[media-credit name=’YANA PASKOVA/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Green means stop and red means go — at least in the world of Wisconsin football.

During spring practices, the offense wears red jerseys and the white-clad defenders are free to detonate their best hits upon the red team, so long as it is a full-contact drill.

That is why the quarterbacks wear green, which is the UW football equivalent to a stop sign. Before every hitting drill, the mantra "don't hit the quarterbacks" is repeated by every able-bodied coach on the field.

"Yeah, that's something you don't want to do," said defensive lineman Kurt Ware on hitting a quarterback during practice. "You'll probably be running a bit or something."

Reporters joke that any player caught hitting star senior quarterback John Stocco will lose their scholarship. That may be closer to fact than fiction.

Stocco looks to be the straw that stirs the drink for the Wisconsin offense this season, being one of only three returning starters on offense, along with linemen Joe Thomas and Kraig Urbik. Last season, Stocco set single-season school records with 2,920 passing yards and 21 touchdowns, and he has started the last 25-straight games, fourth-most among active quarterbacks in the country, behind Houston's Kevin Kolb (36), Notre Dame's Brady Quinn (34) and Florida's Chris Leak (33).

Simply put, he is the face of the UW offense.

"He's started three years, he's won a lot of games, and you look at him, and he just looks like a leader," said UW third-string quarterback Dustin Sherer. "He's one of the best to come through here."

"John has had his ups and downs, but he is undoubtedly one of the best in the country at what he does," said UW head coach Bret Bielema. "He has experience, ability, his decision-making is much improved. I'm pretty glad to have No. 7 on my side."

Quarterback is one of the few settled positions heading into spring practices, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Barring catastrophic injury, Stocco will start, which is a good thing, seeing as backups Tyler Donovan and Sherer have struggled during workouts.

Donovan and Sherer have both had issues taking snaps from under center, as fumbled exchanges between the quarterbacks and center Marcus Coleman have been far too common for Bielema's liking.

"We want to see our [quarterbacks] hold onto the ball a little better," Bielema said. "We've seen a little too many mishandled snaps. The throws can get better, but right now, we just want to see our guys hang onto the ball."

Stocco himself hasn't been a model of consistency, either, as the quarterbacks are trying to build chemistry with the all-new corps of wideouts that UW will feature next season, as Wisconsin's top seven reception leaders from a year ago are now gone.

"A lot of how they are doing is just about knowing exactly where the receivers are going to be and when they are going to be there," Bielema said. "We've made a major emphasis on that, and we will continue to do so."

No returning player caught more than one pass last season, but both the receivers and the quarterbacks are confident the gaps in timing will be filled in time for the upcoming season.

"We're coming along well and making progress," said UW receiver Marcus Randle El. "We'll be straight. We just need time, is all."

"We're coming along, getting better every practice," Stocco said. "It's just going to take time. I've got to get better with my reads, and I'm working on it."

Stocco has not only been working on his reads, as the senior made a decision to take a more active and vocal leadership role this season over an offensive unit that will, as a whole, be just as green as Stocco's jersey this spring.

"I'm taking it upon myself to [be] much more active vocally with the guys," Stocco said. "I'm a senior, and it's time for me to step up in that respect."

"I think all of us as quarterbacks have a responsibility to take control of this team," said Donovan. "We all have to be ready, no matter what. We're all leaders, and [Stocco] has always been one. He's just trying to take it a step further."

While the quarterback competition is at a minimum right now, with Stocco's starting spot all but written in Sharpie, and Sherer not truly showing enough to warrant supplanting Donovan, the battle could become tooth and nail this fall. That would be when Wisconsin's two freshman signal-callers, traditional drop-back passer Scott Tolzien (Rolling Meadows, Ill.) and fleet-footed scrambler Maurice Moore (Fort Worth, Texas) will begin playing. It seems unlikely UW would keep five quarterbacks on scholarship, but it could be in the realm of possibility, as Stocco does graduate next year. Regardless, expect the competition to heat up behind Stocco when the team begins drills next semester. Until then, Stocco and Co. will be wearing green and staying clean, if only for the sake of the unfortunate lineman who would soon be regretting life should he break the code of "green means stop."