BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Standing along the sideline, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez watched intently as the backups and redshirts drilled and ran plays against each other during a developmental practice in the McClain Indoor Facility. As a head coach, Alvarez put special emphasis on these bowl practices.
"Anytime you can work on fundamentals — you can work on football — they are invaluable practices," Alvarez said. "You get a chance to spend a little more time with the kids who haven't really been coached much beyond the individual periods because they've been on the scout team.
"Now, you can coach them up before you even start spring ball."
Prodded for an example of an off-the-radar player who emerged during the December bowl practices while he was coaching, Alvarez obliged with a flashback to the 2002 season and the preparations leading up to Wisconsin's matchup against Colorado in the Alamo Bowl.
"I can remember a practice just like this," Alvarez said Tuesday afternoon. "I had just come off the road recruiting and I had a list of guys that I wanted to look at during the bowl practices. One of them was Owen Daniels. We wanted to move him from quarterback to tight end."
As a redshirt freshman, Daniels had seen only mop-up duty in three games as the No. 3 quarterback behind Brooks Bollinger and Jim Sorgi. Daniels had as many interceptions (2) as completions in six pass attempts. But he had shown some toughness and athleticism on special teams.
"Before the practices were over, we had him in the game plan for Colorado," said Alvarez, recalling how quickly Daniels transitioned to the new position. "But he hurt his knee (an ACL tear) and we couldn't use him in the bowl. But he came back from it the next year and made a name for himself."
Working his way into the lineup, Daniels took small but steady steps — 62 catches and eight touchdowns the next three seasons — on his path to becoming Houston's fourth-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. Ten years later, he has a Super Bowl ring and 479 career receptions for 5,661 yards and 36 TDs.
"I always liked bowl practices," Alvarez said "because you found out who really likes football."
He was grinning from ear to ear.
• • • •
Wisconsin offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph liked what he saw out of the left side of his offensive line during last December's practices. "Shoot, we had Ram (Ryan Ramczyk) and Jon Dietzen lining up next to each other at tackle and guard," he said. "They got a ton of valuable reps."
Ramczyk, the left tackle, then a redshirt sophomore, was a transfer from UW-Stevens Point. Dietzen, the left guard, was a freshman from Black Creek, Wisconsin. Both used the developmental practices to get better at their craft. Ramczyk started all 13 games this season, while Dietzen started seven times.
"It was definitely huge for me (as a redshirt)," Ramczyk said. "You didn't get to play on Saturdays, so getting those bowl practices were definitely a factor in getting me better and helping me figure out the offense by running our plays. It was just good to run our offense against our defense."
After serving on the scout team throughout the 2015 season, Ramczyk welcomed more personalized attention/coaching during the Holiday Bowl practices. "The coaches are constantly on you about getting your steps down, footwork, pad level," he said. "Honing in on the little things was big."
It was not that long ago that Ramczyk was in a trade school aspiring to be a welder. Much has changed since then, not the least of which is his potential in the eyes of NFL scouts, especially after earning first-team All-America recognition during his first season at the FBS level of competition.
Pondering his fascinating journey, Ramczyk said, "Everything goes by so quick. We're already on to the bowl game now and just last year I was in here practicing with Dietzen (as developmental players). It's crazy. At that point, I just wanted to learn the system and get better as a player."
Could he see this all coming? Could he visualize the type of season that he has enjoyed? "In the back of your mind, you're definitely hoping you can be up there, game-planning with those guys (the starters)," he said. "I wouldn't say I was expecting All-American honors. But it was a goal of mine."
Tailback Chris James knows something about setting goals. That's what he has been doing ever since he transferred to Wisconsin after spending two seasons at the University of Pittsburgh. As a redshirt, not unlike Ramczyk in 2015, James has been getting his reps on the scout team.
"They're huge, extremely vital," James said of the developmental/bowl practices. "I'm just trying to get back to being the player that I used to be. These reps over the last few weeks and even over the last few days have been extremely helpful."
In 2014, the 5-foot-11, 210-pound James rushed 87 times for 437 yards and four touchdowns as the backup to James Conner. During his sophomore year at Pitt, he slid on the depth chart and finished with 56 carries for 253 yards. Subsequently, James decided to transfer closer to his Chicago home.
