Lucas: Mellusi, Badgers have Axe on their mind
November 23, 2022 | Football, Mike Lucas
Running back was dynamic last week in return from injury
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – At Clemson, there was a 57-yard touchdown run against Syracuse. At Wisconsin, there was a 60-yard run against Eastern Michigan – leading to a score – and a 20-yard touchdown run against Purdue. These runs would be the equivalent of "home runs" for Chez Mellusi.
Last Saturday, he hit a "single" that helped rally the Badgers to a much-needed win at Nebraska.
"It kind of shows our perseverance," Mellusi said.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Badgers trailed, 14-3. They were already without their best defensive player, Nick Herbig, who had been ejected in the third quarter for targeting. And they would lose their top running back, Braelon Allen, to an injury with a little over five minutes remaining.
But they had already begun to reverse the momentum before Allen tweaked his ankle. Battling the howling, gusting wind, Graham Mertz threw a clutch 10-yard touchdown pass to Skyler Bell to narrow the deficit to 14-9. Although the two-point conversion failed, the UW sideline was energized.
So much so that Herbig strayed on to the field to congratulate Bell after his score and was tagged with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for not wearing his helmet. But his teammates had his back and the defense got back-to-back stops (sandwiched around a UW three-and-out and Allen's exit).
The Badgers started their game-winning drive from the 50 with 3:11 left. The multi-faceted Isaac Guerendo had five straight touches – including runs of 5, 8, 3 and 1 – and a 27-yard reception on which he used his track speed to get open and his ball skills to extend his arms and make the catch.
"I knew he was going to catch it," Mellusi said. "He has a wide receiver background."
Now, it was Mellusi's turn. With 53 seconds on the clock, he entered the game. The Badgers had a second-and-goal from the Nebraska 6. Once Mellusi heard his number called in the huddle, he said, "I predetermined that I was going up the middle. I wanted to make sure we scored."
That was his mindset "until the very last second." Once the ball was snapped and he had it in his grasp, he said, "I saw the way they were playing it on defense, and everything started collapsing, they were shooting all the gaps, and I had to take a chance and bounce … I made the decision to get outside."
It was the correct read. Mellusi steered clear of the gridlock, darted to the perimeter and was knocked out of bounds by Nebraska's Isaac Gifford on the 1. "I thought I was going to score – I wish I would have scored – but it actually worked out because we killed some more time," Mellusi said.
While envisioning a TD, a home run, he settled for a single by showing trust in his decision-making. "One hundred percent," Mellusi said, "because the play is not designed to go anywhere but inside. It's trusting my eyes, trusting my speed, trusting making that decision and going with it."
On the next snap, third-and-goal, left guard Tanor Bortolini, center Joe Tippmann and right guard Michael Furtney got a terrific surge and Mertz followed them into the end zone. Mertz's eighth career rushing touchdown vaulted the Badgers into a 15-14 lead with only 35 seconds to play.
Once again, Mellusi had a premonition, "I knew we were going to score."
The defense got one final stop and Wisconsin was bowl eligible for the 21st straight season.
"It's just a testament to how we've persevered this whole year," said Mellusi, reflecting on all the adversity that this program has been forced to deal with in 2022. "It felt great seeing everyone come together. It has been a tough week." Pausing, he then reiterated, "It has been a tough year."
The players had to process the loss of running back coach Gary Brown to cancer in the spring, the dismissal of head coach Paul Chryst at the start of October, and the loss of former teammate Devin Chandler in a mass shooting on the Sunday night leading up to the Nebraska trip.
Their plates were full. Their hearts were heavy. Their backs were against the wall in the fourth quarter. But collectively they rallied around each other and their interim head coach and found ways to persevere. In retrospect, Mellusi acknowledged, "I was just grateful to be back out there with the guys."
Mellusi had gone 42 days between carries. On Oct. 8, he was injured at Northwestern. "With about five minutes left in the game, I kind of fell awkwardly," he said. "I extended my right arm and someone hit it while extended. I played another snap and realized something was not right."
Mellusi broke the radius bone in his forearm. He had surgery that night in Chicago. "They put a plate in there," he said, noting he has a card to get through airport security. "The first couple of weeks were kind of tough. It was stiff. But you get used to it. Now, it's pretty much like nothing is there."
