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Friday, March 29, 2024
Former walk-on Nzegwu beginning to make an impact

Louis Nzegwu: Sophomore defensive lineman Louis Nzegwu played high school football as a running back, and began his Badger career as a wide receiver before finding his niche as a defensive end.

Former walk-on Nzegwu beginning to make an impact

Talk to anyone from Platteville High School, and they'll say that sophomore Louis Nzegwu is one beast of a running back. But who, Badger fans may ask, is Louis Nzegwu? Isn't John Clay the Badgers' beast of a running back?

Yes, he is, but if fans watched any part of Wisconsin's 31-28 win against Minnesota two weekends ago, they may have heard Nzegwu's name called almost as much as Clay's.

Alright, maybe not. But Nzegwu did post a career-high four tackles and wreaked havoc on Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber back on Oct. 3, with the first two sacks and tackle for loss of his nascent career. But wait, isn't he a running back? As those in Platteville will say, he was a very good one at that.

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""High school running back was really fun, just going into every game and knowing I'm going to pretty much dominate everybody,"" Nzegwu said. ""I don't mean to be cocky, but our team was pretty good in high school.""

Dominate is an understatement. Nzegwu rushed for over 3,300 yards and 39 touchdowns in his high school career, and entered Wisconsin in 2007 without a scholarship but ranked as the fifth-best recruit in the state.

Too big to play running back, Nzegwu tried out as a wide receiver before coaches told him to give defensive end a try. While he struggled learning the technique of a new position, Nzegwu impressed the coaching staff enough with his combination of size and speed to earn a scholarship and join the team.

Defensive line coach Charles Partridge said that Nzegwu still has trouble with technique, but his speed is a tremendous asset to an already deep defensive line.

""That's the thing Louis certainly brings to the table. He's very fast and very quick and he can change direction as good as anybody on the football team, and that's a special gift,"" Partridge said. ""He still has a long ways to go technique-wise, but he's getting better and that's the good thing.""

Senior defensive end O'Brien Schofield said having Nzegwu's speed off the edge is a huge plus for an already deep and talented defensive line. That praise means a lot to the 6'4"" sophomore, who said he's trying to emulate Schofield both on and off the field to become a more complete defensive end.

""I'm learning from [Schofield] and everything he does,"" Nzegwu said. ""He's playing the best football I've seen him play since I've been here, I'm trying to be a shadow to him right now and trying to take in all of what he's been doing and what he tells me to do so I can play at the same level he's playing for the next couple of years.""

Nzegwu has already made an impact on the field, but him just getting healthy for this year was an accomplishment in itself. After tearing his MCL in spring practice, Nzegwu rehabilitated and came to fall camp healthy, but then suffered a slight tear in his labrum, costing him the first three games of the season.

He made his season debut against Michigan State and played around 20 snaps, but his true impact was not felt until the Badgers faced Minnesota.

""I didn't feel I produced enough against Michigan State, so I had the mindset to produce more in the upcoming game at Minnesota and ended up making some production and getting two sacks,"" Nzegwu said. ""I felt really content, but I want more.""

Nzegwu failed to get on the stat sheet Saturday at Ohio State, but that should not stop him from getting plenty of opportunities to make a difference Saturday against Iowa.

And if he treats Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi anything like he did Weber, it could be a long day for the Hawkeye signal caller.

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