Jonathan Casillas

From NCAA College Football Information & Resource

Jonathan Casillas

Profile
College	University of Wisconsin-Madison
Position	LB
Jersey No.	2
Class	Senior
Career	2005 – present
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	226 lbs (102.5 kg)
Nationality	American
B-date	June 3, 1987
B-place
High School	New Brunswick High School
Career Highlights
Awards
2007 All-Big Ten consensus honorable mention 2007 Bednarik Award watch list 2007 CFN Honorable Mention All-Bowl Team 2007 Lombardi Award watch list 2007 Lott Trophy watch list
Championships
none
Bowl Games
2008 Outback Bowl 2007 Capital One Bowl 2006 Capital One Bowl

Jonathan Casillas (born June 3, 1987) is a linebacker for the University of Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA college football tournament. As early as his true freshman year, Casillas has already made his presence felt on the Wisconsin defensive team. Since that memorable game-changing effort in the win over Minnesota, Casillas has given the Badgers a reliable go-to-guy on defense who has the ability to produce impact plays on a consistent basis. His remarkable play as a linebacker has also led the media to place him into several preseason watch lists for the nation's most prestigious defensive awards, most notably the Lott Trophy which is annually given to college football's defensive IMPACT player.

1 Personal Life
2 High School
3 College
- 3.1 2005
- 3.2 2006
- 3.3 2007
- 3.4 2008
4 Career Stats
5 Achievements
- 5.1 2008
- 5.2 2007
- 5.3 2006
- 5.4 2005
6 References

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Personal Life

Jonathan is the son of Flash Gordon and Luz Casillas. He majored in agricultural business management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While studying in New Brunswick High School---a school which was once economically disadvantaged and had low graduation rates---Jon got involved in an educational program targeted at high school football players called “Play It Smart.” Working under an academic coach, Jon was able to earn a GPA of 3.1 as well as an 1100 on his SATs which turned out as the highest score on the football team. Under that program, he also took part in every community service activity possible, ranging from reading to kindergartners to volunteering at a Special Olympics bowling event.

Casillas changed his jersey number from No. 46 as a rookie to No. 2 as a sophomore.

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High School

Casillas was a versatile athlete in high school, suiting up for New Brunswick's football, basketball and track teams and eventually earning 10 letters combined. As a senior, he ran a 10.4 100-meter dash in a high school track meet. He took his versatility on the gridiron, playing both offense and defense for coach Jon Quinn's Zebras who in 2003, were the Central Jersey Group II Champions after going undefeated in 12 games. As a senior, Casillas was named as the Zebras' team captain and recorded 90 tackles, including 20 TFLs and 16 QB sacks on defense in addition to 20 receptions for 410 yards and eight touchdowns on offense to earn New Brunswick's MVP award. Casillas also received first-team all-state and all-county recognitions and was the county’s defensive player of the year in 2004.

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College

One of the top 35 players in New Jersey according to SuperPrep, Casillas received scholarship offers from Wisconsin, Connecticut, Illinois, and Kentucky. But the two-star rated recruit admitted that choosing UW was an easy decision, citing the Badger coaches, the fans, and the family atmosphere as the deciding factor.

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2005

Entering his true freshman year, Casillas was listed as a strong safety under coach Ron Lee's secondary. Unfortunately, three days after arriving in campus in July, while running with roomates Travis Beckum and P.J. Hill Casillas slipped off the stairs and suffered a small fracture on his foot. He continued to participate with the team in the strength and conditioning program on a limited capacity while sporting a protective boot on his broken right foot.

Consequently, Casillas was not able to suit up in the season-opening win over Bowling Green but was finally given the green light to play the following week against Temple where he tallied his first career tackle. He continued to suit up for the Badgers as a reserve linebacker behind starter LaMarr Watkins and on special teams when he had one of his breakout games against the Golden Gophers. At Minnesota, with the Badgers down 31-34 less than one minute remaining in the game, Casillas delivered the Pontiac Game-Changing Play of the Week when he blocked a punt which was recovered in the end zone by Ben Strickland for the go-ahead score. Casillas also returned a punt for 17 yards in that game. Against Purdue, he posted a season high three tackles in the 31-20 win before coming up with another huge play at Illinois. Against the Illini, Casillas returned a punt for 21 yards then came up with another punt block early in the third quarter which help set up a Brian Calhoun six-yard TD run that practically put the game out of Illinois' reach. He closed out the regular season with a tackle in each of Wisconsin's last three games at Penn State, against Iowa, and at Hawai'i, before chipping in two tackles, including half a TFL, in the Capital One Bowl win over No. 7 Auburn. In 12 appearances, Casillas managed to tally a total of ten stops.

