When redshirt freshman Josh Oglesby reported to the University of Wisconsin offensive huddle in the second quarter Saturday night, Andy Kemp, a senior guard, greeted the mammoth offensive lineman with some friendly words of encouragement and advice. The Badgers were trailing Ohio State, 7-0, and Gabe Carimi, the starting left tackle, had just been injured and helped to the sidelines. Oglesby was on the spot, ready or not, and Kemp wanted to make sure he had his bearings.

"Trust the things that you have learned through spring ball and training camp," Kemp instructed Oglesby. "Trust what coach (Bob) Bostad is always preaching to us. Trust the (pass) protections. Trust the runs, and everything like that. And just go out and play. Live in the moment."

Oglesby appeared to heed the message. Despite losing Carimi's athleticism and experience -- 18 consecutive starts -- the Badgers appeared to get what they needed from Oglesby, who was logging the first significant playing time of his career. "The one thing that did jump out to me," said UW head coach Bret Bielema, "is that I didn't see him give up anything."

That's the universal endorsement for an offensive tackle: when you don't notice him out there. "I definitely thought he (Oglesby) played well," said Kemp, who lined up next to him at left guard. "If there was a play where I could help him or John (Moffitt, the starting center) could help him, as far as how the play is run, we'd do it. But we didn't change anything, whether it was Gabe or Josh."

In the UW media guide, Oglesby's listed height and weight are 6-foot-7, 328 pounds. That might be a little light. "He's a b-i-i-i-i-g guy," said the 6-5, 315-pound Kemp. "He makes me look tiny. It's starting to click for him, it's starting to come. He'll get better with every snap, every practice."

Kemp then cited the time-honored cliche and code of team sports: "Like we always talk about -- next man in. He got his name called (when Carimi was injured) and he knew his responsibilities."

That was the case last season when Kemp was injured at Penn State and Moffitt replaced him. Kemp, who had started 20 straight, missed three games before returning to the lineup at right guard. The Badgers didn't want to break up the chemistry between Carimi and Moffitt on the left side, so they moved Kemp next to Kraig Urbik, who shifted to tackle to replace the injured Eric Vanden Heuvel.

Next men in.

Kemp recalled injuring his hand on the fifth or sixth play against the Nittany Lions. He got it caught in the jersey of a defensive lineman during a pass rush. At halftime, he had an X-ray that confirmed that his hand was broken. But he never left the game. "I can't leave my offensive line in the middle of the battle," Kemp said. "If I'm still able to play, I have to play. I had to finish even though there was pain, and I didn't play my best game."

Join the crowd. Penn State crushed Wisconsin, 38-7, last season in State College, Pa. "Things just weren't clicking," Kemp conceded of the rout. "I don't know if it had to do with preparation that week (coming off a disappointing loss at Illinois). There were a lot of questions that we couldn't answer. And we had a real sick taste in our mouth afterward."