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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Whether T.J. Edwards is playing alongside of Ryan Connelly or Chris Orr — or monitoring them from the sideline when he's out of the game — there's a constant among these inside linebackers.
Productivity.
Despite unique personalities (Orr is by far the most loquacious) and diverse backgrounds (Edwards and Connelly are former prep quarterbacks), their play-making has been a common thread.
So, has their resilience to individual challenges. Edwards and Connelly, a former walk-on, have lost game snaps and practice time to injuries. Orr lost a whole season to a torn ACL.
On the field, they have their own styles. But it hasn't forced Edwards, for instance, to make in-game adjustments from series to series predicated on his partner, Connelly or Orr.
"They're different type players," Edwards said of his teammates. "They play at different levels in terms of speed, things like that. But they both do things well. I think they'd say the same about me.
"I have different strengths and weaknesses than they do. But there's one thing you can be sure about: they know what they're going to be doing and I know what I'm going to be doing.
"Just having that chemistry with them is what makes it easy. I never doubt if they're going to be in the right gap or anything like that."
Last Saturday, Northwestern ran 79 offensive plays and Edwards was on the field for 62, Connelly for 59 and Orr for 46.
Connelly finished with 10 tackles (second to safety D'Cota Dixon's 12); Orr had seven tackles and one of Wisconsin's eight quarterback sacks; Edwards had six tackles and a partial tackle for loss.
They all agreed that the rotation has been a positive in extending their effectiveness.
"If we have the freshest two 'backers in there, we'll play the best," said Orr, a sophomore from DeSoto, Texas, "because we all have experience and starter's ability."
Edwards has 29 career starts; Orr has 10, Connelly has nine.
"It's one of those things," said Edwards, a junior from Lake Villa, Illinois, "where you get a blow and you're back out there. It's not like you're sitting out for a long time or getting off your rhythm."
There are other benefits to rotating Edwards, Orr and Connelly. Communication, for one.
"It's really nice because you kind of get three perspectives on what we're seeing out there," said Connelly, a junior from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. "On the sidelines, we're always talking."
Whomever is not on the field serves as another set of eyes for those who are.
"Exactly," Connelly said. "He's always watching, he's always locked in, he always knows the play. Sometimes, he'll see something that the guys on the field don't see.
"And sometimes the guys on the field will relay something to the guy on the sidelines. We just kind of help each other out."
That's how Edwards looks at his role when he's not playing. "I still try to be as vocal as I can and yell out things I see," he said. "Cichy is the same way now that's he's on the sidelines."
After undergoing knee surgery during training camp, Jack Cichy started the season in the press box as a precautionary move during his early rehab. The emotional, energized Cichy is a team captain.
"When I come off (the field), he has been really good with me," Edwards said. "He'll tell me to calm down when things aren't going well — to kind of just regroup, which is something we need."
After a lackluster first half against Northwestern — the Badgers trailed 10-7 and were guilty of sloppy tackling — Cichy and defensive lineman Alec James had a few pointed things to say in the locker room.
"Basically, they were both relaying the message that we were not playing Wisconsin football," Connelly said. "We've got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot."
The defense then went out and dominated the Wildcats in the third quarter: 19 plays, 23 yards.
"We brought some intensity, some energy," said Orr. "I don't know how much they repped it (the blitzes), but we caught them a few times and it paid dividends for us.
"That's always fun when you get a hit on the quarterback … always fun."
Northwestern's Clayton Thorson, though, rallied his offense for a couple of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, much to the disappointment of Edwards, Connelly and Orr.
"In the passing game," Edwards said, "some of us were off our assignments, myself included."
"It was the first time," Connelly said, "a team has fought us for all four quarters."
"It's all about finishing," Orr said, "and we didn't finish like we should have."
Nebraska coach Mike Riley believes "finishing" will be the critical key Saturday night in Lincoln where the Badgers and Cornhuskers square off in a West Division showdown.
"The thing that is evident in the games against Wisconsin," he said, "is you have to be the team that finishes. We had our opportunities a couple of years ago here to finish the game and didn't do it."
Instead, Rafael Gaglianone kicked a game-winning 46-yard field goal with 63 seconds left that punctuated a fourth-quarter rally and lifted the Badgers to a dramatic 23-21 win at Memorial Stadium.
"And then we had the ball with a chance to win it last year (in Madison)," Riley continued, "and didn't do that. It's really about finishing the game at a high note, being able to produce and make plays."
Last season, the Cornhuskers outscored the Badgers 10-0 in the fourth quarter only to lose 23-17 in overtime at Camp Randall Stadium. Connelly came up with one of the big stops in OT.
Along with his inspired play after replacing the injured Orr in the LSU opener, Connelly said, "That really solidified my confidence in myself more than anything."
It's something else that Edwards, Orr and Connelly share.
Belief in themselves. Belief in each other.