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2006

In his first career start, Casillas blocked a punt for the third time in his career and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown in the second quarter in the 35-14 win over Bowling Green. He finished that game with a career high 12 tackles, including 2.5 for losses while returning a punt for 12 yards to earn a share of the team's and the league's Special Teams Player of the Week. After a five tackle game against Western Illinois, Casillas chipped in six stops and forced a fumble in the 14-0 shut-out of San Diego State, then had a career best 8 solo stops, including a sack for a 7-yard loss in the 13-27 defeat at the hands of sixth-ranked Michigan. After being limited to only two stops at Indiana, Casillas bounced back with three consecutive 8-tackle efforts in wins over Northwestern, Minnesota (team leader in stops), and Purdue (team leader in stops), in addition to a pass deflection and his first career interception against the Boilermakers. He also had five stops in the win over Illinois, then came up with 6 tackles, with 2.5 TFLs for a 13-yard loss, a QB sack for an 8-yard loss, and a quarterback hurry in the 13-3 victory over Penn State. He then chipped in five tackles at Iowa then made six stops and a fumble recovery in the regular season ending win over Buffalo.

Against No. 12 Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl, Casillas contributed four tackles and two pass breakups to help the Badgers claim a three-point win over the Hogs. He finished the season with 83 tackles and a team-high 12.5 TFLs for 38 yards in 13 starting outings, to average 6.4 tackles per game (tied for 21st in the Big Ten) and earn a consensus honorable mention All-Big Ten selection.

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2007

Recognizing his effort the previous year, Casillas garnered nominations to the preaseason watch lists for the Lott Trophy (defensive IMPACT player), Bednarik Award and Lombardi Award. He was also named as one of five team captains elected prior to start of season.

After posting only five tackles in his season debut against Washington State, Casillas chipped in a team high 10 tackles including half a tackle for loss in the 20-13 win at UNLV. He was held to a season low three tackles in the 14-point victory against The Citadel, but contributed a team high-tying 7 tackles with 1 QB hurry against Iowa. Against No. 23 Michigan State, Casillas produced eight stops and broke a pass to help the Badgers escape with a 37-34 win, earning for himself the team's defensive player of the week honors. In back-to-back losses at Illinois and at Penn State, Casillas paced the team and produced identical 10-total and 7-unassisted tackle performaces. The Badgers snapped their two-game skid with a lopsided win over Northern Illinois, with Casillas chipping in a team high-tying five tackles including half for a loss. UW followed it up with a 30-point blow-out against Indiana, as Casillas came up with a season high 11 stops, which include two for a 7-yard loss, to go with a forced fumble and a QB hurry. The upstart Badgers were turned back by top-ranked OSU with Casillas limited to a season low 3 tackles in the 17-38 defeat. He made up for it by helping UW pull off an upset win over 13th-ranked Michigan, registering a team high-tying seven tackles, including a one-yard sack and a QB hurry in the 37-21 victory. He closed out the regular season with a 7-tackle showing at Minnesota and capped his junior campaign with a consensus honorable mention All-Big Ten selection for the second straight year.

In his third straight postseason appearance, Casillas made 10 tackles, including a career-high nine solo stops and a season best four TFLs while forcing one fumble in the 4-point Outback Bowl loss to 16th ranked Tennessee. He ended the regular season with a team-leading 96 tackles (57 solos), with 9 TFLs, a sack, 3 QB hurries, and a pair of forced fumbles.

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2008

During the preseason, Casillas was included into the Lott Trophy Watch List and into several all-conference selections, including a first team appearance at Phil Steele's preseason picks. In the fall camp, he sustained a sprain on the medial collateral ligament in his left knee, which forced him to miss the first two games of the season. Also, a week prior to the season-opener, Casillas was cited for drunken driving but was penalized by the team internally which allowed him to play in the third game of the season against Fresno State. Against the Bulldogs, he chipped in 7 tackles including a touchdown-saving stop in the third quarter to prevent FSU from tying the game.

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Career Stats

	Tackles				Tackles for Loss			Sacks			Interceptions				Misc
Year	Solo	Asst	Tot	Tot/G	TFL	Yds	TFL/G	Sack	Yds	Sck/G	Int	Yds	TD	Int./G	PBU	QBH	FF	K/P B
2005	3	7	10	0.83	0.5	1	0.04	0.0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	2
2006	53	30	83	6.38	12.5	38	0.96	2.0	15	0.15	1	4	0	0.08	4	1	1	1
2007	57	39	96	7.38	9.0	26	0.69	1.0	1	0.08	0	0	0	0.0	1	3	2	0