Forgive us if we thought we just may have a slight bit of competition at quarterback this week? Those notions were quickly tossed out as Badgers head coach Bret Bielema addressed the media at his weekly press conference earlier today.
"It's not really a competition," said Bielema. "I think we have a plan that we'll move forward with as coaches."
What is that plan? Ha, good luck getting that nugget of information out of coach Bielema today. If you thought you'd get that I've got some awesome ocean front property in Tennessee that you're really going to love!
The depth chart wasn't much help either as they listed Danny O'Brien and Joel Stave as co-starters for this week.
But seriously, what did you expect he'd do? This is college football – where gamesmanship is commonplace and in this case the completely smart move to make for all parties involved.
Now, that's not to say those involved in the decision don't already know the answer we've all been looking forward to hearing. Oh, and don't expect us to get the answer from those involved either as they won't be around for those of us in the media to talk to.
"They (the quarterbacks) already know what's going on," said Bielema when asked who was starting. "You won't talk to them, but they know."
All of these moves, while not fun for us in the press, are the exact right moves for this football team and for game planning against UTEP.
Stave and O'Brien aren't the same kind of quarterback. They bring different things to the field despite running the same system and that means having to stretch out how you game plan if you are the Miners. Whether they take 10 minutes or a whole day going over what's different, it's still time spent away from game planning how to stop a running game that got a bit of momentum and confidence last weekend and that's a good thing for the Badgers.
Stave isn't the same quarterback and according to Bielema he's got the strongest arm on the team. Besides that, what's separating him from Danny O'Brien?
"He's got great composure," Bielema stated. "That one thing you can count on with Joel is what you call and what you expect a play to see and the reactions you would have to get from a quarterback, whether it's pre-snap reads or reads within the play."
Bielema mentioned that Stave is very well educated and that the one half of football we got to see was not exactly what Stave can do – and that's not his fault.
"In the second half, we were in a tight ballgame," said Bielema. "Even the way the offense took the field the first time was different than we envisioned it. It was a short punt… Then we played behind the chains with a penalty. That's obviously a tough spot to put a guy in.
"It wasn't a realistic picture of maybe what Joel's strength's are."
Don't expect this coaching staff to sit around and wait, that's what we've come to learn over the past few weeks and it's something that Bielema confirmed when talking about the decisions both last Saturday and for this week.
"I think the decision to go with Joel in the second half took about five seconds when I was finally around my coaches face to face on Saturday," said Bielema.
As for this week? "It's (the QB decision) not something we're wasting time on."
O.k, I think we all get the point there, right? He's making a decision, checking it twice, and not second guessing himself in 2012.
So, while we may be in the dark, and I'm guessing it stays that way until game time, we do know that it'll be the player most capable of leading this team and doing so mistake free.
"Ball security is at a premium," said Bielema. "We can do some things at practice. We'll simulate pass rush around guys, trying to knock the ball out as well as continuing to emphasize that it's on thing to have an incomplete pass. To have a turnover, that's a different deal.
"I'd much rather the ball on the ground or out of bounds rather than in a defenders hands. I understand interceptions happen. A tipped ball, a good pass defensive linemen break up, that's a different deal. A throw late, across the field and some things like that. We can't win with that."
Whomever starts on Saturday against UTEP will have perhaps the most scrutiny on them in easily the last five years, so if you asked for my early prediction at this point – they will give the ball to Stave, but it's just an educated guess and I could well be wrong.
For more information and reasons behind this guess you'll have to tune in tomorrow night at 8:30pm Central for Badgers Power Hour and like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter as well.
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