Sophomore defensive lineman Darius Jones had a fabulous high school career, entered the University of Wisconsin a semester early and received the most accolades of any player in the 2000 recruiting class. Sounds like a recipe for instant stardom as a Badger football player. But with life, sometimes the batter gets a little lumpy.
Coming out of Memorial High School in Beloit, Wis., Jones was heavily recruited by the Badgers at linebacker. While in high school, Jones recorded three straight seasons of at least 100 tackles. Then to top it all off, he enrolled at the UW in January of 2000, so he was eligible for spring practice. Not a bad start to a college career. Then the egg beater started to run a little slower.
Halfway through his true freshman year, Jones was asked to make a position change from linebacker to the defensive line, not one of the easiest transitions in football.
\At linebacker, you are more used to seeing everything, while when you are down on the line, you can see only maybe two or three things. Just making the adjustment of being able to react more so than reading [the field], from a linebacker's standpoint was a tough change, but I thought I caught on pretty quick,"" Jones said.
Due to the position change Jones saw limited time during his freshman year, mostly logging time on special teams. But big things were expected in the upcoming season. That's when the egg beater ground to a halt.
In last year's Fresno State game , on the last play of the game Jones broke his hand and was out for the year.
""To first come in and not get as much playing as I thought I maybe should have, and then being moved to a new position halfway through the season and feeling comfortable playing at that position, and then getting injuries tends to get you down."" Jones said. But you have to decide what kind of person you are after that, either you can crawl in a hole or stand up on your feet and get things going,""
So Jones took a medical red-shirt for his sophomore year and sat through a disappointing 5-7 campaign, marred by defensive inconsistency.
""After sitting out and just watching and not playing, you really gather appreciation for the game,"" Jones said.
Going into the 2002-'03 football season, Wisconsin's defense had a few questions to answer. The question marks have been erased though, due to the solid play of the defense. Fourteen take-aways this season have fueled a Badger team that recorded only 21 all of last season. Not only that, but the Badgers have had to rely on and even lean on the defense, with the running attack starting off uncharacteristically slow and a young receiving corps still learning the ropes.
After giving up 455 yards to Northern Illinois, the defense buckled down on the Huskies' final drive, after the offense drove for the go- ahead touchdown. Jones himself was the star on that final stand, sacking Northern Illinois sophomore quarterback Josh Haldi twice in the Huskies last drive. Jones finished the game with six tackles, four of them for losses.
""I've been waiting for this to happen for a long time, and I hope it happens more often,"" Jones said in response to his stellar play last Saturday.
With a feisty Arizona team coming into town on Saturday, the defense will once again be looked upon to provide big plays. Arizona senior quarterback Jason Johnson has looked impressive in the Wildcat's two wins this season and his supporting cast is definitely of respectable quality. Wide outs senior Bobby Wade and junior Andrae Thurman give Arizona depth on the outside and halfback Clarence Farmer gives them a workhorse in the backfield. The Badgers can ill afford a meltdown similar to last Saturday.
""We need to come and play the defense that we need to play. We have the title of a being a no name defense, so we take that through practices and games and look at it as eleven guys playing as one. Our defense is not close to how good we can be,"" Jones said.
It seems as if the defense is growing every week. Northern Illinois was a growing pain. Jones has seen his fair share of those and after his latest success, his outlook for the remainder of the season is bright.
""I just want to keep on making plays, stay healthy and keep the defense enthused,"" Jones said.
It seems as if the egg beater has finally worked out those lumps.
