Wisconsin trotted Joel Stave out for the first time this season during the second quarter against Northwestern, and immediately the questions about who starts, who plays when and if there’s a controversy began.
Stave going 8-of-19 for 114 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions didn’t really clear up matters all that much, considering he was brought in to prop up the passing game.
However, head coach Gary Andersen appears ready to go to a full two-quarterback system and give both quarterbacks an opportunity to prove themselves on the field.
The ultimate goal still appears to find one quarterback that works and stick with them for the long-term.
GA on QBs: "If one takes it away and runs with it, he will become starting QB. The other guy will become two. Right now, it's 1A and 1B."
— Jesse Temple (@jessetemple) October 7, 2014
As the saying goes, if you have two quarterbacks you really have no quarterback at all. So, the Badgers head coach appears ready to put it on the field and let someone finally take over the job.
“I’m a firm believer right now that our offense with where we are as an offense as a whole — not as the quarterback position — we’re best served to be able to play both those quarterbacks and help our offense move down the field,” Andersen said during Monday’s press conference.
Given those statements, it would appear that Andersen is looking to find a spark and an identity for this offense. Playing two quarterbacks in the same game can give a coach a true read on what each is capable of doing in leading an offense.
Except, it may not be the players themselves that have the biggest influence on who wins the starting job for the rest of the season. The biggest influence is likely to come from offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig and how he calls the game.
That factor was on full display on Saturday, as the decision to go with the roll out of Stave on a 1st and Goal from the three-yard line instead of pounding the ball with the guy who brought you that far (Melvin Gordon) cost Wisconsin dearly.
Yes, Stave made a bad choice in throwing a football he had no business throwing, but if it weren’t for Ludwig making that play call there’s no decision for Stave to make in the first place.
There have been other times this season when Ludwig has gone pass-happy with a run-first quarterback like Tanner McEvoy. Saturday was a a great example of that, with Ludwig calling for McEvoy to throw the ball three times in a row on what would be his final series of the day.
It should be clear to everyone that McEvoy’s strength in the pass game comes from the confidence he gains in running the football first. On Saturday, McEvoy ran the ball just one time for eight yards. He also managed to go just 4-of-10 for 24 yards and one interception.
How do expect a quarterback to be successful if you aren’t playing to his strengths? All Badger fans need to do is turn to former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst for an example of a coach molding an offensive philosophy around the players’ strengths.
No, McEvoy is not Russell Wilson, but before Wilson came to UW, when was the last time the Badgers had a quarterback who could and would be a true threat to run the football?
That’s the point here, it seems that Ludwig has an offense he wants to run and is unwilling to fit that scheme to the strength of his best players.
What remains to be seen is how offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig gameplans for two quarterbacks who do things very differently.
The balancing act is a tight one, simply because teams are likely to key on the strength of either quarterback. Ludwig simply can’t counter with the exact opposite of what teams expect, but must come up with a creative enough gameplan to keep opponents guessing.
However, there is always a third option should the quarterback situation not resolve itself — simply pound the football on the ground and play to the ultimate strength of this team.
I mean, look at Minnesota and the success they have had with that simplistic of a gameplan (and yes I just used Minnesota as an example of success). Everyone knows they want to run the football, but few have stopped it.
Perhaps its time for Wisconsin to realize it’s a power running team first and slowly build off of that as the season progresses. For me, that means keeping McEvoy behind center and giving the team three options in the run game at all times.
Let’s just hope that in search of a true No. 1 quarterback, Ludwig and the rest of the offensive staff doesn’t break what didn’t need fixing in the first place.
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