garrett Graham and Chris Maragos.

Turner, an industrious four-year letterwinner at tight end and fullback, never made it to the NFL whereas the other three are still active: Schofield is a defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons, Graham is a tight end with the Houston Texans and Maragos is a safety with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Acknowledging that Schofield, Graham and Maragos possessed more physical attributes, Turner suggested, "All four of us were the kind of character (player) that this place is about." That would be heavy on leadership and intangibles. "And Steff could be one of those guys," he said.

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Key Matchups

Hawai'i QB Max Wittek vs.
Wisconsin OLB Joe Schobert and Vince Biegel
Wittek has never lacked confidence in his big arm. As a redshirt freshman at Southern Cal, he took over for injured starter Matt Barkley prior to the final game of the 2012 regular season and guaranteed a victory over Notre Dame. Wittek completed 14 of 23 passes for 186 yards and one touchdown. But he was also intercepted twice and the Irish prevailed, 22-13, in Los Angeles.

Wittek, a 6-4, 240-pound product of Mater Dei High School in Santa Anta, also subbed for Barkley in the Sun Bowl, a 21-7 loss to Georgia Tech. He was picked off three times while completing just 14 of 37 throws for 107 yards. After Barkley's departure, he battled Cody Kessler for the starting assignment. They split playing time the first two games of 2013 before Kessler won the job.

As it turned out, USC coach Lane Kiffin held on to his job for only five games that season before he was fired after an embarrassing 62-41 loss at Arizona State. Ed Orgeron was the interim coach and Steve Sarkisian was the replacement. Wittek had seen enough, plus he wasn't going to beat out Kessler, so he elected to transfer. Most had him going to Texas. He wound up at Hawai'i.

Last season, Wittek was the scout team quarterback for the Rainbow Warriors. And he was so impressive that head coach Norm Chow felt like Hawai'i would have had a winning record if Wittek was eligible to play right away. Instead, the Warriors went 4-9. Chow has a long, rich history in tutoring quarterbacks like Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Ty Detmer, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.

Chow went so far as to say that Wittek's skill level was comparable with any QB that he has coached and compared his arm strength to Palmer's. He cited Wittek's touch, quick release and anticipation. If anything, Wittek, who turned 22 in July, has had too much confidence in his arm at times. "I wanted every play to make that 'Wow' throw," he has said.

After completing just 7 of 24 passes for 67 yards in a 38-0 loss at Ohio State -- including two interceptions -- Wittek showed his resiliency and "wowed'' the locals in Honolulu last Saturday by hitting on 17 of 24 throws for 272 yards and two touchdowns in a 47-27 win over UC Davis. His primary targets were Marcus Kemp (5 catches for 119 yards) and Devan Stubblefield (6 for 108).

Protecting Wittek's backside will be left tackle Ben Clarke, a preseason All-Mountain West first team selection. Clarke, who has 40 career starts, was voted the team's Offensive Player of the Year in 2014. Clarke and right tackle RJ Hollis will have their hands full with the pressure that the Badgers can generate off the edge of their defense with their tag-team linebackers Schobert and Biegel.

Schobert leads the Big Ten in tackles for loss with 7.5 and ranks No. 3 nationally behind Missouri's Charles Harris and Boston College's Harold Landry, who have 8 TFLs each. Schobert is tied for third in the conference with four quarterback sacks. The leaders are Penn State's Carl Nassib (5) and Maryland's Yannick Ngakoue (4.5). Biegel has 5 TFLs and two sacks.

Last season, Biegel led the Badgers with 16.5 TFLs and finished second behind inside linebacker Derek Landisch in sacks with 7.5; Landisch had 9. Over his last five games, Schobert has 33 tackles, 11.5 TFLs, four sacks, four quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.

Hawai'i pass rush vs. Wisconsin pass protection
Through three games, UW quarterback Joel Stave is completing 67 percent of his passes (58 of 86); the second highest percentage in the Big Ten behind Rutgers' Chris Laviano (.720). Over his first three seasons (31 games), Stave completed 59 percent, topping 60 percent just once (.619 in 2013). Getting time to pass is a critical component to the equation, especially behind an offensive line that is operating with two only two returning starters, left tackle Tyler Marz and center Dan Voltz.