Last November, Mellusi, the Clemson transfer, tore his ACL at Rutgers. That rehab prepared him for this one. "You hear so many things about an ACL – Are you going to be the same? Are you going to be able to do this or that?" Mellusi posed. "That aside, you have to attack each situation day-by-day."
Compared to rehabbing a knee, he said, "This forearm thing almost felt like it was nothing."
On the UW's second offensive possession at Nebraska, Mellusi got five yards on a first down run, his first carry since Northwestern. His concern was getting back into a rhythm of "getting hit and falling" because in practice "we try to simulate live contact but you don't get tackled to the ground."
It didn't long to get into the flow. "After my first drive, I told coach, 'I'm good to go.'"
Mellusi ended up with 21 carries, six more than he had in any previous outing this season. He also led the Badgers in rushing with 98 yards (4.7) falling just shy of his sixth 100-yard game at Wisconsin. While collecting 815 yards and five touchdowns in 2021, he went over 100 four times.
On Sunday morning, Mellusi woke up with a little soreness. It was totally anticipated. "I know my role was supposed to be a little limited (at Nebraska), but once I got into the flow of things, I told them I was fine," he said. "I knew I was going to be sore. But it was worth it, for sure."
Obviously, the Badgers are far more potent with a tailback rotation of Allen, Mellusi and Guerendo. "I think that's when we play our best football when we all contribute," Mellusi said. "Everyone brings something different to the table and we complement each other so well."
Allen rushed for 92 yards against the Cornhuskers, including a pivotal 22-yard run on Wisconsin's first scoring drive of the fourth quarter. "Brae is banged up," Mellusi said. "But he did some great things in that game. He had that long run to put us in a position to put some points on the board."
Most recently, a lingering shoulder injury has forced Allen to the sidelines at various times. But it hasn't prevented him from getting his share of game reps, no matter how painful. "Brae won't tap out," Mellusi volunteered. "He's a competitor. Sometimes I've got to tell him, 'I'm here … Isaac's here …"
Mellusi's presence here has been impactful. Moreover, the Badgers are banking on having all three tailbacks for Saturday's regular season finale against Minnesota at Camp Randall Stadium. A year ago, the Gophers held Allen to 47 yards on 17 carries. But he was running on empty in a 23-13 loss.
Neither Mellusi nor Guerendo were available for that game in Minneapolis.
This week, Mellusi has been truly getting up to speed on the time-honored rivalry. "I just know how important it is to both programs," said Mellusi, who also knows that the trophy case for the Axe in the UW locker room has been empty for going on 365 days. "I walk by it every day."
Mellusi wants to make sure the Axe is back in its rightful place. In the UW locker room. Especially since he's coming back for a final year of eligibility in 2023. "I was pretty set on going to the NFL after this year and giving that a shot," he said. "But I think it's in my best interests to come back.
"I started college when I was 17, so I'm kind of a young guy. I'm not a 23 or 24-year-old senior. I just turned 21. I'll come back and finish school and give this program everything I have. I still have a lot left on the table here. It makes sense for me to come back."
His focus now is on getting back the Axe. Chris Orr spoke to the team about the Border Battle.
"I just talked about the history of the game and how important it is to the program and the state," said Orr, the ex-UW linebacker. "I spoke about the experiences I had with it (the Axe) – losing it, getting it back and all that. To be honest, I just wanted them to understand how really important it is."
Orr even had a PowerPoint presentation. "Oh, yeah," he enthused. "Pictures of the Axe. Pictures of alums that came back with the Axe. I wanted them to be able to see it and feel it. This is motivation. This is getting them right. You've got to remember you don't have it right now …
"My favorite memory is going up there and getting it back (in 2019) because it hurt a lot when we lost it here on Senior Day (2018)," Orr said. "All those seniors' tears live with you. But getting it back that next year was my best memory, my best feeling."
As a Badger player, a three-time All-American safety, Jim Leonhard was 2-2 against the Gophers.
"We'll have a number of people talk (this week)," Leonhard said. "The beauty of this program is that we have a lot of people who have been a big part of this rivalry and it means a lot to a lot of people. I'm excited to kind of teach the guys who don't know much about the history."
