Joel Stave’s injury may have been a blessing in disguise. Of course, one never likes to see injuries to anyone, especially a crucial player like Stave is for the Badgers.
However, the reality is that the Badgers will have a starting quarterback not named Stave come next season. Given his longevity and status in the UW passing record book, the next man up was looking at not a whole lot of opportunities when the bullets were live so to speak.
That changed on Saturday, as Stave went out in the second quarter with what the coaching staff was calling a head injury and most noticed as a likely concussion.
All Houston did was lead two critical touchdown drives en route to UW’s 24-13 win over the Fighting Illini, while completing 66.6 percent of his passes for 232 yards and two interceptions to go with the two TD’s.
He hit some great passes, was largely on target and showed poise for the most part. It was
It’s led some in the Badgers fan base to already call for the benching of Stave and the elevation of Houston.
@MTBadgers This team isn't good enough to go anywhere. Doesn't hurt to get a guy that will be here next year experience
— tony hoffman (@badgerfanot) October 24, 2015
Please let Bart Houston start the rest of the season. #Badgers
— Nick Feldman (@feldyman15) October 24, 2015
https://twitter.com/NateHuiras/status/658049168200613888
Bart Houston is exponentially better than Stave. Hopefully they start Houston the rest of the way.
— Josh (@pitt323) October 24, 2015
No seriously, that is happening.
Might as well open up a spot in the Badgers Hall of Fame and name Houston the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year for next season already. He’s also likely the second coming of Scott Tolzien and Russell wilson all-in-one.
Screw the back-to-back 300-yard performances or the near 30 games of starting experience or the top three rankings in career passing yards, completions, touchdowns thrown…Stave needs to sit.
Of course, Houston may be forced in to action next week with Stave having to go through the concussion protocol this coming week before being allowed to play in the Rutgers game.
If that happens, then we’ve got a real chance to evaluate Houston and his potential to get this team going in the right direction on a long-term basis.
Given what Houston did on the stat sheet it is hard not to get excited about what could be there, but can we all just agree to pump the brakes and realize what this was — a very good first step, and nothing more.
There’s a glimmer of hope for next season at quarterback, but Chryst and the coaching staff don’t live for what will happen in 10 months time. Their job is to put the team on the field that will win against Rutgers and for each week after that in hopes of playing for a Big Ten championship.
It’s tempting to love the new, shiny thing at quarterback, but let’s step back in to reality for a bit. That reality is Stave has earned his starting spot and he’s proven over the course of a long career that he is the best long-term option for the Badgers to have success this season.
Need proof that one game doesn’t a quarterback make? Take a look at what Purdue quarterback David Blough did in his first start of the season.
All he did was throw for 340 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Bowling Green. Purdue found its answer at quarterback, right?
Since then…Blough has faced some real defenses and has thrown exactly two touchdowns to four interceptions while also averaging just 159.6 yards per game over the last three games.
Is Bart Houston a better, worse or the same kind of quarterback as Blough? Tough to answer, but the point is, one good game doesn’t a star make, and sweeping the old guy to the side in favor of the flavor of two quarters of football isn’t a wise decision — especially with that old guy leading UW to a 5-2 record this season before Saturday’s injury.
No doubt it was a great audition for Houston, but there’s a difference between getting excited about potential and seeing it done over the course of a full season of games.
Just ask Ohio State, as they seesaw at quarterback thanks to a lack of long-term production from Cardale Jones, who was the hottest thing since the beginning of time after his three-game hot streak to the national title last season.
Given time to figure out what Jones is about, defenses were clued in to how to stop Jones and that was to make him have to make more than one read inside the pocket.
Houston didn’t seem flustered having to make some reads on Saturday, but again, this was Illinois and its middle of the Big Ten passing defense we’re talking about. What’s coming up in November for the Badgers are far more impressive defenses. Defenses that require veteran knowledge and there are few things Stave hasn’t seen thrown at him in his career.
Point being, it was a good first look, but anointing Houston as the answer for the whole of a season on just two-and-a-half quarters of football is a bit much.
Houston certainly put some great stuff on film, and UW’s coaching staff is going to have a heck of hard time not going with him if this is the consistent performance he can put down in spring and fall camp next year.
Let’s chalk it up in the memory bank for next season, but let’s also not throw away a season that could still end in a division title just because the new guy under center looked good for a few quarters of football that one Saturday in October.
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