Stave was sacked three times by Alabama in the opener and only once since then in 47 pass attempts against Miami University and Troy University. Redshirt freshman Michael Deiter has become an early-season fixture at left guard taking over for the injured Ray Ball, who was the projected starter, while the right side of the O-line has been even more fluid because of an injury to redshirt junior Walker Williams, who was swinging between right guard and right tackle.

Redshirt freshman Micah Kapoi will make his second start at right guard and it should be a memorable experience since Kapoi verbally committed to Hawai'i during the recruiting process before changing his mind and opting for the UW. Kapoi is from Kapolei, which is about a 30-minute drive from Honolulu and the UH campus. At right tackle, the Badgers plan on continuing to rotate redshirt sophomore Hayden Biegel, the starter in the first three games, and redshirt freshman Jacob Maxwell.

Hawai'i's defense has not mounted much pressure on quarterbacks with just six sacks. By comparison, national leader Texas A&M has 15 followed closely by Maryland (14) and Penn State (13). Three different players have 1.5 sacks each: defensive ends Luke Shawley (6-2, 250) and Kennedy Tullmasealii and outside linebacker Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea. Last Saturday, the Rainbow Warriors were led in tackles by another linebacker, Jerrol Garcia-Williams who had 15 against UC Davis.

First-year defensive coordinator Tom Mason has nearly four decades of coaching experience. He spent the last seven seasons resurrecting the defense under June Jones at SMU. Prior to that stint, he was at Fresno State for seven seasons. The Rainbow Warriors frustrated the Ohio State offense by allowing only two explosive plays: a 24-yard pass completion and a 24-yard run. The Buckeyes scored 17 points through the first three quarters until they finally broke loose with 21 in the fourth.

Hawai'i was the first team in nine games to hold Ohio State under 400 total yards and the first in six games to hold the Buckeyes under 40 points. Cardale Jones was 12-of-18 for 111 yards and J.T. Barrett was 8-of-15 for 70 (a combined 20-of-34 for 181 yards).Mason is known for his aggressive philosophy. He has a 70 percent average blitz rate. This season, the 'Bows have six sacks and 19 TFLs. They came up with two of those negative-yard plays, sacks, against Ohio State in Columbus.

- Mike Lucas

A year ago, Steffes was beginning to emerge in the tight end rotation when he injured his knee during a 37-0 blowout win at Rutgers. He underwent ACL surgery in late November which ended his season and kept him out of spring practice, much to his frustration because of the missed opportunity to impress a new coaching staff.

"We all know that too well that with new coaches; you're basically starting with a brand new slate," said Steffes, a redshirt junior. "I wasn't able to get out there right away to show my game. But I trusted the process. I figured at some point I would be able to play and I would be all right."

Even though Steffes was able to take only mental reps in the spring, he made a good first impression with Turner. "From our interaction, I could tell that he was a pretty smart guy," Turner said. "Everybody on the team likes him; they respect him, they like the way he works. So I knew at least coming into (training) camp, even though I hadn't seen him in person yet (on the field), that he had a chance to help out.

"When you throw in his physical attributes, he's a big dude (6-5, 255) -- he can lift some weight," he continued. "And he's not a guy who's going to bust on mental errors. He keeps kind of growing, and as long as he does, we'll keep giving him things (to do)."

Steffes has responded well to Turner's coaching.

"He's obviously a young guy who played here not too long ago," said Steffes. "He has helped our (meeting) room a lot with just the fundamentals of the game; the simple things that make our life a lot easier and make us player better as tight ends."

With the graduation loss of Sam Arneson, UW's second-leading receiver last season, Steffes has moved up in the tight end rotation behind a resurgent Traylor and Fumagalli, who has been battling injuries this fall. "He (Traylor) has definitely stepped into more of a leadership role," Steffes said.

Traylor had only three catches through his first three seasons (30 games) but he already has doubled that production (six catches for 98 yards) through the first three games. Last Saturday against Troy, he had a beautiful diving 38-yard catch to set up his first career touchdown reception.

"He has the ability to catch the ball like that," Turner said. "He just has to stay confident."