To Leonhard's thinking, "It means everything. It's the longest rivalry in college football. If that doesn't mean anything to you then … We've talked at length about what I feel about rivalries in college football. It's what makes the game special."
In 2002, the Badgers faced a must-win situation in Camp Randall. Win, and they'd qualify for a bowl. Lose to the Gophers and they would be home for the holidays for a second straight year. Leonhard was a freshman walk-on in 2001 when Minnesota snapped a six-game losing streak in the series.
A year later behind the running of tailback Anthony Davis, who rushed 45 times for 301 yards and five touchdowns, and the guile and grit of quarterback Brooks Bollinger, who had 18 carries for 112 yards, the Badgers rallied twice in the second half for a 49-31 win. It was their most points since 1999.
Despite playing with a broken wrist, Leonhard intercepted his ninth and 10th passes of the season, breaking Neovia Greyer's school record. Both picks ended Minnesota scoring threats in the end zone late in the game. Afterwards, UW head coach Barry Alvarez lavished praise on Leonhard.
"That first interception was as good of one as I've seen," he said. "Maybe ever."
Asked if Leonhard, then only a sophomore, then still trying to earn a scholarship, potentially had the same type of leadership skills as Bollinger, the ultimate captain, Alvarez said, "I don't think he's as vocal as Brooks. He's not the same personality as Brooks. But he will definitely lead by example."
Leonhard, the interim head coach, has been setting the tone this week for the Border Battle.
"You just know, the records don't matter," Leonhard said Monday. "You go in there and it's going to be a physical game. You have to earn it. That's the fun part about rivalries to me. It doesn't matter – banged up, healthy, struggling, playing well – you have to go out there and earn a win.
"I've always respected this program (Minnesota). I don't like them, but I respect them," he said emphatically, while stressing his respect for the Gophers, "because they have an identity. They know who they are and they're going to force you to beat them. Very similar to what we are."
The rivalry is sinking in with Mellusi. "And I'm just grateful to be a part of it," he said.
Mellusi has no Axe to grind. Which is the problem. He wants it back. He's not alone.
Â
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – At Clemson, there was a 57-yard touchdown run against Syracuse. At Wisconsin, there was a 60-yard run against Eastern Michigan – leading to a score – and a 20-yard touchdown run against Purdue. These runs would be the equivalent of "home runs" for Chez Mellusi.
Last Saturday, he hit a "single" that helped rally the Badgers to a much-needed win at Nebraska.
"It kind of shows our perseverance," Mellusi said.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Badgers trailed, 14-3. They were already without their best defensive player, Nick Herbig, who had been ejected in the third quarter for targeting. And they would lose their top running back, Braelon Allen, to an injury with a little over five minutes remaining.
But they had already begun to reverse the momentum before Allen tweaked his ankle. Battling the howling, gusting wind, Graham Mertz threw a clutch 10-yard touchdown pass to Skyler Bell to narrow the deficit to 14-9. Although the two-point conversion failed, the UW sideline was energized.
So much so that Herbig strayed on to the field to congratulate Bell after his score and was tagged with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for not wearing his helmet. But his teammates had his back and the defense got back-to-back stops (sandwiched around a UW three-and-out and Allen's exit).
The Badgers started their game-winning drive from the 50 with 3:11 left. The multi-faceted Isaac Guerendo had five straight touches – including runs of 5, 8, 3 and 1 – and a 27-yard reception on which he used his track speed to get open and his ball skills to extend his arms and make the catch.
"I knew he was going to catch it," Mellusi said. "He has a wide receiver background."
Now, it was Mellusi's turn. With 53 seconds on the clock, he entered the game. The Badgers had a second-and-goal from the Nebraska 6. Once Mellusi heard his number called in the huddle, he said, "I predetermined that I was going up the middle. I wanted to make sure we scored."
That was his mindset "until the very last second." Once the ball was snapped and he had it in his grasp, he said, "I saw the way they were playing it on defense, and everything started collapsing, they were shooting all the gaps, and I had to take a chance and bounce … I made the decision to get outside."
