ANN ARBOR, Mich. – For the last two weekends, Jack Sanborn had to watch others play the game he loves.
Locked in isolation while his program dealt with an COVID outbreak of unknown origin, No.13 Wisconsin saw consecutive games canceled and watched other programs grab the headlines. So, when the Badgers got cleared to return to work this week, there was a sense of optimism returning to the field.
“These are times that none of us have ever been in, none of us thought we’d ever going to be in,” Sanborn said. “Each week it’s, ok, on to the next week, who’s our opponent. After Nebraska was canceled, it was, ok, now we’re on to Purdue, looking at Purdue, getting ready for that. Then that one ended up getting canceled then right away, ok, it was on to Michigan, let’s get ready for Michigan.
“I think we’ve had a good mindset and approach to it. It’s obviously different, weird, but I think our team is doing the best we can.”
Nobody knows outside the Wisconsin program how many players will be available when the Badgers (1-0) play at Michigan Stadium against the Wolverines (1-2) tonight. With the Big Ten having a 21-day protocol that all coronavirus-positive student-athletes must adhere to, the Badgers will be missing somewhere in the double-digit of players.
That’s OK by defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. The Badgers have five players on the defensive line who have started games and a wealth of experience in the secondary that will allow the shuffling of personnel without missing too much of a beat.
And the fact that the Badgers will have Sanborn in the middle of the defense is a comfort blanket for Leonhard to build his game plan around.
“Anytime you can get a middle linebacker in our system with the communication and the different looks that we give, when you get experience in there and you get a guy confident and making calls and getting people lined up and adjustments, it truly is priceless in how we want to play football,” Leonhard said of Sanborn. “We love what he’s done. He was so consistent for us last year and we had some really good playmakers around him.
“He could get away with just do my job, make sure everyone is good. Now with that experience, we’re asking him to do a little bit more, be that playmaker for us at times and stay within himself.”
Wisconsin didn’t lose much from a defense that finished 10th nationally in points per game, but the Badgers needed to replace a pair of seniors in outside linebacker Zach Baun and inside linebacker Chris Orr. Inside linebacker coach Bob Bostad challenged Sanborn to “be a voice” among his group, pushing players while leading by example.
“He's got to show confidence out there when he's out on the field,” Bostad said. “You're not gonna have the coaches out there or anything else like that to help you out, so I think those are things that we need from him.”
Sanborn relished the opportunity to be the focal point of the defense. With all the talent on the unit a year ago, Sanborn still led the team with 80 tackles, as well as adding nine tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and three interceptions. Tapping into the veterans that had come before him now in the NFL (Ryan Connelly, T.J. Edwards and Orr), Sanborn focused on finding a natural flow, when to shoot a gap, when to play patient and when to play aggressive, as well as diagnosis formulations, splits and receivers alignments in a moment’s notice.
Sanborn didn’t have to make many plays when Wisconsin beat Illinois, 45-7, more than three weeks ago. Illinois only ran 47 plays and Sanborn finished with three tackles. Pro Football Focus credited him with four missed tackles (highest on the team) but he delivered two quarterback hurries on the second drive of the game, the first nearly leading to a pick-six interception.
“Coach Leonhard talks about it a lot, there’s a difference between guys who are just there to do their job and do it well, and guys who are there to not only do their job but do more, produce more and make those plays they are not supposed to make on paper,” Sanborn said. “They just play the game and do it well, and I think that comes with the experience you get, going out there, being confident and you know what you’re supposed to do. That gives you the ability to just do more than that.”
The defense will need to be on point against Michigan quarterback Joe Milton, the Wolverines’ biggest offensive threat. The sophomore has gained 971 yards of total offense in his first three starts, completing 60.7 percent of his passes for 869 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also his team’s second-leading rusher with 102 yards on 25 carries and a touchdown.
In last week’s loss at Indiana, Milton set career highs in passing yards (344) and touchdowns (three), completing 18-of-34 attempts.
“He is a big, strong athlete,” Leonhard said. “He’s mobile. He can move in the pocket and extend plays. He’s going to have as strong of an arm as we’re going to play all season. He’s one of those guys you turn on (the film), his best plays scare the hell out of you because of what he can do with his feet, he can change numbers in the run game and then throwing the ball when he’s on, every game he’s made a throw that you don’t see every week.”
“He’s a young guy that every game he’s going to continue to improve and learn,” he added. “We’re preparing to play the one that’s hot and we hope he doesn’t show up to be that guy.”
A defense that has the potential to be one of the top units in college football, Wisconsin did nothing in its opening game to dissuade from that opinion. The Badgers didn’t allow a point, held the Illini to 87 passing yards, eight first downs and just 2-for-13 on third and fourth down.
With two weeks off and plenty of time to reflect, there is plenty of room for growth that Sanborn is ready to champion.
“We can take a step up in the communication factor and make sure everyone is on the same page with adjustments during the play, whether it’s pre-snap or post-snap,” he said. “Everyone in the same line and know exactly what we are doing. Last year you look at games, we have some guys doing one thing and some guys doing another. I think that’s just one area we’ve talked about a lot that we believe we can clean up and know we have to clean up.”
