Wisconsin's Alec Ingold settles in at fullback

Everything has slowed down for Alec Ingold.

Entering his third season on the University of Wisconsin football team, the former Bay Port star thinks back to his freshman year and how everything seemed like a whirlwind after moving from linebacker to tailback. Or how his sophomore season was all about learning to play a new positon when he took over at fullback.

Now?

“Going into practices, I’m a lot more confident seeing things,” Ingold said. “Just a better understanding of defenses we are playing, too. Seeing it more often. It definitely is slowing down for me.”

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The 6-foot-2, 246-pound Ingold played in all 14 games for the Badgers last season, rushing for 44 yards on 18 carries and scoring two touchdowns while catching six passes for 55 yards and two scores.

He has appeared in 24 games during his first two years and has scored a combined 10 TDs.

Ingold said it’s “night and day” when it comes to his development at fullback. He didn’t have a great idea of what he was doing last season, since he wasn’t accustomed to blocking. With experience has come higher expectations.

Ingold has played more glamorous positions in the past. He was a running back as a sophomore in high school and played quarterback his final two seasons. He was the state’s player of the year as a senior in 2014, when he threw for 1,384 yards and 16 TDs and rushed for 2,324 yards and 29 scores.

But he enjoys his new status at Wisconsin. He embraces being a player his team needs in any role at any moment.

While the seniors on the team are the vocal leaders, Ingold isn’t a wide-eyed rookie anymore. It’s now up to him at times to take some of the younger players aside and help teach them a few techniques, leading more by example than words.

Yes, he’s started to gain some wisdom.

“It’s kind of a weird dynamic right now,” Ingold said. “You are always focusing on getting better, honing your craft, doing all those different things.

“But at the same time, the mistakes you are trying to fix are so minuscule versus understanding the whole offense. That’s the biggest difference right now.”

The Badgers open the season Sept. 1 against Utah State at Camp Randall Stadium. While Ingold will spend a lot of time blocking for running backs such as Chris James and Bradrick Shaw, there might be a few more carries or catches for him and fellow fullback Austin Ramesh along the way.

“I feel like going through camp now, there are new formations that get put in,” Ingold said. “The playbook is growing a lot. It used to be very much I-formation, and now it’s on the ball, at a wide receiver spot, in the backfield at running back. So there are a lot of different spots.”

There have been some memorable moments for Ingold during his first two seasons. He made his collegiate debut in September 2015 and rushed for a career-high 60 yards against Hawaii. He scored his first career touchdown against Nebraska a few weeks later. He also has gotten the opportunity to be part of the Holiday Bowl against USC in 2015 and the Cotton Bowl against Western Michigan in 2016.

But nothing has topped playing at Lambeau Field last season when the Badgers beat LSU.

“It has to be No. 1,” Ingold said. “It meant so much. To win against the No. 5 team in the country at the time, that is something that will go down in the history books for this university.”