If you see Gabe Carimi drive-blocking an Akron defensive end right out of Camp Randall Stadium and down Monroe Street in two weeks, you'll know there is a new attitude along the University of Wisconsin's offensive line this season.

Or is it an old attitude?

Whichever it is, it'll be a sign first-year offensive line coach Bob Bostad has had an impact on the Badgers' running game.

"Coach Bostad wants you just to be mentally tougher and know that you're going to pound the guy in front of you," said Carimi, a sophomore left tackle. "He goes like, 'This is a physical game. If you're 50 yards outside of the stadium, you're in prison.' That's how hard he wants us to hit people. He just really wants us to get after things."

That's what coach Bret Bielema and offensive coordinator Paul Chryst are counting on. Indeed, UW is going old-school on offense this season.

The rest of the college football world may be adopting some form of the spread, but the Badgers are heading in the opposite direction. In some ways, UW is going back to the Barry Alvarez offense of the 1990s.

Don't cringe upon reading that last statement. UW will never be conservative and one-dimensional on offense as long as Chryst is calling the shots. But since the end of last season, the coaches have placed a heavy emphasis on returning to the physical, power running game that made UW famous.

"I think we're trying to get back to that win-on-the-ground type of team," sophomore center John Moffitt said. "Coach Bo is a tough, grind-it-out coach. I think we've had success in the past at being that kind of a team ... and that's what we're stressing in practice."

It's hard to argue with that logic. Chryst, as he has done since he arrived at UW, is merely playing to his players' strengths.

"It's interesting when people talk about us being the dinosaur of the league — which is fine — and yet we're really about a 50-50 team," he said. "I think the biggest thing is we need to be able to run the football because it should fall into the strengths of who we are. We're as experienced as a team will ever be in the offensive line and at tight end and fullback and we've got three good running backs. ... Now, I think the challenge that we've talked about to our guys is, 'You need to run the ball well against the good defenses.' That's been something that, in my opinion, we haven't done real well."

To be sure, UW's running game hasn't disappeared. In fact, UW rushed for 200.8 yards per game last season, the first time since 1999 it cracked the 200 barrier.

It was clear, however, the running game wasn't as physically dominant as it once was, especially against top teams. In 2006, UW rushed for 12 yards in its only loss (at Michigan) and minus-5 in its bowl victory over Arkansas. Last year, the Badgers averaged 75 yards per game on the ground in Big Ten losses to Illinois, Penn State and Ohio State even though they ran the ball more than 30 times in each game.

That wasn't all the line's fault. An injury to P.J. Hill and the suspension that prevented Lance Smith from playing in road games kept the tailback spot in a state of uncertainty.