Wisconsin names Danny O'Brien Starting QB
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/55806/danny-obrien-to-start-op…
No surprises here as he was the ACC Rookie of the Year and his competition was against the oft injured Senior Curt Phillips and a walk-on freshman. Badgers have a pretty clear road to the BigTen title game since half their division is ineligible or Indiana. Hopefully they can take care of business against Sparty and Nebraska to help Michigan reach the title game as well.
GO BLUE!
August 20th, 2012 at 1:30 AM ^
But his 2011 campaign was also pretty meh in comparison to his '10 ACC Rookie of the Year season. I imagine he'll serve their needs adequately but just thought it was worth adding that he will without a doubt be a step down from Wilson.
August 20th, 2012 at 7:38 AM ^
August 20th, 2012 at 8:57 AM ^
Are you suggesting...they should have brought in a coach to fit a senior quarterback's skill set?
August 20th, 2012 at 9:33 AM ^
August 20th, 2012 at 1:15 PM ^
In addition to the more central point that Edsall is a crap coach, Danny O'Brien was only a redshirt sophomore in 2011, so tailoring an offense to him wouldn't have conceivably been a crazy concept.
August 20th, 2012 at 10:43 AM ^
Matt Barkley would be step down from Wilson.
August 20th, 2012 at 2:03 AM ^
Who Bielema gets to transfer into be the starting QB for 2013 and 2014.
Some candidates (ACC redshirt juniors unlikely to enter the NFL):
Bryn Renner, UNC
http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/480234/bryn-renner
Tajh Boyd, Clemson (might have an NFL future, but I'm skeptical)
http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/480221/tajh-boyd
CJ Brown, Maryland (post-injury return)
http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/480846/cj-brown
Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech (probably has too much NFL potential)
I predict that oen of these three will start for the Badgers no later than 2014.
August 20th, 2012 at 6:59 AM ^
I'm rooting for Logan Thomas to have an excellent year. I'd rather not see him run for 13 yards against us on 4th and 11 again.
August 20th, 2012 at 10:52 AM ^
O'Brien has 2 years of eligibility left.
August 20th, 2012 at 3:42 AM ^
yawn
August 20th, 2012 at 8:08 AM ^
August 20th, 2012 at 6:49 AM ^
will continue to look into transfer QB's but after they get the 2 years possible from O'Brien, there is a qb from California named Houston whoarrived with a surgical shoulder and will redshirt in 2012. They are high on him.
August 20th, 2012 at 7:53 AM ^
I hate that for Curt Phillips, he's from the High School my oldest daughter now attends. I was hoping he'd get a chance this year. I guess there's a slight chance but given Bielema's propensity for running up the score he probably won't get much playing time.
August 20th, 2012 at 7:55 AM ^
I'm sick to death of Wisconsin mattering. They need to climb back down there into the weeds with Purdue. Bielema also needs to get caught doing something.
August 20th, 2012 at 7:56 AM ^
This is just more of the same from Wiscy. My understanding is that O'Brien has two years of eligibility left. That means that, counting last year, Bielema is getting a huge, three-year break where he doesn't have to play an inexperienced QB, but didn't have to actually develop one, either.
Bielema has certainly had a charmed life at Wiscy. First, he got to take over a program that Barry Alverez built for him, then he gets two pre-fabricated QB's to plug into his offense.
I think I just figured out what happened when the "Luck of the Irish" disappeared.
August 20th, 2012 at 8:16 AM ^
finding his own QB? It's becoming a trend. They don't seem to have any trouble recruiting the other positions. Never seen anything like this.
August 20th, 2012 at 8:29 AM ^
Wisconsin has had virtually nothing but terrible luck with the people they have recruited at QB lately. I believe Curt Phillips is still getting over knee surgery (but playing now - he took snaps in the spring). Jon Budamyr, at last report, was still having arm problems (nerve issues, I thought), and Brennan, as the article said, is expected to transfer. I believe Bart Houston, though much hyped, is still on the mend from shoulder surgery - not sure if he's seen action in camp though, as the surgery was a while ago now. Essentially, right now at QB, it's O'Brien, whose career averages aren't quite Russell Wilson-esque (and even a shade below Tolzien's average productivity, but O'Brien did suffer through a year of Edsall in Maryland), Joel Stave (whose ceiling is likely rather low) and air.
August 20th, 2012 at 12:26 PM ^
Angry Wisconsin QB hating god vs Benevolent Wisconsin transfer loving god
August 20th, 2012 at 10:05 AM ^
I live in the greater Madison region. I've tacitly followed Badger football for close to a decade. Bielema has not had any difficulties recruiting 3/4 star QB's in the past 5 years. They all get injured, and in pretty significant ways. Unlike Iowa's RB situation, nobody really pays attention to this because the injuries have repeatedly occurred when the QB's are young and are still under-the-radar. Instead, everyone just repeats the "BIELEMA RENT-A-QB THEME". I mean, c'mon...their best-rated QB recruit in the past few years, Bart Houston, was injured before even arriving on campus this year. It has been a horrible string of bad luck. Before the Wilson and O'Brien transfers, Wiscy had a pretty solid tradition of developing serviceable QB's (think Bollinger, Tolzien, Sorgi, etc.). I'm not a fan of Bielema, but no UM fan would've turned down Russell Wilson under the same circumstances. Not one.
August 20th, 2012 at 8:18 AM ^
August 20th, 2012 at 10:06 AM ^
August 20th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ^
Darn Quick-Decidin' QB's.
August 20th, 2012 at 9:15 AM ^
This Wisconsin QB situation is getting ridiculous..Develope your own players forgodsakes
August 20th, 2012 at 9:16 AM ^
when you just have to hand off to Monty Ball to win games
August 20th, 2012 at 10:01 AM ^
Wisconsin wouldn't be Wisconsin if they didn't have an easy road to Big Ten title contention.