Here's what I like the best about what I saw. Probably not what you are thinking.
Play-by-Play Summary (1st quarter)
Wisconsin vs Illinois (Oct 24, 2015 at Champaign, Ill.)
WISCONSIN drive start at 09:52.
1-10 WIS 29 Ogunbowale, D. rush for 2 yards to the WIS31 (Barton,Taylor), PENALTY WIS illegal block
(Deiter, Michael) 15 yards to the WIS16.
1-23 WIS 16 1st and 23.
1-23 WIS 16 Stave, Joel pass incomplete to Ogunbowale, D..
2-23 WIS 16 Stave, Joel sacked for loss of 4 yards to the WIS12 (Phillips,C.).
Wisconsin 2 (QB) injured on the last play.
3-27 WIS 12 Houston, Bart sacked for loss of 3 yards to the WIS9 (Phillips,C.).
4-30 WIS 09 Meyer, Drew punt 37 yards to the WIS46, Bentley, V. return 9 yards to the WIS37
To summarize: Their starting quarterback got hit on every drop he took including the one he got hurt on. Their running back got stuffed both attempts he got. They are facing a 3rd and 27 from their own 12 yard line. Bart Houston (who has never thrown a pass in conference play and has never been in a meaningful game since he was in high school 4 years ago) is under center. Paul Chryst dials up a pass play.
In the moment while Houston was getting sacked, I said to myself, what are you thinking. Why not run a draw, let Mcvoy run a wildcat play, or do anything else but throw it and let your backup QB have the chance to make a huge mistake.
Turns out Chryst had a ton of confidence in his backup QB. Also turns out maybe he had pretty good reason to, after Houston lead UW to a road win in conference play.
I like that. I like that Chryst has confidence in his guys. Chryst may never be an electric personality or fun to watch in a press conference, but his players will feed off of that type of confidence more than any bluster or bravado he might lack.
I hope Stave is OK and we don't get to watch Houston play again until next year. If we do I am not as scared that there is a total void behind Stave. It gives me comfort to know there is a guy who can start at QB next year so we don't have to force an underclassman QB on to a stage he isn't ready for.
UW is in good hands at QB, and Chryst is making me a believer that UW is in good hands with it's coach too.
Great post. I'm confident it will hold up better than your "O'Brien is better than Stave" post, and instead will take a place along side your prophetic "I'm not so sure about Gary Andersen" opinions.
ReplyDeleteI'll only be on board with Chryst when he realizes the obvious - that Alex Erickson should be the starting quarterback.
ReplyDeletePlease, we'll take our quarterbacks from the defensive backfield, thank you very much.
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