Lucas at Large: Voltz, Deiter at center of line’s improvement
December 30, 2015 | Football, Mike Lucas
Young o-line has persevered through injuries
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
SAN DIEGO — Dan Voltz recently graduated from the UW School of Education with a degree from the Department of Kinesiology. Michael Deiter is about to graduate from the School of Hard Knocks.
It has been instructional how their career paths have intersected.
Deiter is 19 years old. He won't be 20 until next September. Despite his youth and inexperience, he has started all 12 games on Wisconsin's offensive line; seven at guard and five at center.
Deiter, a redshirt freshman from Ohio, has dealt with growing pains.
"It has been tough. It has been hard," he conceded. "But it has been a great experience."
Voltz is 22 years old. He just celebrated a December birthday. Because of his maturity and savvy as one of only two returning starters on the O-line, he was the anchorman, a veteran of 27 starts.
Voltz, a redshirt junior from Illinois, has dealt with pain.
"But I've never felt something like this before," he said. "It was scary; my first knee injury."
On Oct. 24, the Badgers ran a "pin and pull" play against the Illinois defense. Voltz pulled out to the perimeter and his knee just gave out, a blown ACL, a non-contact injury.
"After it happened, I was thinking, 'What could I have done to prevent it?'" he said. "As I was trying to walk, I knew in the back of my mind that something wasn't right. I tried to stay optimistic."
One thing kept popping back into head.
"How long until I can play again?" he posed to the medical staff.
He didn't want to know. But he knew.
"Unfortunately, in some cases," he said, "the answer is, 'Not until next year.'"
Voltz will be sidelined through spring practice. But has tried to turn a negative into a positive.
"I've been through injuries before," he said, "and you have to learn to accept that it happens and then you have to move on to the rehab phase and try to think about the future and what you can do every day to get ready for the next season."
But this is not to imply that he turned his back on this season.
"I could easily give up on this whole thing and get away from the team," he said. "But that would be unfair to my teammates who are putting in so much work. Everybody is still working super hard. It would be unfair to the whole program if I just decided to give up at this point."
The first few days after surgery, Voltz did feel detached. And it was understandable.
Doctors' orders. "You have to let your body rest and recover," he said.
Voltz lives right across from Camp Randall Stadium.
"I remember I'd be lying on the couch during practice," he said, "and I could hear the whistles and the music and that was really tough knowing I couldn't be out there doing what I love to do the most; I couldn't be out there with my teammates. That was really hard to deal with."
But things have gotten progressively better for Voltz, who's with the team in San Diego for Wednesday's Holiday Bowl matchup against Southern Cal. His presence has to be of some reassurance to the young pups, the four redshirt freshman starters on the O-line, particularly Deiter.
"Most importantly, he has been teaching me how to ID (identify) things and how to play center," said the 6-foot-6, 316-pound Deiter. "He has also helped me at guard. He has been huge with developing my game at both (positions)."
Voltz hasn't been surprised by Deiter's development. Or versatility to play guard and center.
"All the credit goes to him," he said. "It has been kind of a smooth transition because he has played a lot of center since he has been here. So it wasn't like he was thrown into a position that he has never played before. He has done a great job on his own of jumping in and embracing the role.
"All I can do to help is kind of offer my two cents here and there. When I'm at practice, I try to give him a couple of tips. And when we're watching film, I'll try to key on what he's doing and see if I can add anything based on what I'm seeing. It's more the mental side of the game that I can offer him."
Voltz can relate to some of the things that Deiter and the other first-time starters have been going through since he encountered the same physical and mental challenges as a redshirt freshman in 2013 when he started six games at center, including the final five.
That offensive line, in addition to Voltz, featured a redshirt sophomore at left tackle (Tyler Marz), a fifth-year senior at left guard (Ryan Groy), a redshirt junior at right guard (Kyle Costigan) and a redshirt junior at right tackle (Rob Havenstein).
The growing pains? "When you play against guys who are bigger and stronger and more experienced than you," Voltz said, "you're going to get beat. It doesn't matter how good you are. You're going to get beat here and there and you have to learn from mistakes. He's doing a great job with that."
There have been instances where Deiter has been overpowered. "But," Voltz interjected, "nothing phases that kid. He gets beat and he comes back the next play like nothing happened. And that's exactly the mindset that you need to play in the offensive line."
Where does Deiter get his resiliency from? "I've kind of watched how the older guys do it, like Tyler (Marz) and Dan," he said. "Last year, I got to watch Kyle (Costigan) and Dallas (Lewallen) and Rob (Havenstein). I watched how they handled their business and mirrored what they did."
Not that getting beat in a one-on-one situation doesn't leave a scar.
"Sometimes it's frustrating," Deiter said. "But you just have to keep trying to get better knowing that one day you will be good enough to be that kind of old, overpowering guy. You just keep striving for that. To be thrown in there with some of the best D-linemen in the country has been an experience."
It started with the season opener when the Badgers faced Alabama, which fields arguably the best defensive front seven in college football. Southern Cal will present comparable problems on the line of scrimmage.
"They're big and strong," Deiter said. "But they're also athletic for their size."
USC's three down linemen are fifth-year seniors. Nose guard Antwaun Woods (6-1, 320) has 32 career starts. He was first-team All-Pac 12. Defensive tackle Delvon Simmons (6-5, 295) has 36 career starts -- split between Texas Tech (two years) and USC. He was second-team All-Pac 12.
Those are the marquee players. Woods has 105 career tackles; Simmons has 130, including 18.5 for losses and eight sacks. The third starter up front is Greg Townsend (6-3, 275). He's the least experienced with 15 career starts. But he has the best DNA. His dad was a former All-Pro in the NFL.
Deiter and his UW linemates will have to keep their heads on a swivel. On every play, run or pass, they will have to account for No. 21 -- Su'A Cravens, a hybrid safety-linebacker with 39 career starts and 14.5 TFLs and 5.5 sacks this season. Cravens, a junior, will enter the NFL draft.
"To feel like we can compete with a team like USC would be huge for the young guys on this team for their confidence," Deiter pointed out. "It would be big-time momentum going into offseason training and next season."
The Badgers generated their own "Mo" by rushing for 257 yards at Minnesota. And it was accomplished without tailback Corey Clement, who's expected to play against the Trojans.
The move of tackle Beau Benzschawel to right guard was instrumental to their success on the ground. Jacob Maxwell, who started the Iowa game, took over at right tackle against the Gophers.
The real key was Benzschawel's ability to pull and lead interference at 6-6, 308 pounds.
"You always wonder if a guy is going to be a natural puller -- whether he's going to want to stick his face in there and hit somebody," Voltz said. "He (Benzschawel) does it without hesitation. He's an athletic kid and he's using that to his advantage. That aggressiveness he has -- that's natural."
Voltz is looking forward to the day when the media spotlight will stop shining on the inexperience of Wisconsin's offensive line. That's where it has been focused all season.
"You don't want people saying, 'What's going on? What's wrong (with the O-line)?'" Voltz said. "You want them (the media) talking with the quarterback and the running backs."
One of these days, he would agree, the young pups will grow into Big Dogs. "And," Deiter said, "it will be pretty exciting to hopefully turn into your typical offensive line at Wisconsin."
They can take another step toward reaching that goal on Wednesday.
