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Pedersen, Wozniak tight-knit at tight end LUCAS AT LARGE MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM T he chemistry between Wis- consin's starting tight ends, Jacob Pedersen and Brian Wozniak, has only been enhanced by their friendship. Pedersen and Wozniak are roommates on road trips. "We've been travel roommates since we both started traveling,'' Wozniak said. When they finally get to their room Friday night — after the team meal, position group meet- ings and hit film — they may share some thoughts on Saturday's op- ponent, Oregon State. "We'll be thinking about the game,'' said Wozniak, a junior from Loveland, Ohio. "And in the morning, when we wake up, we'll both be diving into our playbooks in silence.'' But before they sleep, they will generally unwind with some TV. "We're big movie watchers,'' Woz- niak said. "Ped likes the real action movies with the terrible plots.'' Pedersen is also partial to Real- tree Road Trips and Michael Wad- dell, the Bone Collector. "He'll stay up after the movie,'' Wozniak said, "watching hunting shows.'' Yet their friendship has endured even though Wozniak is not the "outdoorsy type.'' "On the field, we've really come together,'' he went on. "We've worked at certain blocks in prac- tice so much over the past three years it's almost second-nature to us. "We're real competitive with each other, so that helps us out. 14 » VARSITY SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 Developing chemistry with him wasn't too hard. He's such a good player that playing off him is easy.'' That type of familiarity can breed confidence, and camaraderie. "A lot of times we're working combo blocks,'' said Pedersen, a junior from Menominee, Mich. "Knowing what he's going to do with his guy helps me get on my guy a lot easier. "We have some plays where we switch positions and they're a lot of talking on the field. It helps being good friends. We can talk to each other about plays and we can always count on each other.'' Pedersen usually partnered with Jake Byrne in two-tight end forma- tions last season. Whereas Byrne was known more for his blocking at the point of attack, Wozniak poses more of a receiving threat. "Byrne was a great blocker, but I think I bring a little more versatil- ity,'' Wozniak said. "The defense has to respect my route-running, but I do need to continue to im- prove my blocking.'' On Wisconsin's first offensive possession against Northern Iowa, the Badgers drove to the UNI 15- yard line. On third-and-3, Danny O'Brien's pass to Wozniak was low and he dropped the ball. Instead of first-and-goal, UW had to settle for a field goal. O'Brien took the blame. In fact, he grabbed Wozniak as they came off the field and said as much to him. It was his "bad.'' Wozniak wasn't buying it. "That's on me, I've got to catch that pass,'' he said. "We watched the film and it was in my hands and it got knocked out. That's all on me.'' That O'Brien would have his "back'' — with the media — left a favorable impression with Woz- niak. "That's what is great about Danny,'' he said. "I really respect the way he works and plays.'' Pedersen, meanwhile, had O'Brien's "back'' — so to speak — on third-and-22 from the UW 47. "When you get in those situa- tions,'' Pedersen said, "you've got to make plays.'' That's what happened: O'Brien delivered a perfect strike to Peder- sen, who picked up the first down and sustained a drive that would be capped by an O'Brien touch- down pass to Jared Abbrederis. "We're never out there thinking that we can't get the first down,'' Pedersen said. "We obviously know where the chains are, and we know where we have to go to get the first down. "I tried to give Danny the best throw that I could and when I caught the ball I knew that I had to get a couple of more yards.'' That awareness is why the Bad- gers have finished in to the Top 10 nationally in third-down con- versions in each of the past three seasons; the only program in the country to do so. "To have success you can't be coming off the field,'' Pedersen said. "You have to convert on third downs to keep getting first downs and that leads to points.''