The bitter end sure was sweet for John Stocco, no matter what the record books say.
True, the senior quarterback had to watch from the sidelines in his final game at Camp Randall Stadium, where he has sealed his place as one of the greatest Badger quarterbacks of all time. And by missing both Saturday's game against Buffalo and the Nov. 11 meeting at Iowa with a shoulder injury, Stocco's stretch of 35 consecutive starts came to an end near the culmination of his Wisconsin career.
But Stocco lost more than his games-started streak. Had he had a chance to play out these past two games, Stocco would have had a great opportunity to set some UW records. For example, Stocco's record of 28-7 puts him in second place in all-time wins for Badger quarterbacks, just behind Brooks Bollinger's 30.
Assuming the Badgers would have gotten things done as they have the past two weekends, only with Stocco in there, No. 7 would have gotten No. 30 and tied the record.
The upcoming bowl game — the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, most likely — would have offered Stocco the opportunity at setting the wins record — arguably the most meaningful of all statistics for quarterbacks.
And there's more. Stocco is sitting on 7,021 passing yards for his career, second place to Darrell Bevell's 7,686 yards. If he had played out these final three contests, Stocco would have needed 665 yards to hit that mark. A little lofty for a conservative quarterback like Stocco? Since he has averaged 197.9 yards per game this season, Stocco would have had to step his numbers up just a tad to give himself a great chance at setting the record.
Naturally, it came to no surprise that this meant nothing to Stocco. The level-headed signal caller, who has thrived as a quarterback, winning 80 percent of his games under the most intense scrutiny of any UW athlete over the past three years, doesn't let the little things bother him. It was slightly unexpected to see Stocco admit he might regret the missed opportunities later on down the road.
"I think, maybe, if I had played the last couple of games, and then got the [wins] record … I think, down the road, I would have looked back on it and said that was pretty cool," Stocco said after Saturday's win. "But right now, it's not something that I'm worried about at all."
Easy for him to say. Wins or yardage records aside, it's still pretty good to be John Stocco. Right now, Stocco remains the steady leader of an offense that found its touch as the season went along. A strangling defense was the straw that stirred UW's drink, but the offense provided a nice complement throughout the year. And before the injury, Stocco quarterbacked Wisconsin to its third consecutive nine-win season; the Badgers are one of five teams to achieve that feat in the past three years (along with Auburn, Boise State, USC and Texas).
Finishing off an 11-1 season, some say Wisconsin should have gotten a better look for a BCS bowl bid. The Badgers appear to be headed back to the Capital One Bowl, where they would have a chance to make an even bigger statement against one of the SEC's best.
Stocco didn't say one way or the other whether he'd be ready to go for the Jan. 1 game, but did say he'd "be in there as much as [he] can." Should the senior be unavailable, backup Tyler Donovan has Stocco's vote of confidence, largely due to Donovan's standout performances against Iowa and Buffalo.
"Last week, against Iowa, that's unbelievable what he did for his first career start, to go down there to Iowa, and he couldn't have played any better than he did. I'm so happy for him," Stocco said. "This game, he just played awesome. Nobody deserved it more than him. He just does an outstanding job for us."
Several Badger players laughed off propositions of a quarterback controversy, as it has all but been established that Stocco will be the guy for Wisconsin's bowl game barring a serious setback in his recovery.
"I think Tyler's done a great job out there," left tackle Joe Thomas said. "But Stocco's our leader, and that's the way it's been."
Whether he plays his final game at Wisconsin or watches it, any reservations Stocco has about the finishing touches of his career will most definitely not involve personal records.
"It's not even about that. I think most people who know me know that," Stocco said. "There's no shame coming behind guys like Brooks Bollinger, and [I] just have tremendous respect for those guys, so there's no shame in that."