"This whole experience has been very humbling," said the 21-year-old James, who ran for 4,220 yards and 53 touchdowns during his high school career at Notre Dame College Prep. "I've been trying to sit back and be a student of the game this season.
"I've tried to understand how things are working (on the UW offense) and why they're working. I've been watching guys like Dare (Ogunbowale) and Corey (Clement) and the way they run and the way they make people miss. These guys have had success and you model your game after them."
Since Ogunbowale and Clement are both seniors, James wants to use these December practices to generate some momentum for spring drills when he will likely be in competition with Bradrick Shaw, Taiwan Deal and Sam Brodner, a freshman redshirt and another developmental player.
"Coach Set has been keeping me up on the P's and Q's as far as understanding the offense," James said of UW running backs coach John Settle. "When I've given Corey a breather in practice, I've known exactly what to do and that's what I've taken pride in."
Clement has been down this path himself.
"When I was a freshman, I tried to take advantage of every opportunity because it meant more reps for me to get in the groove, so these practices carried a lot of weight," said Clement, who had 67 carries for 547 yards and seven touchdowns as a true freshman in 2013.
"You realize these types of practices won't be too high intensity. But you've got to make the most of them and you've got to get better. When Melvin (Gordon) was here, I didn't get as many reps in practice that I wanted, so this was a time to put more on film."
Ogunbowale, a walk-on from Milwaukee Marquette, had a much different experience from Clement in that he was just trying to plant a seed in the minds of the coaches in December that he could play and help this team win at some future point and position. As a freshman, he was a defensive back.
"It was really one of the first chances that you get after (training) camp to get back into the real defense or the real offense," said Ogunbowale, who started drawing attention to himself with his play on the scout team. "You'd get to go against guys the same experience level as you.
"And you'd get a chance to make plays in front of the coaches. They didn't know how I played. They didn't know my capabilities, things like that. These practices give the young guys a chance to show who they are. And it was a real chance for me to get better and kind of gauge and see where I was at."
As part of this annual ritual — the Badgers have reaped the benefits of 15 straight years of bowl practices — Rudolph has been evaluating his less experienced offensive linemen. "It's a chance to work with them, help them take some steps," he said, "and see their growth."
Three scholarship freshmen redshirted: center Tyler Biadasz (Amherst), Patrick Kasl (Wyoming, Minnesota) and Cole Van Lanen (Green Bay). Of the three, Biadasz came the closest to playing because of injuries and depth concerns. As it turned, he made some of the road trips.
"Tyler is a guy who played defense, so this is really his first year playing offense," Rudolph said. "And the next thing you know, he's got to learn to snap. His growth has been huge.
"I'm excited about him and the others. We saw some great things with Patrick. Cole has been a little banged up (during bowl practices), but he doesn't want to miss them. He has got to find an edge to get something out of them, so he's doing that in the weight room and the film room.
"These young guys have all been lifting and our guys in the weight room have been pushing and challenging them all season. Now is the chance for the light to shine on them a little bit and for them to compete. It's fun to see guys emerge, guys who have used their time wisely and gotten better."
Throughout the regular season, Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst has set aside time after practices to drill and scrimmage the backups and redshirts. So, the developmental workouts essentially have been an ongoing facet of the program since September.
"It's really invaluable," Chryst said.
Fifth-year senior Leo Musso, the team MVP, can attest to their value in December.
"If you have been practicing with the scouts all year, this is your chance to show the coaches who you are as a player," Musso said. "Being the backup guy, especially at my position (safety), a lot of the older guys weren't practicing, and I always got to practice during bowl prep.
"It's really that last chance to prove yourself before going into spring ball."
Senior cornerback Sojourn Shelton doesn't look at these developmental or bowl practices as an ending or a finishing point to the season. On the contrary, he said, "You have to understand that they are the foundation and the starting point for next season. So, they're extremely important."
Taking the cue from Alvarez, he agreed, it's a chance to prove that you really like football.
"It's really that chance," Musso stressed, "to prove what you've got."
Plus, there is the unknown element, the surprise, the Owen Daniels narrative.
"You never know," Rudolph posed. "You never who's going to jump out at you."
