Where Logan Bruss

It’s been hard to keep Logan Bruss off the field since he found a role on the University of Wisconsin football team’s offensive line as a redshirt freshman.

The fifth-year senior from Kimberly only had missed three of a possible 34 games due to injury since 2018. But this season has been a physical grind. UW’s starting right tackle missed more than a week of training camp after a left leg injury and a neck and shoulder issue kept him out of games against Illinois and Army.

Bruss has been at his best since returning to the lineup against Purdue, and his impact on the offensive line and the offense as a whole is clear.

“Just the way he plays, he’s violent,” redshirt sophomore quarterback Graham Mertz said. “He’s just one of those guys that you love to have in the huddle, so it’s good to have him back.”

Bruss was named to Pro Football Focus’ team of the week after his performance against Iowa. He didn’t allow a sack, quarterback hit or hurry in 23 pass-blocking snaps and earned a grade of 83.6 from PFF, the highest of his career. He also didn’t allow a pressure against Purdue and star defensive end George Karlaftis a week earlier, though UW (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) only had 12 drop-backs.

A further look into the numbers shows how much Bruss’ return and strong play has helped. UW had 10 runs against the Hawkeyes between Bruss and right guard Jack Nelson or off-tackle outside of Bruss. Those runs gained 66 yards — the most of any two adjacent gaps on the Badgers lines — with four of them going for first downs and two gaining more than 10 yards.

Nine runs in the gaps around Bruss gained 115 yards against Purdue, including freshman tailback Braelon Allen’s 70-yard run that set up the go-ahead touchdown. Bruss had a crucial block on that play, blowing defensive tackle Damarjhe Lewis off the line and turning him toward the middle of the field. That push also caught hard-charging safety Marvin Grant in traffic, opening a massive lane for Allen.

“Green grass, really,” Allen said about what he saw on the play.

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Bruss, when asked about his play of late, said it just feels good to be back on the field with his teammates.

“When you have a lot of good guys around you, and a lot of guys you trust to get the job done when maybe you can’t play, you always feel better about it,” Bruss sad. “Just having those guys support you even when you can’t play and when you go through a tough time, definitely makes it a lot easier. Made it a lot easier to kind of transition into coming back and playing again.”

After suffering the stinger during practice leading up to the Illinois game, Bruss said he and UW’s medical staff weighed trying to play against how effective he could be due to the injury. Taking time to rest and heal fully was determined to be the best option because it was the type of injury that can linger.

“We kind of knew going into this year that for us to be as good as we could be, we needed him to play really well,” UW coach Paul Chryst said. “And he’s capable of that when he is healthy, and now it’s been good that he’s back and feeling healthy. I think our expectations, his expectations, are high.

“It’s amazing. Each week it’s a different challenge and you get tested differently. But there’s a guy (who’s) played in a number of games. And so I think you get to a point where you look forward to those tests, you look forward to those challenges. Him being in there and him playing at his best is really good for our offense and good for our team.”

4 observations after rewatching the Badgers’ win over Iowa

UW will need Bruss to continue his hot streak this week at Rutgers (4-4, 1-4). The Badgers will win the Big Ten Conference’s West Division if they win their remaining four games. UW never has lost to Rutgers in three meetings, but the most recent one came in 2018.

The Scarlet Knights use a four-man front most often and like to bring standout linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi on blitzes off the edge. However, their track record against teams with good rushing attacks isn’t great this season. After holding Michigan to 112 yards on 38 carries, Ohio State (208) and Michigan State (249) found space on the ground.

Northwestern (135) and Illinois (107) both had some success rushing as well.

Bruss’ confidence is earned after the way he’s played the past two weeks. Senior receiver Danny Davis said Bruss provides a calmness to the offense because teammates know they can expect great play from him.

“That’s who I stand next to (in the huddle), that’s my dude,” Davis said. “We always go out there and we say something to each other.”

In what’s expected to be his final season of college football, Bruss said he’s most proud of the progress the offensive line has made after the unit struggled during the 1-3 start.

“(We’re) continuing to trust the coaches,” Bruss said. “I think coach (Joe) Rudolph has done a great job putting us in good positions, coach Chryst has, too. Just put all the guys in good position to succeed. I think that’s the biggest thing, just trusting the course and trusting each other. Just cutting it loose and having fun on game day.”