UW’s staff must adjust with Mellusi sidelined
MADISON – Can Wisconsin's Luke Fickell still achieve the reasonable goal he set during the summer for Wisconsin's No. 1 running back?
Speaking at the Big Ten meetings in Indianapolis, Fickell said he wanted Braelon Allen to average 18 carries and 140 yards per game.
That, however, was anticipating the Badgers would be able to throw Allen and Chez Mellusi at Big Ten opponents all season.
Are Cade Yacamelli and Jackson Acker ready to step up?
Mellusi's leg injury suffered in the Big Ten opener Friday at Purdue, one which likely means his season is over, changes the math and the depth chart.
Fickell said after the game the staff will have to prepare redshirt freshman Cade Yacamelli and redshirt sophomore Jackson Acker, a graduate of Verona High School, ready for more duty.
“Jackson Aker and Cade Yacamelli are guys we're going to have to continue to get rolling,” said Fickell, whose team is off this week before hosting Rutgers on Oct. 7. “They're both big and physical guys.”
Yacamelli, 6-foot and 213 pounds, has been limited to work on special teams through four games. He showed in the spring quickness, elusiveness and the ability to catch passes out of the
Badgers star running back Braelon Allen, who is averaging 13 carries per game, could see a bigger workload with Chez Mellusi out with an injury. backfield. As a senior at Trafford-Penn High School in Pennsylvania, Yacamelli rushed for 1,866 yards and 24 touchdowns and caught 21 passes for 351 yards and five touchdowns.
“Cade is going to get a lot more opportunities to do it,” Fickell said.
Acker, 6-1 and 238, has worked at fullback and tailback and is versatile enough to fill in at tight end if needed. He is more of a straight-line runner than Yacamelli but is bigger, more powerful back. In 17 games, Acker has rushed 14 times for 65 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for 76 yards.
“Jackson Acker is a guy who has played all over the place,” Fickell said. “When we came in we didn’t know what he was going to be. Was he going to be a fullback? Is he going to be a tight end?
“But I think he is a guy through all of fall camp has really kind of honed is running back skills.”
Fickell set the goal of 18 carries per game for Allen because he wanted the junior to be healthy for the closing part of UW’s schedule.
Allen, 6-2 and 235, enters UW’s off week leading UW in carries (52), rushing yards (371), yards per carry (7.1) and rushing touchdowns (six).
Mellusi is No. 2 in those categories, with 51 carries for 309 yards, a 6.0-yard average, and four touchdowns.
Allen took on an increased workload after Mellusi suffered injuries in 2021 and 2022. In both seasons, Allen was banged up late in the season and UW’s offense suffered.
He wasn’t healthy in the 2021 regularseason finale at Minnesota and was limited to 47 yards on 14 carries in a 23-13 loss.
Hampered by shoulder and ankle injuries last season, he sat out the regularseason finale against the Gophers and UW suffered a 23-16 loss.
Allen this season is averaging 13 carries
and four receptions per game. Those numbers suggest the staff can increase his carries per game and still achieve the 18-carry goal and perhaps reduce the number of times he is targeted as a receiver.
Allen leads UW in catches with 16 but his average is just 3.2 yards per catch. That is the second-lowest mark among the 12 players who have at least one catch this season.
Will Tanner Mordecai run more with Mellusi out?
One other option to make sure Allen’s workload remains manageable might be quarterback Tanner Mordecai.
Mordecai scored on runs of 14 and 6 yards in the first quarter of UW’s 38-17 victory over Purdue. The 14-yarder came on a zone read. The 6-yarder came on a scramble after Mordecai could not find an open receiver.
He also ran the option and finished with 44 yards on 14 carries. Minus his sack yardage this season, Mordecai has gained 105 yards on 30 carries, an average of 3.5 yards per carry. He has touchdown runs of 1, 18, 14 and 6 yards.
“He ran it probably a few more times than we had all year,” Fickell said after the victory over Purdue. “Some of them were designed, a couple option plays. From what they were doing defensively, they make it difficult.
“Sometimes you’ve got to add the quarterback in there a little bit.”