Don't Give up on the Badgers

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It hasn’t been the start to the season that most Badger fans were hoping to see. After three lackluster performances, including a 7-10 loss in a road game vs. the Oregon State Beavers, the Badgers still have a chance to turn their season around. Wisconsin will welcome the UTEP Miners into Camp Randall tomorrow in their final test before conference play begins.

The good news is; If Wisconsin still wants to play in the Rose Bowl, it’s well within their reach. With Penn State and Ohio State ineligible to win the Leaders division, odds are the Badgers have a strong shot at making it to Indianapolis for the BIG Championship game. Someone has to make it there right? And if they do, they’d only be 60 minutes away from a third consecutive Rose Bowl appearance. So how do the Badgers turn it around? Brett Bielema hopes a quarterback change is the answer.

Earlier this week, Bielema named redshirt freshman Joel Stave the team’s starting quarterback. Stave, or Sunshine as his teammates call him, will get his first start after Danny O’Brien, the transfer from Maryland, failed to produce. 

'Sunshine' as depicted in the movie

Joel Stave

Where did the nickname Sunshine come from? Stave bears a striking resemblance to Sunshine from the Movie ‘Remember The Titans.’ Now, I don’t know If Stave will be able to lead the Badgers to the Rose Bowl like Sunshine led the titans to the state championship game, but if he is going to have a chance of doing that; the blocking up front has to improve.

The o-line play so far has been abysmal to say the least. A multitude of missed assignments and failures to pick up blitzes have been the cause of most of the misfortunes, and that’s also why I believe the o-line can turn it around. Lack of communication is something that can be fixed unlike a lack of talent. I feel pretty confident in saying that a lack of talent is not the problem here.

It’s not just the o-line either, the fullbacks, tight ends, and wide receivers have all struggled in the blocking game. Could this be attributed to inexperience? FB Derek Watt and WR Jordan Frederick are first time starters (WR Kenzel Doe is also new to the playing field), but I feel like they’ve already improved throughout the course of the first three games. Bielema has called Watt, the younger brother of Texans DE and former Badger, JJ Watt, a “natural” at the fullback position and I wouldn’t be shocked to see some progress in the coming weeks.

Improvement is possible, and so is a Rose Bowl birth, though it may seem unlikely. The sky is not falling in Madison, and there’s plenty of season left. It’s not time to give up on the team quite yet.