BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — As the players from both schools mingled on the field following Saturday's game, Wisconsin outside linebacker Nick Herbig sought out his homie from Hawaii, his former prep teammate from Saint Louis School in Honolulu, Notre Dame's Jordan Botelho. Both are sophomores.

"That's my dog — I make it a point to call him at least once a week," said Herbig, who was asked if there was any discussion of a package deal so they could play together in college. "That really crossed our minds a lot. But we went our separate ways and chose the school that was the best fit for us."

Botelho saw his first action of the season in the Vyper position, a hybrid defensive end-linebacker. In certain down-and-distance situations, the Irish replaced one of their safeties with Botelho, giving them eight men in the box, a 4-4-3 alignment designed to counter Wisconsin's running attack.

"It's only a matter of time for him until he blows up," said Herbig, recalling how they were bookend playmakers — Botelho lined up on the left side of the defense, Herbig on the right — for multiple state championship teams in high school. "He's definitely a future first-round draft choice."

Before leaving the field Saturday in Chicago, Herbig and Botelho posed for a picture, along with Notre Dame's Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Marist Liufau and Kahanu Kia. Herbig captioned the snapshot — "The Hawaii Boys" — and explained, "We're all from the same place, we're all from the 808."

That would be the area code for Honolulu and the entire Hawaiian Islands.

"When we were in high school, we were rivals but once we made it to college, we have to all stick together," said the 19-year-old Herbig, who's from Kauai, the northernmost island, also known as "The Garden Isle" for its tropical rainforest.

"It's a special bond that we have. And that goes for all the players from Hawaii, no matter if they're in the NFL or baseball, boxing, soccer, whatever the sport; if you're from Hawaii, you just automatically connect."

A year ago, Herbig, then a true freshman, made a connection with Jack Coan, then the UW quarterback. Coan befriended Herbig, who was an early enrollee on campus before returning to Hawaii after all classes went online because of the pandemic. That friendship grew during the 2020 season.

"For some reason, I was always in the cold tub when he was in the cold tub, it was weird that way, but we just kind of connected," Herbig said. "I hung out with Collin (Wilder) and Scottie (Nelson), the guys that Jack is close with, and I just clicked with Jack. Me and him were always pretty cool."

On Notre Dame's second possession of the third quarter, a first-down play, Herbig sacked Coan for a 5-yard loss. Coan got up slowly. He completed the series. But he was obviously favoring his leg. He didn't return. When the game was over, one of the first things that Herbig did was check on Coan.

"I talked to him afterwards to see how he was — that was a completely unintentional play, that's the game of football — Jack is a heck of a player," said Herbig, who also sacked Coan in the second quarter. All told, the Badgers had six sacks, five of Coan, one of Drew Pyne.

"My mindset has been on just getting off the ball and affecting the passer," Herbig said. "If I do my job, I know there will be opportunities for me to make a sack or make a big play for our team. As long as I'm doing my assignment, it's going to open up for me and I'm going to make those plays."

If the Badgers don't experience a nightmarish fourth quarter against the Irish, the conversation this week is solely on Leo Chenal's game-high eight tackles, including a tackle for loss and forced fumble; Faion Hick's four pass breakups; Matt Henningsen's and Jack Sanborn's two TFLs each; or Herbig's two sacks.

It's still early in the season, but Herbig has begun to establish himself as a consistent force off the edge. As such, he's among the Big Ten leaders in quarterback sacks with 3.5 in three games. Michigan defensive end Aida Hutchinson is No. 1 in the conference with 5.5 in four games.

"He's doing a really good job of putting himself in a position to make plays — the opportunities are there, and he has taken advantage of them," UW outside linebackers coach Bobby April said of Herbig, who started all seven games as a freshman and tied for the team lead with six TFLs.

"It's shown up through his hard work in the meeting room. He has spent a lot of extra time studying tape and meeting with different (position) groups in understanding what's the job of the guy next to him and the guy behind him. The game has slowed down for him. He's seeing a bigger picture.

"He doesn't know just his job anymore. He's able to communicate around the box. That's been a big factor for him. As a young guy, you're so concerned on you being right that you really don't know what's going on around you. As you start developing in the scheme, you start seeing that big picture."

In acknowledging how the defense is crystallizing in front of his own eyes, Herbig said, "It's a great feeling. I know my assignment. I know what I have to do. I'm more comfortable with the playbook. And I know what I'm looking for on the other side (of the ball). Yeah, it's definitely slowed down."

