Embracing challenge of position, Alec James comes into his own
October 22, 2016 | Football, Mike Lucas
Matchup with Hawkeyes offers homecoming of sorts for defensive end enjoying his best season
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — After injuring his knee against Hawaii in the final non-conference tune-up before the 2015 Big Ten opener, Wisconsin defensive lineman Alec James was a spectator for last season's Iowa game; an understandable downer for the only player on the UW roster from the Hawkeye state.
James was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which is 235 miles from his current home in Brookfield, Wisconsin, 164 miles from the Madison campus and 29 miles from Iowa City. James, who was 6 years old when his family moved to Wisconsin, was recruited by the Hawks. But he didn't get a scholarship offer.
On Saturday, he will return to Kinnick Stadium for a second time. His first trip was a team success — Wisconsin won 26-24 in 2014. But it was uneventful homecoming from a personal standpoint for No. 6. That was the duplicate number that James shared with tailback Corey Clement.
Since then, James has switched to No. 57 and established an identity on the D-line.
"My confidence," he said, "has grown so much in the past two years."
Over his first 26 games, James had one quarterback sack.
Through the first six games this year, he has three sacks, second to T.J. Watt's 5.5.
On the first one against LSU, James said, "I just worked an inside move on the guard." (His only other sack prior to 2016 had come against another SEC opponent, Alabama.)
Against Akron, James tackled quarterback Thomas Woodson in the end zone for a safety. "It was a hard slide, I threw him inside (the blocker) and went around him," he explained.
At Michigan, he remembered, "The quarterback (Wilton Speight) was rolling out and I ran and cut him off. Me and (Jack) Cichy were both there. I got the stat (sack), so I was happy about that."
It's not like James lives on the edge. On the contrary. He's attacking from an inside technique.
"It's not easy," he said. "The main thing is to have relentless effort. That's one thing coach Nokes (D-line coach Inoke Breckterfield) talked about when he first got here. He talked about having that continual motor of always pressing and always trying to push the pocket."
But doing so, he added, while staying in your pass rushing lane.
"If you keep working," James said of sacks, "eventually they will come."
But it can be more challenging for a down lineman in a 3-4 defensive alignment.
"That's when you have to use that effort," he said. "That fanatical effort."
Relentless effort. Fanatical effort.
"You have to give it all you've got," James said.
Physically, James has much more to give than he did as an incoming freshman from Brookfield East when he was an outside linebacker and weighed around 225-230. He's now up to 267.
"I've gotten a lot stronger," he said. "Coach Kolodziej has done a fantastic job. All the credit goes to him." Ross Kolodziej, a former UW defensive lineman, is the football strength coach.
"The first thing about his system is just the passion that he has for it," James said. "In school, whenever you have a professor who loves the subject, you kind of feed off that. It's the same with Coach Kolodziej for lifting. The second thing is his intelligence. He's always doing some kind of research."
In all facets of James' makeup, there has been steady growth and maturity.
"Each year as you get older and learn the system, you have more freedom to kind of do what you want," James said. "The first year, it's more do your job and don't get yelled at. Stay in your gap. Now, if you see a guy overcommit on a block, maybe you throw him …"
And take a chance on making a play that maybe you wouldn't have taken earlier in your career. "You have to know your strengths as a player and what you can do and you have to know your limits," said the undersized James. "Playing inside, I have to rely on quickness and technique."
Here's where Breckterfield has made the biggest impact on his development.
"He has helped me grow so much as a player," James said. "I remember when he first got here in the spring, we could work on only one move in one-on-ones. We were kind of mad about that at first, because it wouldn't work all the time and some guys didn't trust it.
"But it taught us to focus on the techniques. Once you get one move down, that's your bread and butter and you can pull that on anyone. It kind of showed us that if you focus on one thing at a time and not the huge picture all the time, you can add things to your game slowly, but surely."
Although the Badgers will be without starting nose guard Olive Sagapolu at Iowa — freshman Garrett Rand will be the beneficiary of more playing time — the D-line will rally around its veteran leaders: James, Chikwe Obasih (Brookfield Central) and Conor Sheehy (Milwaukee Marquette).
They're all from the Greater Metro Conference, a bonding element.
"Coach Nokes has helped me, Chikwe and Conor develop into who we are today," said James. "The type of physicality we play with and all our stats are attributed to him. We're not the biggest D-line in the Big Ten by any means. But we pride ourselves on our physicality and our quickness."
Injuries have forced the Hawkeyes to juggle combinations on the offensive line.
"But they're running the same stuff," James said. "They're running it because it works. The big thing about their offensive unit is execution. When they take their zone steps, they're all in sync, the whole line. And that just shows how well-coached and disciplined they are."
The offensive catalyst is quarterback C.J. Beathard, who's 18-4 as a starter.
"He's got some sauce," James said. "We were watching film from last year where he broke Chris (Orr) off and made him fall. We were laughing about that. He has got some moves. So, we'll have to stay in our pass rush lanes and try to affect the quarterback."
Running the ball. Stopping the run. The keys rarely change in the Wisconsin-Iowa series.
"It's fun knowing you're going against one of the best O-lines in the Big Ten," said James. "I know the fans are right there (at Kinnick Stadium) — pretty much close enough to touch you. They'll be yelling stuff. It's a crazy stadium. I like it a lot. Plus, I'm from there. It's pretty cool."
