MIKE LUCAS Senior Writer Related Content • Varsity Magazine

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — When the Big Ten announced Monday that Wisconsin inside linebacker Ryan Connelly had been recognized as the Co-Defensive Player of the Week, you could have made a reasonable argument for Connelly sharing the conference honor with teammate Leon Jacobs rather than Indiana's Marcus Oliver.

Connelly and Jacobs both had 11 tackles in the overtime win against Nebraska.

"It would have been pretty cool if that happened, and I wouldn't have been surprised, Leon played great, too," said Connelly, who also confided, "I was a little surprised to be honest (by the recognition). I didn't think I did anything too special in the game really."

Really, he did do some special things (two tackles for loss, two pass breakups). Really, they both did, Connelly and Jacobs. Especially since they were on the spot in light of the season-ending injury to linebacker Jack Cichy, who was leading the team in tackles. Cichy tore a pectoral muscle the week before at Iowa.

"It was neat to see guys get an opportunity and make the most out of it, which I thought both Ryan and Leon did," said Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst. "I give credit to those two and I give credit to the guys around them to allow them to make those plays … it's a team defense."

Chryst was a name-dropper: Chikwe Obasih, Alec James, Conor Sheehy and Garrett Rand. As a group, they were responsible for holding down the three-man front in the base and the two-man in the nickel. They were playing short-handed, too, without nose tackle Olive Sagapolu, who's sidelined with an injury.

"I definitely appreciate the honor," said Connelly, a redshirt sophomore from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. "But I also know it wouldn't be possible without the guys up front — the D-linemen — giving me the opportunity to make some tackles and make some plays."

How did Connelly stay ready as a backup? Akron was his only other start.

"You practice the same as if you were the starter," said Connelly, a former prep quarterback and lacrosse player. "The backups get typically the same amount of reps, so it's not like my reps went up during the week (leading up to Nebraska). It was the rep count on Saturday that went up a little bit."

Chryst referred to some "good football plays made in some key moments."

There was no bigger play than the one Connelly made in overtime. Needing a touchdown to tie, Nebraska tailback Terrell Newby picked up 3 yards on first down. Connelly then diagnosed a draw and tackled Newby for a 1-yard loss, impacting the Huskers play-calling on the rest of the series.

"They had run that play probably two or three different times," said the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Connelly. "I recognized the formation and I was already kind of keyed into it. As soon as I felt the quarterback's demeanor, that's when I kind of triggered it and shot the gap."

The quarterback's demeanor? What did he mean by that?

"When it's lead draw, he would hold the ball up pretending like he was passing," he said of Nebraska's Tommy Armstrong. "But he would kind of hold it up too far. It was just kind of how he looked. I knew he really wasn't trying to pass the ball. I just kind of recognized how he was acting."

Connelly had exhibited similar instincts in the season opener after replacing inside linebacker Chris Orr, who injured his knee on the first defensive snap against LSU. On third-and-8 in the fourth quarter, Connelly limited Leonard Fournette to a gain of 3 yards on a screen. That forced a punt.

When Connelly saw the LSU center Ethan Pocic and Fournette both running into the flat, he knew that it was a screen, so he executed a "bait-and-switch" technique whereby he took an angle to the ball that influenced Pocic into thinking that Fournette was someplace where he wasn't. It worked.

Connelly credited Wisconsin defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox for schooling him on the nuances of the game, while preparing him for any eventuality, whether it was Fournette on the screen or Newby on the draw. Wilcox is also in charge of coaching the inside linebackers.

"He's very personable and he goes beyond coaching the football aspect," Connelly said of Wilcox, who replaced Dave Aranda. "Sometimes, I overthink things and he helps settle me down. Sometimes, he just tries to make sure that he doesn't give me too much to think about."

Wilcox is working with a very diverse group of individuals. In addition to Connelly, Jacobs is from California, Cichy is from Wisconsin, Orr is from Texas and T.J. Edwards is from Illinois. Since their injuries, Orr and now Cichy have become de facto coaches.

"They're both incredibly smart linebackers," said Connelly. "You definitely take their feedback because they know what they're talking about. All of the inside linebackers kind of do that anyway. We're always talking about things we see (on the field) and we're always helping each other out."

Added Jacobs, who had nearly 40 snaps on Saturday, "Chris (Orr) really cares about football, he cares about this team and he's willing to do anything — as you can see by him helping us on the sideline during games, along with Jack, relaying what Coach Wilcox is sending down to us."

For a short time, Jacobs was prepping as a two-way player, a fullback-slash-linebacker. That entailed learning the game plan on both sides of the ball. Last spring, Jacobs made the difficult transition to offense after seeing action in 33 games (four starts) as a linebacker over his first three seasons.

He's happy to be back on defense. "It feels good to be back in the swing of things," said Jacobs, whose career high was 12 tackles at Illinois in 2014. "I like the fact (on defense) that you can make a play on any given down. You can go out there and play with reckless abandon, organized chaos."

Although Jacobs was injured and missed last season's Northwestern game, a 13-7 loss at Camp Randall, he played against the Wildcats as a freshman and sophomore. Two years ago, he recalled all the problems that tailback Justin Jackson created for the defense. He rushed 33 times for 162 yards. "He's very elusive," Jacobs said. "They do a lot of RPOs now."

That would be the Run-Pass Option. In 2014, Trevor Siemian, now the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, was more of a passer than a running threat. Clayton Thorson, who completed just 9 of 20 attempts in last year's game, forces opponents to account for him as a runner in many situations.

"He looks deceptively fast," Connelly said. "He's a pure passer, too."

Jackson is averaging 108 yards on the ground; Thorson is averaging 243 through the air. Jackson is No. 2 in the Big Ten behind Penn State's Saquon Barkley; Thorson is No. 3 behind Purdue's David Blough and Indiana's Richard Lagow. The Wildcats also have the No. 1 wide receiver, Austin Carr.

"We just can't get complacent," Connelly said. "It has been kind of a theme that Coach (Chryst) has talked about. Just because we've had success (3-2 versus the Top 10) doesn't mean that we've made it. November is a big month, the month when teams stand out. That's what we have to do now."