Herbig registered a sack in his first collegiate game for the Badgers, the 2020 opener against Illinois. He didn't get another one the rest of the season. Despite all the other positive things that he was doing to impact games, he had to deal with the frustration of not doing more to get to the quarterback.

"I don't want to use that as an excuse that I was a freshman," said Herbig, rejecting any notion of playing the inexperience card for not getting more sacks after that first one. "Honestly, it kept me up some nights. It haunted me. It still haunts me. I wasn't working as hard as I should have been.

"I had to make that a point (of emphasis) this year. I have to go harder than everybody."

Over the summer, Herbig spent a month training in Philadelphia with his older brother, Nate Herbig, a third-year offensive lineman with the Eagles. Last season, the 6-foot-4, 334-pound elder Herbig, who played collegiately at Stanford, started 12 games, five at left guard, seven at right guard.

"He's my biggest role model, I look up to that guy," said Nick, the youngest of three Herbig boys. "Anything that he tells me is gold. I stash it away in my little toolbox and I use it when I need it. Mostly, he has helped me a lot mentally with the training and the work ethic."

While he was in Philly, he not only got a chance to sample cheesesteaks, but he worked out with some of his brother's teammates, like offensive tackle Lane Johnson. In addition, he was introduced to Gabe Rangel, a Marine Corps combat vet, and a personal trainer for Johnson and others.

"I got to see what it's like at that (NFL) level, and it's a whole different beast and it was like, 'OK, this is where I want to be at,'" said Nick, who was delighted when Nate attended the Penn State game in Madison. "Since my freshman year of high school, he had not seen me play, so it was pretty special."

In assessing the Before and After picture of Herbig — from one season to the next — April said, "The kid is a hard worker and it's all paying off for him. He's probably maxed out on everything in the weight room and he's up five to 10 pounds from last season."

Confirmed Herbig, "I feel like I'm bigger, stronger and faster in every aspect."

Besides crediting the four-week summer boot camp in Philly — "That really elevated my game a lot" — Herbig cited Wisconsin's new strength and conditioning director Shaun Snee and his offseason training regimen in terms of allowing him to play with more physicality.

In this regard, April has played a big role in refining his techniques. He was pretty raw as a frosh. Meanwhile, Herbig has also found more of a voice, which is not surprising to April who said, "He's a natural leader. He's an alpha. And he's just starting to feel it's his time to start saying more."

April liked the fact that Nick and Nate Herbig hung out together and bonded as family.

"He sees his brother achieving a dream that he wants," April said. "But it also comes down to both of his older brothers. They didn't allow him not to be good. They kept a foot on him at all times, beating him up in the locker room or weight room. And he has grown from that as a young kid."

What excites April is that there's so much more room for growth.

"He needs to take advantage of every opportunity," he said. "He hasn't been able to put it all together. He needs to trust himself from the start of the game to the end of the game and know that his techniques and preparation are going to get him to where he needs to go."

Feeling it was a fair critique, Herbig stressed, "I agree with that 100 percent. I need to be a better finisher. Sometimes, I'll do what I'm supposed to do, but I'll miss the tackle or I'll miss the sack. Those things can't happen if I want to be the player I want to be, if I want to help lead this team."

Yet it's harder than ever to get to quarterbacks because of short drops and quick releases.

"That's why our first- and second-down defense has to be great, we have to be stout and get them into third-and-long," Herbig said. "That's when we can get after it. The ball does come out pretty quick, but any way you affect the quarterback is still great because those little things add up in the end."

Michigan's offense presents the challenge of stopping the running attack. With two quality tailbacks in Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum, the Wolverines lead the Big Ten and rank No. 5 nationally in rushing offense (290.8 yards per game). They've run for over 300 yards in three of their four games.

"My run defense has been average," Herbig admitted. "I definitely need to work on staying lower, using my hands more and being more violent. They have some dudes back there (Haskins and Corum) and we're going to have to bring our hats, put a body on them and bring them to the ground."

Herbig can't wait to play in front of another raucous crowd at Camp Randall Stadium.

"I love the atmosphere, I love everybody screaming," he said. "It gets me going."

April knows that he's going in the right direction, too.

"Sacks," April said, "will definitely give you confidence." Even the missed opportunities. "That's what has given him more confidence," he added, knowing how it motivates Herbig to go even harder. If that's possible. And Herbig says it is. "I slacked and was complacent last year," he said. Not anymore.