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MADISON, Wis. -- Fourteen months ago, T.J. Watt reported to Wisconsins fall camp without any real grasp of how to play the position he was assigned. He was a talented, athletic project who had been moved from tight end to outside linebacker, and the entry-level instruction he received seemed to barrel toward him at warp speed.This is how you stand. This is how you load your weight on the proper foot. This is where your hands go. Heres how to maintain pad level and gain leverage on a lineman.We started at ground zero, Badgers outside linebackers coach Tim Tibesar recalled. At that time, even though he was in his third fall at Wisconsin, it was kind of like having a freshman come in. Youre trying to teach him for the first time how to play outside backer in our system.Those who witnessed Watts performance last Saturday against Michigan State might find it difficult to believe he hasnt spent a lifetime mastering the skills required of an outside linebacker. During Wisconsins 30-6 romp of Michigan State, Watt recorded a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He finished with six tackles, two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup. For his efforts, he was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation National Defensive Player of the Week, becoming the first Badgers player to earn the honor since 2004. He also claimed Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors.Watt could again be a major factor when No. 8 Wisconsin visits No. 4 Michigan on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). Through four games this season, he leads the Big Ten with 4.5 sacks and ranks tied for seventh nationally in that category.Given where Watt started, thats pretty amazing, right?I think itd be amazing if it was anyone but T.J., Badgers linebacker Jack Cichy said. You see it with his brothers. He comes from a football family, and hes a football player. At first, there was a learning curve, but hes blown that out of the water. Hes matured drastically from the time he first came on the defensive side of the ball. And hes just really exponentially getting better every week.The Watt name is one that carries significant weight in the football world, as many likely already know. T.J., a 6-foot-5, 244-pound redshirt junior, is the youngest of three brothers, and the other two excelled at Wisconsin before becoming NFL draft picks. Defensive end J.J. Watt was a first-round draft pick of the Houston Texans in 2011 and has earned three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards. Fullback Derek Watt was a sixth-round draft choice of the San Diego Chargers this spring.Of course, none of their successes guaranteed anything for T.J., who has had to earn his own keep. He did not play in each of his first two seasons at Wisconsin after suffering debilitating knee injuries. By the time Badgers coach Paul Chryst approached Watt during a team meeting about a position switch in July 2015, he hadnt been on a football field in three falls and was desperate to play.Initially, Watt wasnt sure whether to take the defensive plunge. But J.J. partly inspired T.J.s decision-making. He encouraged T.J. by telling him he possessed the skill set to be a linebacker. That night, T.J. pulled up YouTube videos of some of the NFLs best pass-rushers, including plays from his brother, Von Miller and Lawrence Taylor. The next day, he told Chryst he was ready.I just fell in love with the mentality, T.J. Watt said.The biggest selling point, Watt noted, was the potential to make an impact on every defensive snap. As a tight end, he was forced to wait for a play call directed toward his side, and even then, there wasnt any assurance the ball would be thrown at him. At outside linebacker, Watts stamina and natural instincts allow him to tackle ball carriers anywhere on the field.Hes an unbelievable worker, and hes smart, Chryst said. I think he loves the game.How do you put a timetable on that development? I appreciate it, and its been fun to see him grow and develop. I still think he could be an unbelievably good tight end, too.Last year, Wisconsins coaching staff opted to give Watt a small early-season role as a third-down pass-rusher. By the end of the season, however, he had progressed so much that he was routinely in the game on first- and second-down plays. Coaches believed in him enough that they named Watt a starting outside linebacker to open spring ball, replacing Big Ten Linebacker of the Year Joe Schobert, who is now with the Cleveland Browns.That decision allowed Wisconsin to move Cichy to inside linebacker and strengthen the entire group. Watt and senior Vince Biegel quickly formed a frightening pass-rushing duo on a unit that ranks 12th nationally in total defense. Biegel, however, underwent surgery Thursday night to have a screw inserted into a cracked foot, will miss the Michigan game and could be out two to four weeks, his father told ESPN.com. The injury likely will make Watts presence even more valuable on Saturday.Hes