Deiter now feels at home at left tackle
MADISON - Wisconsin’s Michael Deiter survived the jungle for 27 games – 16 at center and 11 at left guard.
“Being on the inside, we call it the jungle,” right guard Beau Benzschawel said. “Inside is a lot more physical. But on the outside, it is a different ball game.” Welcome to the island. Deiter, who switched to left tackle in the final week of spring practice, learned quickly that surviving life on the island requires a different set of skills.
“True game speed on the edge was definitely new to me,” the 6-foot-6, 328-pound Deiter said. “At center, you get guys that are 310 pounds who are more power guys.
“Now I see quicktwitch guys who can shake. You’ve got to be able to handle those two techniques.”
Deiter is set to make his eighth start at left tackle when No. 5 UW (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) plays at Illinois (2-5, 0-4) at 11 a.m.
Saturday.
Joe Rudolph, UW’s offensive coordinator/line coach, believes the technical proficiency Deiter displayed last week against Maryland was his best of the season.
“I thought technique-wise he improved dramatically last week,” said Rudolph, and all-Big Ten guard at UW in the 1990s. “And that’s what I’m going to keep harping on, because I think he can be as good as anyone when he just plays and trusts that technique throughout.”
Deiter has been a mainstay on a unit that has allowed eight sacks through seven games. Among Big Ten teams, only Minnesota (four) and Rutgers (six) have allowed fewer sacks.
Opponents sacked UW quarterbacks 14 times through the first seven games last season and finished with 24 in 14 games.
Although the numbers are better this season, UW’s four Big Ten games have come against teams that have a combined 42 sacks. That is an average of 1.5 per game. Illinois is tied for ninth in the Big Ten in sacks per game at 1.7.
Nevertheless, Deiter appears to have handled the move to the outside well.
“Every rep I take has been kind of a learning experience,” he acknowledged. “But I’m kind of hitting that point where I’ve seen things enough times at tackle to really make the big adjustments and get comfortable with stuff I see out there.”
Benzschawel understands the difficulty of playing tackle. His first six games as a redshirt freshman in 2015 were at right tackle. He moved to right guard for the final two games.
“I remember a few guys that were crazy, quick rushers and I wasn’t comfortable with my passset at that time,” he said. “It definitely caused some problems.”
Rudolph has closely tracked Deiter’s growth.
“I think you start to feel really comfortable as you leave fall camp,” Rudolph explained. “But the deal is that now you’re going to see different defenses, and you’re going to see different body types and you’re going to see different pressures. And at times (have) a different guard next to you.”
Jon Dietzen has started five games at left guard. Micah Kapoi has started two. Jason Erdmann has also gotten extensive work at left guard, filling in for Dietzen, who has battled ankle/toe injuries.
“You’ve got to adjust to having to play when you’re not feeling 100% and you have an ankle (injury),” Rudolph continued. “All those things start to build toward a confidence level that is different and you kind of just settle in.”
Deiter has been battling a rightankle injury for at least five games. Despite being hobbled, he moved well enough in Week 3 to ride a BYU rusher past quarterback Alex Hornibrook, who stepped up into the pocket and fired a 15-yard touchdown pass to Quintez Cephus.
Deiter did an improvised victory dance behind the line of scrimmage and limped to the UW locker room to be examined.
“I love it,” Rudolph said when asked about the sequence at BYU. “You throw a guy back off the field, you’ll never get a complaint from me. Just get your job done.”