Wisconsin tailback Deal enjoys his heavy workload
MADISON – Taiwan Deal couldn’t have penned a better script for the first game of his final season at Wisconsin.
“I got a lot of reps on special teams and I got a lot of reps running the ball,” the fifth-year senior said after practice Tuesday. “I haven’t ran the ball since the Cotton Bowl. It felt great.”
Deal, who missed the 2017 season because of an ankle injury suffered in camp, carried eight times for 53 yards in the opener against Western Kentucky. He hadn’t gotten that much work since Week 2 of the 2016 season, when he carried 12 times for 58 yards in a victory over Akron.
He added one catch for 10 yards and got work on the kickoff-return, kickoff-coverage and punt-return units against Western Kentucky.
Deal isn’t the type of back who shreds the best running defenses in the country but on Friday showed the ability to make quick cuts and run through tacklers.
Six of his runs were for gains of at least 5 yards.
“You’ve just got to run,” said Deal, 6foot-1 and 221 pounds. “You can’t be scared to be hit. You’ve got to be ready to be the hammer. Not the nail.”
UW coach Paul Chryst noted Deal didn’t try to turn every run into a highlight-reel play.
“I thought he was patient," Chryst said. "A lot of times, when you’re back at it and you’re excited to go, sometimes for a back, or really most players, you lose your patience and I thought he had good patience.”
That patience came from sitting out last season and from studying successful runners such as Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys.
“This camp I just practiced a lot of patience,” Deal said. “On some runs, you can’t go 100 miles an hour. You’ve got to tempo it.”
Patience wasn’t required for work on special teams.
After watching from the sideline last season, Deal wanted to be on the field for as many plays as possible in 2018.
“The coaches weren’t expecting me to dive into special teams,” he said. “I wanted to give it my all on special teams and on the offensive side of the ball.
“It worked out perfect and I love it.”
The votes are in
UW moved up one spot to No. 6 on Tuesday in the Amway coaches poll but fell one spot to No. 5 in The Associated Press poll.
The Badgers (1-0) remain the secondhighest Big Ten team in the coaches poll, behind No. 4 Ohio State.
Penn State fell one spot to No. 10 after rallying for a 45-38 overtime victory over Appalachian State. Michigan State dropped one spot to No. 13 after rallying for a 38-31 victory over Utah State. Michigan dropped eight spots to No. 22 after a 24-17 loss to Notre Dame.
In the AP poll, Ohio State moved ahead of UW at No. 4 on the strength of its victory over Oregon State.
Penn State fell three spots to No. 13, Michigan State fell four spots to No. 15 and Michigan fell seven spots to No. 21.
Who turned off the AC?
With temperatures in the 80s and rising dew points, the players endured oppressive conditions during practice Tuesday.
Several players – including tight end Jake Ferguson and wide receivers A.J. Taylor and Kendric Pryor – appeared exhausted when they entered the McClain Center for post-practice interviews.
“I probably dropped about 5 pounds today,” said Taylor, who sat in a chair for several minutes before conducting interviews. “It was just so humid. And there is something about those Tuesdays. Those are grinders.”