Tougher Together: Edwards and Connelly bring out each other’s best
November 24, 2018 | Football, Mike Lucas, Varsity Magazine
It’s Axe Week. For T.J. Edwards and Ryan Connelly, that means one more chance to run out of the tunnel at Camp Randall.
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — They have shown so much compatibility as starting inside linebackers that you rarely get one without the other. They read and react in unison. So much so that their anticipation and actions are the equivalent of completing each other's sentences or thoughts. Only they're finishing plays.
T.J. Edwards and Ryan Connelly usually arrive at the same time in the same foul mood.
Like they did during a goal line stand at Purdue.
"I do remember that," said Connelly, revisiting one of the game's turning points. "I was supposed to be outside of the fullback and the running back just kind of ran into me. I knew T.J. was coming from inside out, so I made sure I was outside of it (the ball) and he came and cleaned it up."
Edwards had his own version.
"Ryan stopped him initially and I just came and jumped on the pile to take his tackle," he said. "It's kind of how we've been for this last stretch. For some reason, I always find myself right next to him on the play. When we're out there flying around, you can feel the energy from him."
One last time for @BadgerFootball seniors at home.
— Wisconsin on BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) November 24, 2018
You'd be hard-pressed to find a better linebacker tandem in college football. Find the football and you'll find No. 53 (Edwards) and No. 43 (Connelly) in some combination. Edwards has 86 tackles, Connelly has 84. Edwards has 10.5 tackles for loss, Connelly has 10. Both fifth-year seniors have three sacks.
Counting special teams, they were each on the field for 100 plays last Saturday.
Although they were both successful high school quarterbacks — Edwards posted a 17-3 record as a starter (Lake Villa, Illinois) and Connelly led his team to a Class 6A state championship (Eden Prairie, Minnesota) — they have different skill sets on defense and different personalities.
"What they have in common," Bob Bostad opined, "is they want to get to the ball."
Bostad, the inside linebackers coach, didn't mince words on Edwards and Connelly. When asked about their legacies, he responded in soft, measured bursts, "Two super productive players … two guys who play with high motors … two selfless program guys who put the team ahead of themselves."
But he didn't stop there.
"The thing I've been really proud about this year," he said, "is that whatever was going on in the game, good or bad, they were consistently positive for the young guys. Whether it was a turnover or whatever happened that was negative, they never blinked, never flinched."
But it doesn't stop there.
"It's in those times that no one sees after a loss," Bostad went on, "You've got this crappy feeling — like you've been punched in the stomach — and this load on your back at the same time. But the attitude that these guys had was outstanding."
Neither has thought much about what they will leave behind. But since they will be running out of the tunnel Saturday for the final time at Camp Randall Stadium — greeted on the turf by loved ones during the pre-game senior introductions — they were prodded into taking a crack at their legacy.
"I came here and worked as hard as I could to get to where I'm at," said Edwards, who has 340 tackles in 51 games, 50 starts. "I tried to help guys younger than me to follow that path as well. Hopefully, I'll leave here and be remembered as a good person and a good football player."
"Off the top of my head, I added to the walk-on legacy, the list of walk-ons who have contributed to the program," said Connelly, who has 246 tackles in 51 games, 25 starts. "A linebacker who took the most out of his opportunities would probably be the best thing that could be remembered about me."
• • • •
Edwards couldn't remember the first time that he met Connelly on campus.
"We weren't that close our freshman year, we weren't roommates or anything like that," he said. "As time went on, the position group started to get close and I definitely gravitated towards his personality. We think the same on some things and that helped mold that friendship and bond.
"On the field, we started playing well together and it went from there."
As true freshmen, Edwards and Connelly both redshirted on the scout team and learned by watching Marcus Trotter and Derek Landisch, the starting inside linebackers. In 2015, Edwards started all 13 games alongside Leon Jacobs (3 games), Chris Orr (6 games) and Jack Cichy (4 games).
