Wisconsin Badgers: Make a Bold Move, Gary, Just Like Barry Did in 1999

In 1999, the Wisconsin Badgers were in a similar situation like they are now in 2014. Then, the Badgers were coming off a Rose Bowl win just the year before. But the 1999 season started badly, as the team was just 2-2 and had lost two straight games.

One of the primary reasons was the uneven and inconsistent play at the quarterback position, which was manned by senior Scott Kavanagh.

The Badgers had a very powerful run game then, as the attack was led Ron Dayne, who would end up winning the Heisman Trophy in 1999.

Sound familiar in 2014, Badger nation?     

In 1999, head coach (and current athletic director) Barry Alvarez made a bold move and inserted freshman Brooks Bollinger as his starter at quarterback for the fifth game of the season against Ohio State at Columbus.

The result? The Badgers won that day 42-17 and never lost another game that season. The icing on the cake was another Big Ten title and another win in the Rose Bowl over Stanford.

Current head coach Gary Andersen is in a situation this season that resembles what occurred in 1999. The Badgers are 3-2 so far in 2014, and both of their losses could be directly laid at the feet of the quarterback play, which has been very inconsistent, especially in the losses to LSU and Northwestern.

And this is with Heisman Trophy candidate Melvin Gordon in the lineup, as No. 25 has rushed for 871 yards (8.3 average) and nine touchdowns.

On Monday, Coach Andersen said that he would play both Tanner McEvoy and Joel Stave against Illinois this upcoming Saturday, as Jeff Potrykus writes about in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"We're going to play them both, and they could possibly both be on the field at the same time," Andersen said during his weekly talk with the media. "I'm hoping that happens, because I think that opens up a little can of worms for (opponents) that wonder what's going to happen. So we'll see if that can take place for a couple plays.

"And then we'll also play them in different situations. I'm a firm believer that where we are with our offense as a whole — not the quarterback position — we're best served to be able to play both quarterbacks to help our offense move down the field."

Will that help the situation that is ongoing? That remains to be seen.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

McEvoy has running skills at quarterback, as he has rushed for 284 yards and two touchdowns. But he is wildly inconsistent throwing the ball, as he has only a 57.3 percent completion percentage and has thrown five touchdown passes versus five interceptions for 629 yards.

Stave is more of a pocket passer with limited running skills, but he has also been very uneven with his play at quarterback, as he was just 8-of-19 in passing last week against Northwestern in his first appearance of the season and threw one touchdown pass and three interceptions, including one very costly one.

In his career at Wisconsin, Stave has thrown 29 touchdown passes versus 19 picks for 3,712 yards.

Who knows? Maybe using both McEvoy and Stave during games will help. But throughout their careers at Wisconsin, it's pretty obvious about what they can do and what they can't do.

Bart Houston remains the third quarterback, but the coaching staff doesn't seem like it will give Houston an opportunity to earn the starting spot at quarterback.

So, what is the other option if the McEvoy-Stave experiment doesn't click and the team won't give Houston a shot? That would be freshman quarterback D.J. Gillins.

The team is doing everything it can not to play the talented freshman so it can use this season as a redshirt year for the Florida native.

But Gillins has a very good skill set. Like McEvoy, he can run. Like Stave has shown in the past, he can pass.

In high school, Gillins passed for 7,271 yards and 76 touchdowns over his career and ran for 602 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior.

It might be the case that Gillins is too raw to get significant playing time, and that is why he has not been able to get into the conversation about getting on the field so far this season.

But if things continue to go south with the quarterback play of the Badgers with McEvoy and Stave, and the coaching staff won't give Houston a meaningful opportunity, why not give Gillins a chance to get his feet wet in various packages at times during games?

See how the kid does. Yes, the redshirt season might be lost for Gillins. But the high hopes for a very successful 2014 season are slipping away quickly for the team in general right now.

There are still goals in 2014 that the Badgers can achieve. One of which is winning the West division of the Big Ten conference. That would put the Badgers in the Big Ten Championship Game.

But to win the West, the Badgers are going to need more consistent play from their quarterbacks. And right now, that is not happening.

Maybe it will happen with McEvoy and Stave playing in games together. Or maybe it will take a bold move by Coach Andersen. I'm sure his athletic director would understand.