a big, physical guy and hes a hard-working guy, Biegel said earlier in the week of Watt. Offseason, you guys dont see it, but in the weight room, in spring practices, in the grind season, hes right at the top. Thats what you want. Thats why you come to Wisconsin. You want to be able to work out and be teammates with guys like that.Watt said one of his biggest challenges remained understanding how quickly decisions must be made while pass rushing. He is still learning many of the same concepts taught to him 14 months ago, including slowing his mind down and focusing on pad level and leverage. Occasionally, he will send his oldest brother videos of a pass rush and wait for critiques from J.J. on hand placement and footwork.?Sometimes, hes his own toughest critic. He watched film of his performance against Michigan State and noticed several plays he didnt make.Its definitely encouraging to know that there were a lot of plays left out there, Watt said. But at the same time, its also a little bit like, Dang it, I couldve had a couple more tackles. I think defensively as a whole, were still improving, were still scratching the surface and the skys the limit.The same can certainly be said of Watt. Darren Daulton Jersey . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. 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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rougned Odor and the Texas Rangers are running away with the AL West, even though the Houston Astros keep trying to hang around.The fiery second baseman homered for the third straight game in a seven-run fourth inning, Carlos Gomez had two hits in his first game against his former team and the Rangers held on for a 10-8 victory over the Astros on Friday night.The Rangers nearly squandered a seven-run lead but won their sixth straight to push their AL West advantage to 9 1/2 games over the second-place Astros.Houston lost the first of 13 straight games against division leaders to start September, six of those against Texas. The Rangers are 12-2 against their in-state rivals this season and have won 20 of the past 24 meetings.Weve still got another month, man, shortstop Elvis Andrus said. As bad as its going to sound, you dont want to smell it yet. You want to keep pushing and keep creating space.Odors team-leading 28th home run was one of three in the fourth inning against Doug Fister (12-10), who came out after Jonathan Lucroy followed Odors shot to right with a line drive just over the 14-foot wall in left for a 9-2 lead.The 22-year-old has four homers in three games -- the first three in the last two games of a sweep of Seattle that essentially ended the Mariners hopes in the division race.Alex Bregman had a solo homer and a two-run triple but popped out to end the eighth with two runners on after the Astros had pulled within two.It was definitely a tale of a couple different games, Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. Our guys arent going to fold up and call it a game. But just not enough.Gomez, dumped by the Astros early last month barely a year after they acquired the underperforming two-time All-Star, reached in his first three plate appearances on a double, single and walk and scored three runs.A.J. Griffin (7-3) improveed to 5-0 in his career against Houston, allowing three hits and three runs in 5 2/3 innings.ddddddddddddam Dyson pitched a perfect ninth for his 31st save after five other relievers combined to allow five runs -- four earned -- on four hits with three walks.Thats a young group over there (and) theyre going to continue to fight, Texas manager Jeff Banister said of the Astros. Was it pretty? No, but we got the job done.Carlos Beltran homered in the fourth, his 26th overall and fourth since coming to the Rangers from the New York Yankees at the Aug. 1 trade deadline. He had three RBI.Fister allowed season highs in hits (10), runs (eight) and earned runs (seven).WHERES THE BALL?The Rangers pulled even at 2 in the second by scoring two runs on a bouncer to third by Andrus. First baseman A.J. Reed caught Bregmans high throw as Lucroy scored but didnt realize the ball was knocked out of his glove on the tag as Andrus ran by him, allowing Gomez to score.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: 1B Marwin Gonzalez was day to day after leaving the previous game with discomfort in his right hamstring. A similar problem sidelined him for several games a month ago.Rangers: RHP Colby Lewis (right lat strain) will make the trip to Seattle and pitch Monday for Class A Spokane at Everett, near Seattle. He could return to the rotation after what will be his third rehab outing.UP NEXTAstros: Rookie RHP Joe Musgrove (2-2, 4.36 ERA) allowed one run in seven innings against Texas in his first big league start Aug. 7, five days after his debut in relief. Hes been in the rotation since then.Rangers: LHP Derek Holland (6-6, 4.68) is 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA in two starts since returning from a stint on the 60-day disabled list because of left shoulder inflammation. ' ' '