BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Injuries have created an unavoidable ebb and flow to left guard Jon Dietzen's season.
Practice a little. Play a little. Sit a little.
And then repeat the cycle.
"It's tough mentally to kind of have to do that," admitted Dietzen, a sophomore from Black Creek. "It's kind of tough to get up to game speed without all the reps and stuff.
"It's just those little things (like a busted toe) that keep creeping up. It's tough to tell yourself, 'I can't help us right now.' But sometimes you just have to face it."
Micah Kapoi started the opener against Utah State and split reps with Dietzen, who started the second game against Florida Atlantic. Dietzen didn't play at BYU, but started against Northwestern.
"I'm taking more reps now and I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable again," said Dietzen, who had eight starts last season and missed four other games with injuries.
"In the spring, I had surgery (on my ankle) and it helped me learn how to take mental reps. That's helping me a lot right now.
"If I can't take the rep physically (during practice), I know how to go through it in my head and make sure I'm getting the looks that I need to."
As far as game speed, he said, "It's tough to replicate even when you're going good (No. 1 offense) versus good (No. 1 defense). It's a whole other level when you're out there on Saturday."
Dietzen is sandwiched between the most experienced player on the offensive line (left tackle Michael Deiter, who has 31 career starts) and the least experienced (center Tyler Biadiasz, a first-year starter).
"Having him (Deiter) on my right last year (as the starting center), helped a lot, too," he said. "Now, he can make calls that might help Tyler and we can just echo stuff down the line.
"Tyler is being a really good, physical player," Dietzen said of the redshirt freshman. "This dude is a brawler."
Playing physical is more than a catchphrase or a cliché to the 6-foot-6, 320-pound Dietzen, whose first scholarship offer as a prep came from Nebraska.
"It means imposing your will on the guy across from you," he said. "We're a team that's probably going to show you exactly what we're going to do and we're going to run it anyways."
Grinning, he also said, "It's just kind of one of those deals."
COACHES' CORNER: TED GILMORE
"I'm not doing anything different with Jazz than I've done the last two years, I'm coaching him up," Gilmore said of senior wide receiver Jazz Peavy, who has gotten off to a slow start (five catches).
"He's getting a lot of questions about touches and this and that. And I said, 'Jazz, you just keep playing ball. You have no control over what the defense is taking away and not taking away.
"Our quarterback (Alex Hornibrook) is doing a good job of going through his progressions and some of those balls we called last year, you got them, based on the coverage.
"Now others are getting them, so you can't get concerned with that.'"
In 2016, Peavy had 43 catches, the second most behind tight end Troy Fumagalli's 47.
"He's a young man that wants to help … wants to contribute," Gilmore said. "And it's not a bad thing for a wideout to want the ball. I want the guys to want the ball.
"But you've also got to understand, there are times — based on what's happening (in coverage) — you may not get it. That's where you have to be disciplined and keep working."
Gilmore, a former Nebraska assistant, hasn't seen any drop-off in Peavy's preparation or focus.
Acknowledging Peavy's fumble against Northwestern, he said, "There was a time when his head would have gone down (after such a turnover)."
But it didn't last Saturday. He kept grinding.
"Yes, that was a good sign," Gilmore said. "We believe in Jazz."
As a true freshman, Quintez Cephus was known more for his blocking than receiving (four catches). But Cephus has begun to blossom and already has 14 receptions and three touchdowns.
"You think about last year and the game was not too big for him," said Gilmore. "And it's not too big for him now. He's a competitive guy and he has got a look in his eyes.
"Whether it's a run or pass, he wants to win his one-on-one. And that shows in his body language and demeanor. I love that about him.
"He and Danny (Davis) attack the ball. They have a full catching radius. If it's high, if it's low, they go get it. That's confidence in your hands and that's focus. They don't lose track of the ball in traffic."
Davis, a true freshman, is averaging 25.3 yards on six catches.
"He's a lot faster than I thought, he's really smooth," Gilmore said. "He's truly having fun. He has a bounce in his step and he's like a kid on the playground just playing."
A.J. Taylor, who had three catches as a true freshman last year, is the fourth member of the rotation. Through the first four games, Taylor has seven receptions for 105 yards and a score.
"If anything, I still want him to be more aggressive," said Gilmore, noting Taylor was a prep running back. "We've got to get him to the point where he knows all the looks, he knows the defense.
"That's the next step for him. If they make a mistake, let's make them pay."
GETTING HIS KICKS AGAINST THE CATS
Wisconsin sophomore punter Anthony Lotti was asked what was more exciting: a 52-yard punt out of his own end zone against Northwestern or a 33-yard punt that was downed on the NU 2.
"I would say the one inside the 5 yard line excited me the most," he said of the kick that was caught by gunner Natrell Jamerson. "At that point, I put my team in the best situation to win."
Trailing 31-24, the Wildcats took over with only 69 seconds left on the clock. On second down, quarterback Clayton Thorson was sacked in the end zone by D'Cota Dixon for a safety.
"That's what I was really excited about," Lotti said, "just helping out the team."
In two appearances against Northwestern, Lotti has impacted field position by having 9 of his 13 punts downed inside the 20. "I've been doing pretty good pinning them," he conceded.
In determining whether he will use a "Sky punt" or an "Aussie"-style kick in these situations, Lotti will consider where the ball is on the field and the wind conditions in the stadium.
"The Aussie is where I point the nose of the ball down and try to hit a backward spinning ball," Lotti said. "A Sky is a normal punt. I just try to hang it up a little higher. The first Sky punt I put into the end zone. I got the bad end of the deal there."
Through four games, and 16 punts, it was his first touchback. "The wind was actually pretty heavy into my face," said Lotti, who's from Flowery Branch, Georgia. "But I just crushed the ball."
