Another set of Wisconsin football storylines after last week's spring practices

The Badgers are now two-thirds of the way through spring ball. Let's talk about what happened last week.

Apr 20, 2026

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Eric Mateos was posed with what he deemed “an awesome question” on Friday.

Mateos is more than halfway through his first spring as the University of Wisconsin football program’s offensive line coach, and he is yet another assistant tasked with revitalizing a storied position group. He was asked what characteristics it takes to be a line that is great at run blocking, and how he teaches said characteristics.

The most important thing, according to Mateos, is “the mindset and passion for the physicality.”

“It’s funny,” Mateos said. “The run game fundamentals, no matter what the scheme is, don’t change. Do I have positional leverage? That’s where’s my body in relation to the defender and the ball carrier? Do I have hand leverage? Are my hands inside or underneath his where I can I can win with hands? And then do I have hip leverage? Am I willing to bend my hips more than the defender is willing to bend his hips?”

The way Mateos described those traits, it’s a best of three between the lineman and defender to see who comes out victorious each snap.

“If you only win one of the three, you’re probably not winning the rep,” Mateos said. “If you win two of the three, you’re probably going to win the rep.

“If you win all three, you’re probably whooping his ass pretty good.”

It sure seemed like the Wisconsin offensive line was winning more reps by the end of last week’s spring practices. There’s a disclaimer here in wondering just how much one can weigh the run game performances during Tuesday practices, especially now that coach Luke Fickell’s said those sessions will likely look like the past two Tuesdays where players don’t wear shoulder pads.

But Fickell said the Badgers “were a little bit lax” Tuesday, particularly on offense.

Perhaps the message was heard by the unit as the week progressed to wearing shells (shoulder pads and helmets) Thursday and full pads Saturday. The rushing attack came alive with a couple of longer runs by Southern Cal transfer Bryan Jackson II, who’s shown the acceleration and burst to go with a powerful 240-pound frame, with the first-team offense.

Another transfer, Abu Sama III, also re-emerged this week with some noteworthy runs Thursday and Saturday that showed his ability to find the hole and accelerate to the deeper levels of the defense. That was demonstrated during Saturday’s session with a pair of would-be touchdowns (one with the second-team offense early in practice, another with the first-team later Saturday).

The blocking was there at times for the third-team offense as well Saturday, which allowed sophomore Harrison Bortolotti to accumulate significant yardage on a couple of carries, then find the end zone late in practice.

Badger Observer broke down other notable themes after another week of Wisconsin spring ball before the Badgers get back on the field Tuesday. Be sure to catch up on availabilities from various position groups last week, which included the following:

There are options at the guard spots, even with a key injury

The injury to Emerson Mandell, which Fickell confirmed would keep the right guard out for the remainder of spring ball, leaves even more opportunity for three interior linemen.

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