It was the correct read. Mellusi steered clear of the gridlock, darted to the perimeter and was knocked out of bounds by Nebraska's Isaac Gifford on the 1. "I thought I was going to score – I wish I would have scored – but it actually worked out because we killed some more time," Mellusi said.
While envisioning a TD, a home run, he settled for a single by showing trust in his decision-making. "One hundred percent," Mellusi said, "because the play is not designed to go anywhere but inside. It's trusting my eyes, trusting my speed, trusting making that decision and going with it."
On the next snap, third-and-goal, left guard Tanor Bortolini, center Joe Tippmann and right guard Michael Furtney got a terrific surge and Mertz followed them into the end zone. Mertz's eighth career rushing touchdown vaulted the Badgers into a 15-14 lead with only 35 seconds to play.
Once again, Mellusi had a premonition, "I knew we were going to score."
The defense got one final stop and Wisconsin was bowl eligible for the 21st straight season.
"It's just a testament to how we've persevered this whole year," said Mellusi, reflecting on all the adversity that this program has been forced to deal with in 2022. "It felt great seeing everyone come together. It has been a tough week." Pausing, he then reiterated, "It has been a tough year."
The players had to process the loss of running back coach Gary Brown to cancer in the spring, the dismissal of head coach Paul Chryst at the start of October, and the loss of former teammate Devin Chandler in a mass shooting on the Sunday night leading up to the Nebraska trip.
Their plates were full. Their hearts were heavy. Their backs were against the wall in the fourth quarter. But collectively they rallied around each other and their interim head coach and found ways to persevere. In retrospect, Mellusi acknowledged, "I was just grateful to be back out there with the guys."
Mellusi had gone 42 days between carries. On Oct. 8, he was injured at Northwestern. "With about five minutes left in the game, I kind of fell awkwardly," he said. "I extended my right arm and someone hit it while extended. I played another snap and realized something was not right."
Mellusi broke the radius bone in his forearm. He had surgery that night in Chicago. "They put a plate in there," he said, noting he has a card to get through airport security. "The first couple of weeks were kind of tough. It was stiff. But you get used to it. Now, it's pretty much like nothing is there."
Last November, Mellusi, the Clemson transfer, tore his ACL at Rutgers. That rehab prepared him for this one. "You hear so many things about an ACL – Are you going to be the same? Are you going to be able to do this or that?" Mellusi posed. "That aside, you have to attack each situation day-by-day."
Compared to rehabbing a knee, he said, "This forearm thing almost felt like it was nothing."
On the UW's second offensive possession at Nebraska, Mellusi got five yards on a first down run, his first carry since Northwestern. His concern was getting back into a rhythm of "getting hit and falling" because in practice "we try to simulate live contact but you don't get tackled to the ground."
It didn't long to get into the flow. "After my first drive, I told coach, 'I'm good to go.'"
Mellusi ended up with 21 carries, six more than he had in any previous outing this season. He also led the Badgers in rushing with 98 yards (4.7) falling just shy of his sixth 100-yard game at Wisconsin. While collecting 815 yards and five touchdowns in 2021, he went over 100 four times.
On Sunday morning, Mellusi woke up with a little soreness. It was totally anticipated. "I know my role was supposed to be a little limited (at Nebraska), but once I got into the flow of things, I told them I was fine," he said. "I knew I was going to be sore. But it was worth it, for sure."
Obviously, the Badgers are far more potent with a tailback rotation of Allen, Mellusi and Guerendo. "I think that's when we play our best football when we all contribute," Mellusi said. "Everyone brings something different to the table and we complement each other so well."
Allen rushed for 92 yards against the Cornhuskers, including a pivotal 22-yard run on Wisconsin's first scoring drive of the fourth quarter. "Brae is banged up," Mellusi said. "But he did some great things in that game. He had that long run to put us in a position to put some points on the board."
Most recently, a lingering shoulder injury has forced Allen to the sidelines at various times. But it hasn't prevented him from getting his share of game reps, no matter how painful. "Brae won't tap out," Mellusi volunteered. "He's a competitor. Sometimes I've got to tell him, 'I'm here … Isaac's here …"
Mellusi's presence here has been impactful. Moreover, the Badgers are banking on having all three tailbacks for Saturday's regular season finale against Minnesota at Camp Randall Stadium. A year ago, the Gophers held Allen to 47 yards on 17 carries. But he was running on empty in a 23-13 loss.
