MADISON, Wis. — If Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema was hoping to send a message to his players by firing the team's offensive line coach, it appears to have worked. That is, if you believe the word from players regarding the energy level of just one practice.
"It was the best practice we've had all year," Badgers running back Montee Ball said Tuesday night. "Today's focus was unbelievable. And I'm not just saying that."
On Sunday, Bielema fired offensive line coach Mike Markuson and tasked graduate assistant Bart Miller with filling that role. The decision came after Wisconsin's 10-7 loss at Oregon State on Saturday, which featured one of the Badgers' worst offensive performances in years.
On Tuesday, players were back to work and eager to prove they're not as abysmal as Saturday's game would indicate.
"I think it's a good opportunity for us to get back in the grind," UW left tackle Ricky Wagner said. "We were real motivated today to overcome this adversity we had."
Maybe it's unreasonable to suggest an early-season coaching switch is the sole reason for the drastic change in energy and focus from players. It likely also stems from the realization that Saturday's effort wasn't good enough from a program expected to compete for a Big Ten title. But making a move two weeks into the season demonstrated that people in the program would be held accountable for poor play.
"Obviously we were shocked with it," Ball said. "I believe any team would be shocked hearing that from the head coach. But the tempo today was different. The urgency level was a lot higher and the focus was a lot better. I believe right now we're really going to showcase to the nation what we're capable of doing as an offense."
Through two games, Wisconsin's offensive line has struggled to gain much of a push at the line of scrimmage. That was particularly evident on Saturday, when the Badgers carried the ball 23 times for a total of 35 yards and quarterback Danny O'Brien was sacked three times. Ball, a Heisman Trophy finalist last year, carried 15 times for 61 yards and has fallen off the early season radar for this year's award.
Wisconsin's offense totaled 207 yards, the lowest mark for the program in five seasons. The lack of results through two games played a large role in Bielema firing Markuson, who was hired in January after coaching 14 seasons at Arkansas and Mississippi.
Miller, 27, is a disciple of former UW offensive line coach Bob Bostad, who left the team after last season and is now the offensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bielema said Miller was expected to bridge the gap between Bostad and the current coaching staff, maintaining the fundamentals that made the offensive line successful in previous seasons.
Miller wasn't made available to the media Tuesday, but Wagner said Miller's message to the offensive linemen after taking over Sunday was inspiring.
"He wanted to get through to us that we can be the O-line of the last couple years," said Wagner, an Outland Trophy frontrunner for best interior lineman in college football. "We still have all the skills. We have the same personnel. We've just got to show it."
While the personnel, led by Wagner, is still solid, it isn't exactly the same as past teams. Last year's unit featured three all-Big Ten linemen in right tackle Josh Oglesby, right guard Kevin Zeitler and center Peter Konz. Zeitler and Konz both were taken in the NFL Draft. Filling the right side is tackle Rob Havenstein and guard Zac Matthias, who had combined to start one game before this season.
Ball said nobody on the team was pointing fingers just yet and noted the entire team was responsible for the poor performance and lack of energy last week.
"If you watch the film of our game against Oregon State, they're over there jumping around," Ball said. "We're over there kind of just standing there, having no energy, no focus, none of that. So today we were jumping around, screaming and bringing the energy level.
Added O'Brien: "There's no sense of panic, but we've got to pick up the urgency."
As for the specific differences that led to the offensive line's struggles, Wagner said they were technical aspects only noticeable to the players in practice. But those minor differences clearly have been noticeable in games, with the Badgers falling out of the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in three seasons.
Coaches believe the changes addressed this week on the offensive line will be evident as soon as Saturday, when Wisconsin plays host to Utah State.
"I certainly hope it's noticeably different," Canada said. "They have to play much better than they've played, and they're well aware of that. I expect a big difference."
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