Wisconsin
Coordinator Mike Tressel shares his goals for Wisconsin’s defense, including thoughts on team’s bigger defensive line
An aerial view of Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis.
An aerial view of Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., home of the Wisconsin Badgers.
MADISON – Mike Tressel definitely saw the need for some schematic changes to Wisconsin’s defense last season, but first he felt a change in mindset was required.
As the Badgers defensive coordinator assessed his unit’s play in 2024 he saw a group that played well against teams that spread the field and played with three and four receivers.
But when it was time to get physical UW didn’t measure up. The Badgers ranked 91st in the nation against the run, a struggle that led to a push through the transfer portal to add bigger bodies along the defensive line and in general get bigger bodies on the field.
But before considering the measurables Tressel wanted to know if the want was there.
“The mentality of stopping the run is first,” he said. “The mentality of the physicality of football, which this place has always been about, is first and then you can get into some of the schematic things.”
That was one of the nuggets from Tressel’s interview session Wednesday morning at the McClain. Here are three other takeaways.
Tressel feels D-line additions have brought confidence to unit
Wisconsin has seven players listed 300 pounds or heavier on the defensive line. Last year there were three on the roster though Ben Barten was the only one who played regularly.
This spring the early returns show Barten (6-5,323), Charles Perkins (6-2, 316), Dillan Johnson (6-2, 312), Parker Petersen (6-4, 315), Brandon Lane (6-3, 320) as 300 pounders in the hunt for snaps.
So far, the group has delivered the physical element that was desired.
“One thing I’m seeing is a lot of confidence in the defensive front’s ability to be tough and difference-makers,” Tressel said. “When I talk about confidence I’m talking about the linebackers back behind them. I’m talking about the coaching staff. I’m talking about within their room you can see there is some great confidence in those guys.”
Aaron Witt’s new role takes advantage of his football IQ, instincts
One of the interesting changes to the defense will the hybrid role played by senior Aaron Witt, a former outside linebacker who play a combination of an inside-outside linebacker position.
The role is similar to what UW asked of former Badgers safety Hunter Wohler from a mental standpoint.
“You can’t compare it to what Hunter was doing because you’re going to put Hunter into a lot more space, but in terms of finding a guy with high football IQ and trying to put him in position to do what he does best and make plays, yes in that regard,” said Tressel.
Mike Tressel shared three goals for the defense
In addition to ranking 91st against the run last season, the Badgers were 41st in total defense, 47th in scoring defense and 71st in third-down conversion percentage.
Tressel didn’t mention statistics when talking about his hopes for his unit this year.
“We don’t need to hold them to 3 yards every single play,” he said. “We need to create negatives. We need to create takeaways and then eliminate the explosives. And then dominate in the clutch…
“I’m encouraging the players to have the game-changer mentality but myself, too. I need to call the game with a game-changer mentality. Sound. But we need to be aggressive and have a takeaway, negative-play mentality.”
Laurel Burleson, a Dane County chef, thinks ugly apples make the best dishes.
One of her goals as a chef and restaurant owner is to save usable produce from the waste bin.
“I know how hard (Wisconsin farmers) work every day, making these products that are delicious and nutritious and for anything to get thrown away just because it’s not aesthetically perfect is just outrageous,” said Burleson, owner of Ugly Apple Cafe.
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The latest fruit monitoring report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows many parts of the state having great harvests, although northeastern Wisconsin orchards suffered from a cool spring. But most apple orchards are busy with the fall harvest. So what do you do with that abundance of apples?
Burleson shared some recipes and her philosophy on cooking with WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Rob Ferrett: What do you like to do with apples apart from just eating them?
Laurel Burleson: One that I really like to do is making apple marmalade. That is shredding apples and preserving them in sugar so that they keep their structure. It’s kind of the opposite of making applesauce.
But we also make a lot of apple sauce and apple butter. That’s a good way to use a lot of apples all at once.
RF: What goes into making apple butter?
LB: Very basically you make applesauce, so just cook down your apples and blend them up. Then you take that applesauce and cook it extremely slowly, either in a slow cooker or in the oven. Cook it down until it’s dark and rich and more closely resembling a peanut butter than applesauce.
From there, you can put in whatever spices you want: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, bay leaf. You just have to be careful because whatever you start with in the big batch will get super concentrated and reduced in your end product.
RF: With applesauce or apple butter, do we have to be fussy about the type of apples? Or can we mix and match?
LB: I like to mix and match, especially because the apple season starts really early. Some years you can get the first season apples in July.
They don’t hold very long and they’re very juicy, so they break down really easily, but they are very tart. I like to get some of those early season apples and make them into applesauce and freeze them and then when I have other sweeter varieties later I mix them and then reduce that all down into butter.
RF: You shared a savory recipe with us for pork chops with apple bacon cabbage. Tell us a little bit about this recipe.
LB: It’s really fun for the fall and even into the winter. You can kind of use any kind of variety of apple that’s a little bit tart and it’s OK if it breaks down and blends in because the cabbage is going to maintain its structure.
If the onions and apples melt away into a delicious sauce it’s just fine. But also, if you end up with some apple pieces, then it’s a nice little surprise like a little sweetness.
The Ugly Apple Cafe operates cafes inside the Dane County Courthouse and the City County Building in Madison and sells its products at the Monona Farmers Market.
While the Wisconsin Badgers struggle on the football field, sitting at a disappointing 2-2 through four weeks, some of the program’s former transfers continue to find success.
One of those players is tight end Riley Nowakowski, who transferred to Indiana this offseason after five years with the Badgers. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native originally walked on to the program as an unranked outside linebacker. After playing sparingly during his first few seasons with the Badgers, he flipped over to fullback in 2022, then out to tight end after Phil Longo arrived in 2023. Nowakowski totaled 18 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown from 2023-24; his two years as a primary offensive contributor.
The former Badger is already making significant progress toward those totals, now just four games into his Indiana career. He has four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown, plus one carry for a one-yard score. The versatile fullback/tight end delivered the highlight play of his career during Indiana’s blowout win over Illinois on Saturday, taking a 1st-down screen pass 43 yards to the house.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, has received solid contributions from Montana State transfer tight end Lance Mason. The veteran has 14 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns to date, leading the team in each of those respective categories.
While Mason has been one of the Badgers’ few bright spots through four weeks, it’s hard to ignore Nowakowski’s emergence as one of Indiana’s dependable offensive playmakers.
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Get ready for an overall warmer stretch of weather as we head into this upcoming workweek. After some fog lifts this morning, we’ll have plenty of sunshine today with highs in the mid to upper 70s along the lake and low 80s inland.
Tonight will be dry with lows in the low 60s lakeside and upper 50s inland.
Monday through Wednesday should be very similar, with upper 70s to near 80 near the lake and low to mid 80s inland with plenty of sun.
We’ll start to bring in chances of showers or a T’storm starting Thursday right on into the weekend.
WATCH: Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead
Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead
TODAY: Any fog lifting through the morning, then becoming mostly sunny.
High: 77 lakefront… 83 inland.
Wind: E 5-10 MPH.
TONIGHT: Mostly clear.
Low: 62.
Wind: ESE 3-8 MPH.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny.
Highs: 78 lakefront… 83 inland.
Wind: ESE 5-10 MPH.
TUES: Mostly sunny and warm.
High: 80 lakefront… 84 inland.
WEDS: Mostly sunny and warm.
High: 81 lakefront… 85 inland.
THUR: Partly cloudy with a chance of a shower
or T’storm.
High: 80.
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