Tackett Curtis Steps up for the Badgers in Win Over South Dakota

Tackett Curtis was meant to be a member of the Wisconsin Badgers.

The Badgers were heavily involved in his recruitment out of high school and even made the cut into his final teams before he ultimately chose to go to USC. But when he entered the transfer portal after a year at Southern Cal, the Badgers got another crack at him.

Tackett found his way home, joining the Badgers as a part of their revamped linebacking unit that includes Arkansas transfer Jaheim Thomas and returning linebacker Jake Chaney.

However, after arriving in Madison, he went through an exam and found he had a hernia, and had played with it his entire freshman season at USC. So he had to get that taken care of, which is why he missed time during spring practice.

Needless to say, with a crowded linebacking room and being behind a bit after missing time with the injury, Tackett was going to have to wait his turn to crack the starting lineup.

In his first game as a Badger, Curtis played five total snaps, all on kick coverage against Western Michigan.

But on Saturday, he got his chance to get on the field, playing some snaps alongside Thomas in some spot relief for Chaney. But in the third quarter, Chaney got hit with a targeting penalty, forcing him out of the game. Curtis took his place and made his presence known.

Despite getting into the game late, Curtis tallied five total tackles, good for third on the team behind Hunter Wohler (eight tackles) and Thomas (six tackles). His final line was five total tackles, three solo tackles, and 0.5 tackles for a loss.

Having a player like Tackett Curtis as a backup option is a huge bonus for the Badgers. Losing Chaney to the ejection could have made put the struggling Wisconsin defense in an even worse situation. However, the way Curtis stepped up made a positive impact on the team and his teammates, particularly fellow linebacker Jaheim Thomas.

"He [Tackett Curtis] came in there and played like a starter," Thomas said. "He executed and made plays when opportunities presented themselves. I was proud of him for that."

Thomas was not the only member of the Wisconsin football team to speak highly of Curtis. Head coach Luke Fickell made a point to talk about Curtis unprompted during his postgame press conference .

"Tackett Curtis had to go in there in a really, really tough situation and I think we really saw what Tackett Curtis is made of tonight."

The Badgers are going to need Curtis to continue playing like he did tonight because they are going to be without Chaney for the first half of the Alabama game after his targeting ejection tonight.

Even when Chaney comes back, don't be surprised if we start seeing No. 4 on defense a little more often.

Related: Wisconsin Remains Inconsistent in Win Over South Dakota

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