FOOTBALL B 26 » VARSITY MAY 3, 2012
eyond his presence on the field in full uni- form during Saturday's pregame warm-ups — enabling him to be a visible and vocal ral- lying point for the team's "One Unit — One Goal" commitment — Montee Ball's spring game participation was limited to encourag-
ing teammates from the sidelines. After taking inventory, no one was more encouraged than Ball, either. "I saw a lot of positives through the entire spring, espe-
cially today," Ball said. "I saw a lot of young players who are going to help us win; one in particular is Melvin (Gor- don, who rushed 30 times for 159 yards). He's learning by taking everything in … by taking criticism … by taking coaching."
The Badgers' offense, as a whole, has been tak- ing on a new personality as a result of the heavy personnel losses — Russell Wilson, Nick Toon, Kevin Zeitler, Peter Konz and Bradie Ewing all had their names called in the NFL draft — and the magnitude of the coaching transition since the Rose Bowl. "The players have bought into the new sys-
tem," Ball said. "The chemistry we have with our new coaching staff has really clicked well. We have the same running offense. But the passing game is a little bit different. We're getting the ball out faster and running a lot shorter routes. "Chip away at the chains." That's how he tagged the approach to quickly
getting the football into the hands of playmakers, whether it's tailbacks (Ball, James White, Gor- don) tight ends (Jacob Pedersen, Sam Arneson) or wideouts (Jared Abrrederris, Jeff Duckworth
and/or Isaiah Williams, Chase Hammond, Mar- quis Mason, et al). On top of that, Ball said, the playbook has been expanded to get White more involved. "James is going to do what he has to with his
speed and agility — James is James — he had a really good spring," he said of White, who sat out the intrasquad game with a knee bruise. "Now that they're going to use him a lot in the slot (in the same backfield with Ball), it's going to be nice.
"It's going to be an explosive year — and that's what we're all shooting for." Ball added the caveat, "It can happen if we work for it." The Badgers still need to work on getting an-
swers to the right side of their offensive line. Ricky Wagner and Ryan Groy will be the left tackle and guard, respectively, with Travis Fred-
