BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — What did they know? And when did they know it?
The first time it entered Leo Musso's mind was during Wisconsin's spring practice. While the No. 2 defense was on the field, Musso remembered turning to cornerback Sojourn Shelton on the sideline and saying without provocation, "Hey, this is going to be a good team."
What moved Musso to think that way in April?
"You know good football and you know good football players when you see good football being played," suggested Musso, a starting free safety and fifth-year senior from Waunakee. "I guess it was just kind of that gut feeling that I had.
"Winning three state championships, being on successful teams (in high school), knowing what it takes to reach the highest level, it helped me realize what was to come for our team. Spring ball really solidified my feelings on who we were going to be going into the 2016 season."
Musso's instincts were nurtured over an illustrious prep career. As a senior, he rushed for 181 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-0 win over Waterford in the WIAA Division 2 championship game. Waunakee, winners of 36 straight, became only the sixth program in state history to capture three straight titles.
Given this backdrop, what possessed Musso to think that the Badgers had the key ingredients for a 10-2 season, a Big Ten West championship and slot opposite Penn State in Saturday night's conference title game, and a No. 6 national ranking by the College Football Playoff selection committee?
"There's a lot that goes into it," Musso said of the winning recipe. "There are a lot of different aspects — being tough, being resilient — and more than anything having a natural love of the game even when things aren't necessarily fun.
"It's definitely not fun waking up at 5 in the morning and pushing Prowlers until you puke. But you're doing it for a bigger reason. It's kind of like that feeling that you have afterwards — after you get done puking — it's that gratifying feel."
The Prowler sled is designed to build speed, power and lower body strength. Weights are stacked on the sled and it can be upwards of 300 pounds. The players are divided into relay teams and the sled is pushed from one end of the field to the other and back again.
"You push them and you push them and you push them," said Musso, sighing.
The mandate and challenge is to keep pushing the sled even if you catch the "Prowler flu."
Google that, but not on a full stomach.
"Tough days," added Shelton, rolling his eyes. "Those things are really tough."
But there was a method behind the Prowler madness.
"All those conditioning workouts, the Prowler sleds and all that stuff, built us for what we were going to be this year," Shelton said. "And that's what got us through the tough times when you can sit back and reflect on all the hard work you've put in — individually and as a team."
What did they know? And when did they know it?
The first time that it entered Shelton's mind was following Wisconsin's win over USC in the Holiday Bowl. Instead of dwelling on the graduation losses, including three-fourths of the secondary (Darius Hillary, Michael Caputo and Tanner McEvoy), Shelton envisioned something else.
"I knew we had a chance to be a pretty good team," he said, "by picturing all the guys coming back and the senior leadership of guys like Vince (Biegel), myself, Corey (Clement), Dare (Ogubowale). It was just a matter of everyone believing in the system and coaches and putting in the work."
Clement, like Musso, felt the picture began to crystallize in April.
"I thought throughout spring ball everybody had a chip on their shoulder as far as showing that maybe we can be something special this year," said Clement, a first-team All-Big Ten tailback and a senior from Glassboro, New Jersey.
"Everybody was wondering about the schedule and how everything was going to pan out, but Coach (Paul) Chryst made us focus on just us. We really had blinders on through winter conditioning and spring practice. We were honing in on the task at hand — that was making this season the best possible."
What did they know? And when did they know it?
Based on the spring, Ogunbowale said, "We knew that we had enough talent."
But it was the next stage — summer conditioning — that really convinced him.
"When the freshmen were added to the mix," Ogunbowale said, "and I saw the type of team we had and the type of character all the guys had, I definitely knew that we had a chance to do some special things. And that's why we set such high goals because we knew that we could reach them.
"We knew that we had guys who wanted to win and wanted to be the best. And when you couple that with the talent and athleticism that we had, we knew we had a special group."
That was reinforced during the preseason training camp in August.
"It was just seeing everybody's eagerness," Musso said. "It's easy to come out that first day and be excited when it's no pads and you haven't played football in a while. But it's seeing how everybody approached camp the second and third week and seeing how they were still excited. "Honestly, that's very special and something very uncommon with a lot of teams."
Not with this team — Chryst's second team after replacing Gary Andersen.
"As far as training camp, there were some ups and downs," Clement said. "But what really stood out was when we had a positive day that next day was also a positive day. It was not like it fluctuated up and down. We knew if we came out with a fire in us every day at practice, the sky was the limit."
Shelton, a first-team All-Big Ten pick, got a good vibe right away from the practice tempo.
"I've been fortunate enough to play on some good teams here and when you see all the position groups developing, you've got a good feeling," he said.
What did they know? And when did they know it?
Winter conditioning. Spring practice. Summer conditioning. Fall training camp. Each phase or stage has impacted the "whys" and "hows" of this season from the perspective of why the Badgers are one of the best teams in college football and how they got to this point.
"From the start, we knew that we had some good players," Ogunbowale reiterated. "But once we finally got pads on during camp, guys were making plays. We heard about the schedule the whole offseason and we were excited to finally get into it, because we knew we could be successful."
Despite what they have already achieved, they know that there's still more out there for them.
"If anything," Clement said, "the chip is still on our shoulder."
