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His second play was on the kickoff team and should have resulted in a tackle, although it was credited to Louis Nzegwu.
“You can ask Louis about that one,” Kelly said. “You’ve got to watch the film. I think I had him.”
His third play was on the kickoff team and it resulted in — you guessed it — another tackle.
Not a bad way to start your college career.
“I just kind of did my job and the play ran into me,” Kelly said. “I’m not going to give myself too much credit.”
Still, it says something about Kelly on two fronts: 1, For a defensive lineman to be so successful on the kickoff team, he certainly has some athleticism; and 2, The freshman was not intimidated in his first appearance on the big stage.
Then again, that has pretty much been Kelly’s makeup from the moment he arrived from Eden Prairie, Minn. He attended Holy Angels Academy, the same high school as former UW quarterback John Stocco.
Kelly impressed the strength and conditioning coaches with the way he worked during the summer.
“From the first day he stepped in the weight room, he attacked every lift, every running session, like he was a veteran and hasn’t stopped that approach since he’s been here,” defensive line coach Charlie Partridge said.
Kelly credited some advice he received from Mark Ellis, a former strength and conditioning coach for the Minnesota Vikings, whom Kelly worked with before coming to UW.
“One of my trainers back home told me, ’You’re kind of wowed the first day with the size and everything. They were in the same spot as you at one point,’ ” Kelly said.
In fact, Kelly has looked so mature, he elicited some comparisons to senior defensive end Matt Shaughnessy as a true freshman in 2005.
Both have almost identical tall, rangy builds. Kelly is listed at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, while Shaughnessy was listed at 6-6, 225 as a freshman.
Shaughnessy impressed everyone with the way he battled his first year in camp against left tackle Joe Thomas. Kelly has impressed everyone with the way he has battled against left tackle Gabe Carimi.
UW coach Bret Bielema stopped short of comparing Kelly to Shaughnessy, but he didn’t shoot it down, either.
“None of my coaches defensively were here when Matt came aboard,” Bielema said last week. “But Matt jumped out at us right away just by his athleticism during the summer when he came to work out (and) during fall camp.
“I really believe BK showed us early on that he can adapt really well (with his) football knowledge.”
Shaughnessy was a freshman All-American who started seven games, with 7.5 tackles for loss, before suffering a torn ACL against Iowa and missing the final two games.
No one is expecting that kind of production from Kelly this season. But he played 19 snaps on defense in the first game and was solid.
Kelly got himself ready to play by taking the summer workouts seriously and putting on about 10 pounds. It’s a good thing he did, because with sophomore Kirk DeCremer’s career over due to back problems, Kelly is now a key figure. He is listed as the backup right end behind Shaughnessy.
Kelly had 23 quarterback sacks as a high school senior, so he has a chance to eventually fill DeCremer’s role as a situational pass rusher. DeCremer led the team with 5.5 sacks last season, most a result of effort and determination, more than athleticism.
That’s the way Kelly expects to play, too, with energy and a high motor. He said he has already learned a lot from DeCremer, who hopes to return to the team at some point as a volunteer coach.
“He’s a good player, but he’s a good coach, too,” Kelly said. “He’s going to come out and tell you what you did wrong. When you do it right, he’s not going to say much, just because that’s how you’ve got to be. You’re supposed to do it right, he expects that. Kirk’s helped me more than I’ve ever told him.”
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