MADISON -- Wisconsin’s 2024 spring camp began with a hurricane.

During the third practice session of the year, defensive Leon Lowery darted past left tackle Jack Nelson and crashed into the backfield. Some presumed contact by Lowery created the biggest skirmish of spring, one that engulfed countless Badgers and temporarily paused practice.

“There was a defensive end who we thought hit the quarterback. Obviously, I didn’t like that, so me and Jack Nelson teamed up. Some punches were thrown. I had to stand up for my quarterback, so I got in there a little bit,” left guard Joe Brunner explained.

What followed was a punishment that hasn’t been used at a spring practice since, and is usually reserved for high school and pop warner football.

“I had to run two laps for that one,” Brunner said with a smirk.

The redshirt sophomore has currently played only 54 career snaps, with only seven coming last season, and will start alongside an offensive line full of veterans. Nelson leads all starters with 2,436 career snaps, while center Jake Renfro has 1,201 snaps, right guard Joe Huber 1,728 snaps and right tackle Riley Mahlman 1,353 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

“He’s played like a vet,” offensive line coach A.J. Blazek said of Brunner. “If I wouldn’t have known the history, the way he plays next to Jack and those guys, he’s playing really fast. He has up-and-down days fundamentally, but from assignment, he’s sharp.”

Most younger, less experienced players may have tried to stay out of trouble during one of their first official practices as a starter. But it was an immediate example of a trait that Brunner prides himself on — “nastiness.”

“Since high school, I’ve been the nasty guy,” Brunner said. “I’m a young guy, but one thing I felt was that we needed to be nasty.”

He’s quickly become a favorite amongst teammates and coaches, for the very reason coach Luke Fickell made him run laps.

“Joe’s a monster. You know he’s just gonna stick his head in everything and just cause havoc, and that’s exactly what you want with an o-lineman. He’s just a nasty dude,” said J.P. Benzschawel, a backup guard.

“He’s awesome. He plays with a mean streak. I don’t think he has a nice bone in his body, which is a good thing when you play on the o-line,” said Jake Renfro, who starts at center alongside Brunner.

This “mean streak” may be new to the Badgers, but it’s been integral to Brunner’s psyche since he began playing sports.

“My older brother and my dad instilled it within me,” Brunner said. “I played sports all my life. They made me competitive and they let me know that if you wanna win, sometimes you gotta be nasty. From such a young age, that’s how I learned to win and how I learned to compete.”

Brunner was a four-year starter at Whitefish Bay High School in eastern Wisconsin, eventually earning a four-star rating in the 2022 class as the top player in the state, and ninth-highest rated offensive tackle in the country.

He earned offers from LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Penn State, Miami, Iowa and Florida State, among others.

"Wisconsin actually wasn't always at the top for me," Brunner told BadgerBlitz in December 2021, when he first committed to play for the Badgers.

"At one point, I think Notre Dame was in the lead for a good chunk of time. I started to build a strong relationship with their coaching staff and I didn't really talk to Wisconsin as much. But then Wisconsin started to pick it up and, trust me, it was hard not being able to get to the campus. So I'm glad I got to do that because it really opened my eyes. Wisconsin definitely was not always in the lead."

COVID-19 restrictions kept him from going on any official visits before committing to Wisconsin. But even when he later visited Iowa, Ohio State and Notre Dame, none stood out to him the way Madison did.

"I committed to the Wisconsin Badgers and I think as soon as I stepped on that campus for my official visit, I knew right from the start," Brunner said.

He’ll now try to do something that’s been difficult for some of Wisconsin’s other highly-rated offensive line recruits in recent years — start, consistently.

Logan Brown headlined 2019 class as a four-star recruit from Kentwood, Michigan. He started three games, then was dismissed from the team in late 2022 after striking another teammate, before later transferring to Kansas.

Trey Wedig, a four-star recruit in the 2020 class actually started his redshirt freshman season and the first half of last season, but was eventually benched. He transferred to Indiana this past offseason.

Nolan Rucci was rated higher than all of them as a five-star tackle in the 2021 class. He never started a single game, then also transferred this past offseason, to Penn State.

Sitting on the bench for two years could have pushed Brunner away from Madison, but he took advantage of his time on the sideline.

“The one thing I did appreciate these past two years not really playing was being able to develop in the weight room under Coach Brady [Collins] and being able to get in the film room,” Brunner said.

“At the offensive line position, you don’t always come in and start as a freshman, you don’t always play as a freshman. You have to be physically ready, I think I understood that. Obviously last year was tough, but that just helped me learn more and grow.”

Brunner committed to Wisconsin in December of 2021 under former head coach Paul Chryst, when UWs offense looked significantly different than it does now. Chryst’s run-heavy, hard-nosed offense perhaps fits Brunner’s style more than current offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s scheme, which is more balanced and spread out. But Brunner was quick to dispel the notion that Wisconsin is no longer a run-first program.

“A lot of people think ‘Air Raid’ and it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re not running the ball,’ but we’re still running power, we’re still running zone. We’re still doing a lot of things that maybe the offenses that aren’t Air Raid are doing, it just looks different,” Brunner said. “I think my nastiness, the offensive line’s nastiness, with the Air Raid, allows us to do so much. If you wanna pass the ball, you have to be able to run the ball first.”

“I think being physically dominant in the run game just opens up everything.”

Brunner is a remnant of Wisconsin’s past. His aggression, physicality and “nastiness” will likely make him an instant fan favorite and provide nostalgia for longtime Badger football supporters.

“I think Wisconsin will always be a run-first, nasty program. I think what Coach Longo has brought to Wisconsin is the ability to, once we’re dominant in the run game, we can open up the pass game and beat people that way as well,” Brunner said.

The sophomore has been one of the standouts of spring practice, and provides hope for a Wisconsin offensive line that was rather inconsistent last season.

After spring camp ends in early May, he’ll gear his attention toward the start of the regular season, when all of these years of hype will finally be put to the test.

“He’s still gonna be nervous the first time he jogs out in Camp Randall. Nobody ever forgets that,” said Blazek.

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