MADISON — Wisconsin continued its spring practice period inside the McClain center Thursday morning. BadgerBlitz.com was once again on hand to compile the key takeaways from the Badgers' ninth session of the spring.
Interior offensive line dominates
It was apparent very early on in practice, and it continued throughout the morning: the interior of the offensive line played with a chip on their shoulder and the result was a dominating performance in the trenches.
The starting three on the inside, center Jake Renfro, left guard Joe Brunner and right guard Joe Huber, were especially dominant. They set the tone early on in a stripped down 11-on-11 drill with no receivers or cornerbacks. On one play, Huber and Renfro absolutely parted the seas for Tawee Walker, who got to the second level with ease. Immediately after, Huber and Brunner did the same for Jackson Acker. After each gaping hole the interior linemen created, the offensive sideline, particularly offensive line coach AJ Blazek, was extremely fired up. The intensity was high in the trenches all morning — after instigating a scuffle, Renfro was scolded sternly by Blazek and sent to cool off.
As a result of the offensive line's dominance, Wisconsin's tailbacks had perhaps their best day of the spring. Everyone from Walker to Acker to Chez Mellusi to Nate White each had big scampers on the ground. This was a very encouraging performance from an offensive line that hasn't lived up to the Wisconsin standard the past several seasons.
