Offensive line still sees work to do after LSU
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MADISON, Wis. – They might not want to admit it, but Wisconsin’s offensive line passed a big early test on Saturday in UW’s 16-14 win over LSU at Lambeau Field.
Take redshirt sophomore Michael Deiter, for example. When asked how he thought the offensive line played against the Tigers, where they helped pave the way for 134 rushing yards against a talented LSU defense and kept new UW quarterback Bart Houston upright with time to throw, Deiter would only allow that the line played ‘ok’ in their season opener.
“There’s definitely things we need to clean up- we weren’t perfect,” Deiter said Tuesday after practice. “But we were able to get the run game going a little bit. We were able to pound it. No huge runs, but we were able to keep the chains moving with the run. That’s something we’re proud of.”
“We still want to make those big runs. We still want to control the game even more with the running game. And there’s still technique stuff that we’ve got to work on and clean up.”
But Deiter, who became the line’s most-experienced starter after senior Dan Voltz elected to retire before the start of the season, did say he thought the group’s confidence improved as the game wore along and let tackle Ryan Ramczyk and left guard Jon Dietzen got in to a groove in their first taste of game action for the Badgers.
“I felt a more confident group,” Deiter said. “I know it was Dietzen and Ramczyk’s first game so in the first quarter … maybe the confidence wasn’t there but quickly those guys, they brought (their confidence) to the table and by the end of the game you felt it that the confidence was there, the trust in one another was there.”
Offensive line coach Joe Rudolph said he liked the effort his players showed in their first game, but also knew there would be things to work on when they studied the tape. There were no real surprises, and Rudolph said it’s still too early for him to say how good his young starting five can be- they’ll figure that out on a week-to-week basis.
“We’ve just got to keep an edge to how we play, and I think our play will define us,” Rudolph said. “It’s way too early for me to say who they are at this point.”
Sure, there will always be things for them to work on- with three redshirt sophomores and two other players who just played their first Division-1 football filling out the starting five. They’re young, but there’s plenty of room for growth.
“When they’re at their best they can do a good job, and they take pride in that,” Rudolph said. “That’s our battle. We need five guys playing at their best for us to be successful.”
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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.