"Flipping the field" on a more consistent basis has been one of Lotti's goals.
"I've really focused in on trusting my team actually," he said. "It's a great thing having the guys on the line protecting me so I can have all the confidence in the world to just stroke the ball."
Opponents have returned only five of Lotti's punts for a total of 12 yards this season. By comparison, Nebraska's De'Mornay Pierson-El is averaging 12.6 yards on 70 career punt returns.
Last season, Lotti punted five times (39.2) and P.J. Rosowski once (34) against the Cornhuskers and Pierson-El returned four punts for 36, with a long of 15.
"He's a guy who likes to return the ball no matter what," said Lotti, cognizant of Pierson-El's unwillingness to call fair catches. "So I have to hit a good ball with good hang time."
NOTE TO QUOTE
Long runs have been hard to come by against Nebraska, whose defense has permitted just two rushes of 20 or more yards through five games. Both came in the Oregon loss — one from tailback Royce Freeman (28 yards); the other from QB Justin Herbert (20). Wisconsin's freshman tailback Jonathan Taylor has had runs of 29 (TD), 41 and 64 (TD).
REMEMBERING NO. 27
Before the 2016 season, UW placekicker Rafael Gaglianone exchanged No. 10 for No. 27 to honor the memory of Nebraska punter Sam Foltz, who was killed in a car accident in late July.
The 22-year-old Foltz was attending a summer kicking camp near Waukesha.
Prior to the Oct. 29 meeting between the Cornhuskers and Badgers at Camp Randall, Gaglianone joined the Nebraska specialists in bringing Foltz's No. 27 jersey to the bench, a weekly tribute.
It was an emotional moment for Gaglianone who considered Foltz to be a close friend. At the time, Gaglianone was rehabbing after undergoing season-ending back surgery following the third game.
Since the accident, Gaglianone has stayed in touched with Foltz's dad, Gerald.
"We talk almost every week," said Gaglianone, a redshirt junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Along with family and friends, Gerald Foltz will be at Saturday night's game.
"I have a lot of good memories from going to Lincoln," Gaglianone said. "There are a lot of good people there, a lot of good friends. It's going to be a special one, it's going to be emotional."
Two years ago, Wisconsin stunned Nebraska, 23-21, on Gaglianone's game-winning 46-yard field goal with four seconds remaining. He had missed from 39 yards just 82 seconds earlier.
"It kind of took me a couple of tries but I got the job done," Gaglianone said. "It's going to be exciting to go back into that environment."
Before the game, Gaglianone is looking forward to visiting on the field with Nebraska placekicker Drew Brown, who has accounted for 316 career points, the fourth-most in Huskers history.
"We've talked a little bit and shared a couple of texts," Gaglianone said of this week's timetable. "Specialists are different from every other position. There's not that tension."
Renewing a friendship doesn't take away from a competitor's desire to win, he stressed.
"But at the end of the day, you've got friends on the other side, too. It's a little more than just a game. I'm thankful for what football has brought into my life and the friendships I've gotten out of it."
In 2017, Brown has converted on 5 of 6 field goals and 19 of 19 PATs. Gaglianone is 4-of-5 on FGs and 21-of-21 on extra points. Both are candidates for postseason honors.
"I really haven't been tested that much yet," said Gaglianone, whose longest made kick is 29 yards. "We've had a lot of short kicks which is good for the operation (snapper, holder, kicker).
"We feel good where we are and we've been hitting good balls. I'm staying ready for whatever comes my way. And with whatever opportunities come up, I'm going to take advantage of them."
FIRST AND 10: NEBRASKA
- The Huskers have a string of 358 consecutive sellouts at Memorial Stadium (85,458) dating to Bob Devaney's first season as head coach in 1962. Notre Dame is next with 259.
- Under first-year coordinator Bob Diaco, the Blackshirts defense has gone seven quarters without allowing a touchdown. It has given up 23 points (2 TDs) the last 14 quarters.
- Nebraska has won 20 straight home night games. Saturday night has been designated as a "Blackout." The last loss under the lights came to Missouri in 2008.
- Wide receiver JD Spielman, who has a 99-yard kickoff return for a TD, is the adopted son of Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, the older brother of FOX analyst/Ohio State legend Chris Spielman.
- Former LSU coach Les Miles, also on the FOX Sports team, has a son, Ben, who's a freshman fullback for the Huskers. Kurt Warner's son, Kade, is a freshman wide receiver.
- QB Tanner Lee, a transfer from Tulane, was picked off nine times in three games (Oregon 4, Northern Illinois 3, Rutgers 2). Three were returned for TDs.
- Along with UW quarterback Alex Hornibrook, Lee has trained in California with George Whitfield. Against Illinois, Lee was 17-of-24 for 246 yards and 3 TDs and no picks.
- Sophomore I-back Tre Bryant, who rushed for 192 yards in the opener, is still out with an injury. Devine Ozigbo ran for 101 yards vs. Rutgers and 106 v. Illinois.
- The Cornhuskers have won 20 straight games (dating back to 2011) when they've had a positive turnover margin, including an 8-0 mark under head coach Mike Riley.
- Nebraska's interim AD is Huskers icon and HOFer Dave Rimington, who won the Outland twice. Rimington was a grad assistant on Barry Alvarez's staff in the early '90s.
QUOTE TO NOTE
On Jonathan Taylor, the Big Ten's leading rusher (129.5 yards per game), Nebraska's Mike Riley said, "I really like him. He might be as good as they've had that we've seen since we've been here. He's a really good athlete. You see his first touchdown run the other day (against Northwestern)? That was pretty impressive. He should have been down, somehow stayed up, had a hand on the ground and catapulted himself into the end zone."