Obviously that would also apply to Steffes, who hails from Mount Calvary, a village in Fond du Lac County and a 90-minute drive from Madison. Steffes was a first-team all-state defensive end as a junior and a first-team all-state tight end as a senior at St. Mary's Springs Academy in Fond du Lac.

"My confidence is getting a lot better with the more reps I take in practice and in games," said Steffes. "I'm more of a role player. But my role changes every week. I can do H-back, the normal tight end or even fullback. I'm open to anything and I'll do anything to help the team."

Turner had that mindset as a UW player. So he appreciates it even more in his players now.

"There have been weeks where he (Steffes) will take a majority of his reps at the Y when Traylor is not in," Turner said. "And then you get to the game and he's got to take all the other tight end reps because somebody (Fumagalli) got nicked up or we're using a different (personnel) package.

"But it's something that he can just roll with. There are a few guys every year that have that mental capacity where they don't have to take the rep in practice and they still know what to do (in a game situation) and he's one of those guys."

Steffes admitted that it can be a challenge to learn each of the assignments. "Knowing a bunch of things, I wouldn't say is easy," he conceded. "But everything kind of translates from position to positon so I can use things from one spot for the next spot and that definitely helps."

There is one thing that he can't get out of his mind.

"I haven't had my first career catch yet," said Steffes, who's 0-for-17 games.

Wide receiver Jazz Peavy was saying the same thing going into the 2015 season. His circumstance was a little different because he had appeared in just two games in 2014. But he has made up for lost time. Peavy had one catch against Alabama, two against Miami and three against Troy.

"It feels really good," said Peavy, a redshirt sophomore from Kenosha Tremper. "I feel like I'm developing that trust with Joel (Stave) slowly but surely. It just feels good to know what when I'm open that Joel trusts me enough to throw me the ball."

Peavy felt like spring practice was a turning point in his development. "In the past, I never really had a role too much," he said. "And then in the spring I slowly developed a role for myself and I got a really good feeling for this offense and it has just built from there."

He also made strides during the summer offseason program, the 7-on-7 workouts. "As the season became closer, things became more real," said the 6-foot, 189-pound Peavy. "Camp went good. I had my spot (in the rotation) and I had to keep working to keep it or move up."

It kind of snowballed from there in the respect that more balls were thrown in his direction. "I made enough plays in the coaches' eyes to trust me enough to put me on the field," Peavy said. "After my first catch (against Bama), I thought, 'This is something I really enjoy doing' and I hadn't done it in so long."

Each subsequent catch has made him even more confident. Not that he has gotten a lot of media attention. "If I'm in the shadows and I'm doing my part and if I'm not noticed as much, that's fine," he said, "because I know what I'm doing and the work that I'm putting in."

By earning the endorsement of wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore, Peavy has been utilized in the two-minute offense. "He (Gilmore) has definitely pushed me when I needed to be pushed," he said. "If I'm having a bad day, he's going to keep pushing me because he knows those are the days when I need to trust him the most. He has helped me a lot and pushed me to be better every day."

The UW receiving corps will be challenged by an aggressive Hawai'i secondary, led by cornerback Ne'Quan Phillips (5-9, 190), who has 32 career starts, 13 more than safety Marrell Jackson (6-0, 200) who has the second most starts on the defense. Jackson is also the leading tackler.

"We'll definitely see a physical team, a big, physical team, and we have to attack the same way," Peavy said of the Rainbow Warriors. "You could see a lot of everything from them (in coverage) -- some press, some bail, some off-coverage. We might get a little bit of everything."

Turner figures that the Badgers will get Hawai'i's best punch here Saturday night.

"They're going to be a tough defense; they move around a lot once the play hits," he said. "They may line up the same way two plays in a row, but they're going different ways each time. They're aggressive. The play-calling is aggressive and the players are also aggressive."

Cognizant of how well Hawai'i played through three quarters at Ohio State (trailing only 17-0) two weeks ago, Turner said, "They're the kind of team that is not going to be intimidated by having to travel (8,320 miles roundtrip from Honolulu to Camp Randall Stadium) or by having to play someone out of conference."

For the record, the Rainbow Warriors will play in five separate time zones this season and their six road games -- Columbus, Madison, Boise, Albuquerque, Reno and Las Vegas -- will amount to 40,122 miles of air travel.

"They're used to playing whomever and wherever," Turner said.