A preseason injury sidelined Edwards for the 2016 opener at Lambeau Field. Cichy and Orr were the starters against LSU, but Orr blew out his knee on the first defensive snap and was replaced by Connelly, who came up with seven tackles, including a clutch open-field hit on Leonard Fournette.
Connelly started the following week with Cichy before Edwards returned. After Cichy was injured at Iowa, Connelly jumped back into the starting lineup with Edwards for the final seven games of the season. They meshed well.
"We just know where each other is," Connelly said. "That's really helpful on defense where you're passing things off. Or, if we're in man (coverage) and he's going to overtake my man, I don't really have to tell him to overtake. It just happens because we know each other's tendencies."
Last year, the Badgers had to improvise after Cichy suffered a season-ending knee injury during training camp. Edwards and Connelly started the opener; Orr started the next eight games with Edwards before a leg injury to Orr thrust Connelly back into the starting lineup for the last five games.
"This is kind of our first year where we've truly been out there together for the entire time," said Edwards, who has paired with Connelly for all 11 starts. "We've had good chemistry and played well off each other. He has been a guy that I can lean on for mental things.
"The way he observes and reads and reacts is something that I've tried to put into my game. Instead of trying to read too much, he reads his first key and he goes.
"He's a guy who's going to shoot (a gap) all the time and he makes a lot of plays doing that. He's a guy who's very downhill and aggressive. Playing next to him, I know he's going to be fast all the time and it kind of makes my job a little easier to be honest."
Connelly agreed, "I'm more of a slasher causing havoc." There have been times when Connelly has blown up a play by exploding through a blocker and upending the running back, not unlike former UW linebacker Chris Borland. "Being compared to him would be cool," Connelly said shyly.
In the same breath, he admitted, "He (Borland) was a little different player than me."
Fair enough. But how is Edwards different from Connelly?
"I always think that when T.J. hits you — you know he hits you," Connelly said. "I can always tell when he gets some good smacks on people and he's really good at reading the quarterback and getting his hands on the ball.
"I feel like he's always in the right spots."
Do it for the seniors.
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) November 24, 2018
Edwards has nine career interceptions, tying him with Craig Raddatz for the most career picks by a Wisconsin linebacker. For perspective, former cornerback Sojourn Shelton also had nine. Edwards has spaced them out: three as a sophomore, four as a junior and two this season.
"I'd say he's pretty calm for the most part but the thing that most people don't know about him — and I've seen it in him — he's super competitive," Connelly said. "He just doesn't always let people in on how competitive he is. He doesn't like losing."
In turn, Edwards said of Connelly, "You can see his work ethic in everything he does."
Outside the lines, both are self-assured and engaging. Each in his own way.
"To most he's quiet," Edwards said of Connelly. "But he's someone who keeps things light all the time. He's very subtle with his jokes. He's actually a tremendously funny guy."
Funny? "That's what he said?" Connelly posed. "Maybe when I get more comfortable with people, I get to know them, I like pushing buttons. Obviously, I know all of T.J.'s buttons."
Bostad knows how to push theirs, too, by emphasizing and reemphasizing "getting to the ball."
"We definitely talk about that a lot," Connelly confirmed.
And it has sunk in.
"We have to be around the ball — that's something we take pride in," said Edwards, who along with Connelly is playing for his third linebackers coach. "We try to be there on every play. Most of it has to do with effort and mindset. He (Bostad) has definitely ingrained that in us the past couple of years."
For the streak. For the axe. Sleep tight Badgers, we've got a battle ahead tomorrow. #OnWisconsin
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) November 23, 2018
Nobody will have to push any buttons to get the Badgers ready for the Gophers. On Monday, Connelly spoke to the team. "I'd say for the majority of the team they don't need any extra motivation."
Nonetheless, Edwards and Connelly will be motivated by something else.
"It's going to be a hard fact to deny," Edwards said, "but I'm playing my last game here."
During senior introductions, Edwards will run out to his mom, dad, sister and brother's wife.
Connelly will run out to his dad, brother and girlfriend.
"It will be kind of special," Connelly said, "to celebrate with them."
And him, No. 53. But that was understood and left unsaid by No. 43.