Neither Mellusi nor Guerendo were available for that game in Minneapolis.
This week, Mellusi has been truly getting up to speed on the time-honored rivalry. "I just know how important it is to both programs," said Mellusi, who also knows that the trophy case for the Axe in the UW locker room has been empty for going on 365 days. "I walk by it every day."
Mellusi wants to make sure the Axe is back in its rightful place. In the UW locker room. Especially since he's coming back for a final year of eligibility in 2023. "I was pretty set on going to the NFL after this year and giving that a shot," he said. "But I think it's in my best interests to come back.
"I started college when I was 17, so I'm kind of a young guy. I'm not a 23 or 24-year-old senior. I just turned 21. I'll come back and finish school and give this program everything I have. I still have a lot left on the table here. It makes sense for me to come back."
His focus now is on getting back the Axe. Chris Orr spoke to the team about the Border Battle.
"I just talked about the history of the game and how important it is to the program and the state," said Orr, the ex-UW linebacker. "I spoke about the experiences I had with it (the Axe) – losing it, getting it back and all that. To be honest, I just wanted them to understand how really important it is."
Orr even had a PowerPoint presentation. "Oh, yeah," he enthused. "Pictures of the Axe. Pictures of alums that came back with the Axe. I wanted them to be able to see it and feel it. This is motivation. This is getting them right. You've got to remember you don't have it right now …
"My favorite memory is going up there and getting it back (in 2019) because it hurt a lot when we lost it here on Senior Day (2018)," Orr said. "All those seniors' tears live with you. But getting it back that next year was my best memory, my best feeling."
As a Badger player, a three-time All-American safety, Jim Leonhard was 2-2 against the Gophers.
"We'll have a number of people talk (this week)," Leonhard said. "The beauty of this program is that we have a lot of people who have been a big part of this rivalry and it means a lot to a lot of people. I'm excited to kind of teach the guys who don't know much about the history."
To Leonhard's thinking, "It means everything. It's the longest rivalry in college football. If that doesn't mean anything to you then … We've talked at length about what I feel about rivalries in college football. It's what makes the game special."
In 2002, the Badgers faced a must-win situation in Camp Randall. Win, and they'd qualify for a bowl. Lose to the Gophers and they would be home for the holidays for a second straight year. Leonhard was a freshman walk-on in 2001 when Minnesota snapped a six-game losing streak in the series.
A year later behind the running of tailback Anthony Davis, who rushed 45 times for 301 yards and five touchdowns, and the guile and grit of quarterback Brooks Bollinger, who had 18 carries for 112 yards, the Badgers rallied twice in the second half for a 49-31 win. It was their most points since 1999.
Despite playing with a broken wrist, Leonhard intercepted his ninth and 10th passes of the season, breaking Neovia Greyer's school record. Both picks ended Minnesota scoring threats in the end zone late in the game. Afterwards, UW head coach Barry Alvarez lavished praise on Leonhard.
"That first interception was as good of one as I've seen," he said. "Maybe ever."
Asked if Leonhard, then only a sophomore, then still trying to earn a scholarship, potentially had the same type of leadership skills as Bollinger, the ultimate captain, Alvarez said, "I don't think he's as vocal as Brooks. He's not the same personality as Brooks. But he will definitely lead by example."
Leonhard, the interim head coach, has been setting the tone this week for the Border Battle.
"You just know, the records don't matter," Leonhard said Monday. "You go in there and it's going to be a physical game. You have to earn it. That's the fun part about rivalries to me. It doesn't matter – banged up, healthy, struggling, playing well – you have to go out there and earn a win.
"I've always respected this program (Minnesota). I don't like them, but I respect them," he said emphatically, while stressing his respect for the Gophers, "because they have an identity. They know who they are and they're going to force you to beat them. Very similar to what we are."
The rivalry is sinking in with Mellusi. "And I'm just grateful to be a part of it," he said.
Mellusi has no Axe to grind. Which is the problem. He wants it back. He's not alone.
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