Coming into the season, one of the main questions facing the UW football team was how they were going to replace stud running back Brian Calhoun. As we all know, Calhoun decided to forego what would have been his senior season and declared himself eligible for the 2006 NFL Draft.
Enter P.J. Hill. At the midway point of the season, Hill has claimed sole possession as leading rusher in the Big Ten conference, and is second only to Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe on the national scale. However, even great runners are not able to do it all by themselves.
Weighing in at an average of 319 pounds, and an average height of 6'6' the UW offensive line has dominated opponents allowing for the Badger backfield to rush for 189 yards per game. However, it has not always been easy for the guys up front. Back in spring ball offensive line coach Bob Palcic was not sure what to expect.
""I was really concerned when I first arrived here,"" Palcic said. ""And I'm not saying we're a great offensive line at this point, but I'll have to give those young men a lot of credit. They are becoming the offensive line I told them they could be.""
While the Badgers do have an enormous offensive line, it is not always the size that determines how a good line can become an excellent line.
""Size is not important to me; athleticism, toughness, and intelligence are,"" Palcic said. ""If you have size to go along with it that's fine, [but] size in not necessarily a prerequisite to have a great offensive line.""
Perhaps the best example on the UW offensive line as far as athleticism, toughness and intelligence goes, is senior All-American Joe Thomas. Last season, Thomas saw his season end with a torn ACL in the Capital One bowl against Auburn, however, he has bounced back as the ever determined leader of a relatively young offensive line.
""I think we've done a nice job, and now we have a lot of young guys, a lot of guys who are playing unfamiliar positions so it was pretty rough early,"" Thomas said. ""We had a really, really huge mountain to climb. I think we're on the right track, we're not there yet, but I think we're making nice progress.""
If progress is measured by anything as an offensive line, it has to be measured by how well the running attack is developing.
""I think being a bigger offensive line, if you keep banging a team and keep running the ball on them they have a tendency to get worn out toward the end of a game,"" Thomas said. ""That's when you start to see bigger holes open up and start gashing them for big plays.""
Another area that the Badger offensive line has played exceptionally well is in the area of pass protection. So far, six games into the season, senior quarterback John Stocco has only been sacked 10 times, and has been able to consistently complete passes to new receivers such as Paul Hubbard, and Travis Beckum. Stocco averages nearly 204 yards per game through the air, and has only been intercepted four times. When the passing game is functioning at a high level the running game will flourish even more.
""It's a great feeling. We're just trying to get P.J. [Hill] the best opportunity,"" sophomore right guard Kraig Urbik said. ""We all try to pick up our guys and just getting the feeling seeing P.J. [Hill] squirt one out for 60 yards is good.""
Senior Joe Thomas added to that notion by saying, ""As offensive lineman the only stats we have is how well the running back is doing. That's really good to see, that's what we play for.""
