The 2014 Wisconsin football team won its first bowl game since 2009 this year, but their success in the Outback Bowl — and throughout the season — was largely thanks to Heisman finalist Melvin Gordon at running back.
Once again this season, the Badgers struggled at the quarterback position, with Tanner McEvoy failing to show any proficiency at the start of the season, putting Joel Stave back in the starting role the rest of the way. Stave did lead the Badgers to the Big Ten championship game, but he threw three interceptions in that game and three more at the Outback Bowl against Auburn.
Now, the Badgers enter the 2015 season with multiple options at quarterback, including Stave, who’ll be a redshirt senior.
Bart Houston, a current redshirt sophomore who was recruited to UW by new head coach Paul Chryst, could push to get first team reps away from Stave. But there’s plenty of youth at the position, as well, with redshirt freshman D.J. Gillins waiting to get his shot, as well as early-enrollee Austin Kafentzis. Both of them could challenge Stave for the starting job when the team takes on Alabama to open next season.
The case for Joel Stave
When the Wisconsin football team begins the 2015 season by taking on arguably the most storied team in college football, Alabama, there’s no doubt that the quarterback leading the offense should be Joel Stave.
Yes, you can’t deny that Stave struggled at times this past season and throughout his whole career at Wisconsin, with the memories of the Big Ten championship game and the three interceptions he threw against Auburn still fresh in our minds.
But if you can (I realize that it’s hard to) eliminate Stave’s performances against Auburn, Ohio State and Northwestern to open Big Ten play, Stave managed the offense successfully. He threw seven touchdowns and just one interception in those other seven games — games that Wisconsin won. If Stave was truly the horrendous quarterback that some people make him out to be, there would be no way UW would have ended up in the Big Ten championship game or earn their first bowl win in four seasons against Auburn in the Outback Bowl despite the greatness of Melvin Gordon.
Stave is also going to work with Paul Chryst, who some have dubbed a “quarterback guru.” Chryst worked with current Green Bay Packer Scott Tolzien in 2010 and helped him become one of the most efficient quarterbacks in Wisconsin history. And do I even need to mention the 2011 season with Russell Wilson at quarterback? Any Wisconsin fan remembers that season as perhaps the best season by a quarterback in Wisconsin history. Certainly Chryst will find a way for Stave to manage the offense in 2015.
But perhaps most important, when a team like Wisconsin — or any team for that matter — goes up against an absolute powerhouse like Alabama on a national stage in a stadium that seats more than 90,000 people, you’re going to want an experienced quarterback under center and Stave is that guy.
Like it or not, Stave has started 27 games at quarterback for the Badgers in his career at UW. The game reps and experience is something no other quarterback for Wisconsin can even come close to. Tanner McEvoy is second behind Stave in starts with five but his days as a quarterback appear to be over — and let’s be honest, that’s probably for the best.
Outside of Stave and McEvoy, no Badgers quarterback has started a game, with Bart Houston being the only one to actually see the field during a game. Houston could get a shot to surpass Stave with Chryst — who recruited Houston to Wisconsin out of high school — now at the helm, but it would be a challenge for the former four-star recruit to be successful in his first career start if it came against the Crimson Tide.
Certainly Gillins and Kafentzis have potential and should theoretically challenge Stave for the starting job in spring practice this March and April, but it’s not their time yet. Much like Houston, would either of these two quarterbacks give Wisconsin a better chance to dethrone Alabama than Stave would, considering it would be their first collegiate game? Probably not.
There’s no doubt that Wisconsin will be huge underdogs against Alabama and maybe not even the glory days of Wilson at quarterback could take down the Crimson Tide. But hands down, the best option at quarterback for Wisconsin against Alabama, and for the rest of the 2015 season, is the veteran Stave.
– Eric Kohlbeck
The case for D.J. Gillins
When I was little, I had this favorite toy truck. And I really liked that toy truck, but it kept breaking, and instead of asking for a new one, I asked my dad to keep fixing it over and over again.
Joel Stave is a trooper. All Wisconsin fans should respect what he has done for this program and be proud of the way he’s battled injuries and the yips and the constant criticism. But he’s a broken toy at this point.
It’s time to get serious about the quarterback position in Madison. No more decision-making based off loyalty and seniority. That won’t win you Big Ten Championships anymore. It might get you to Indianapolis every year, only to get shellacked by the likes of Ohio State, Michigan State and soon-to-be rising powerhouses like Michigan.
The quarterback position in college football has evolved. You have to be mobile and throw on the run. You have to scramble for first downs and make plays with your feet to keep defenses honest. Newsflash, but Melvin Gordon won’t be back, and neither will more than half of his bruising offensive line. The receiving corps is still a long way from being elite. The Badgers need a play maker under center, and as well as Joel Stave can throw the play action deep ball, he simply cannot be that play maker. He’s had more than enough opportunities to show us this. His time is up, and if the Badgers want to be taken seriously on the national stage as they ought to be, it’s somebody else’s (not named Tanner McEvoy) turn.
The quarterback position at Wisconsin is broken. So instead of trying to fix something that is now beyond repair, let’s replace it.
D.J. Gillins is the answer. Wisconsin’s date with Alabama may be more than eight months away, but by then the redshirt freshman will have nearly two years experience in Wisconsin’s offense. And unless new head coach Paul Chryst wants to send out a one-dimensional team to be held at the mercy of the Crimson Tide, he will start the dual-threat Gillins. Trial by fire? Absolutely. But if not now, when?
Everyone likes to talk about Chryst and his relationship to Stave and whether or not that gives him an upper hand in the camp competition, but look at the quarterbacks he developed during his tenure as the Wisconsin offensive coordinator, guys like Scott Tolzien and Russell Wilson. Both can move around with the ball, throw on the run and even run for yards. All things Gillins can do. Chryst should invest long-term with Gillins, something that will make Badgers fans happy for years to come.
Although Gillins grabbed a redshirt and was the fourth quarterback on the depth chart this season, does that mean he’s unqualified and isn’t capable of the starting job? I beg to differ. Last time I checked, some guy from Columbus, Ohio started the season third on his depth chart. He went on to lead his team to a National Title.
According to 247sports, Gillins was the fourth-ranked dual-threat quarterback in his recruiting class. The Jacksonville, Florida, native and four-star recruit rushed for 600 yards and eight touchdowns his senior season, while throwing for 76 touchdowns and 7,271 yards in just a three-year high school career (he missed his junior season due to a torn ACL).
Going with Gillins isn’t an easy decision. Trotting a quarterback with no experience out against Nick Saban’s defense probably won’t end well at all, but how much better will Joel Stave fare?
College football has changed, and it’s time for UW to keep up with the times. Wisconsin fans should hope that come August, Papa Chryst picks that new, shiny toy named D.J. Gillins off the shelf for week one.
– Chris Bumbaca
