Houston…HELLO! Well, do we have a quarterback controversy in Madtown brewing? Bart Houston, who filled in for a concussed Joel Stave, led the Badgers to a 24-13 victory over Illinois yesterday by completing 22 of 33 passes for 232 yards and 2 touchdowns…but did throw 2 Staves (I mean, interceptions) in the redzone.
Houston, a Dublin, CA native (hey, that’s my neck of the woods)…came into yesterday’s game having only completed 2 of 4 passes for 14 yards and a touchdown for his career! But thanks to Gary Andersen (by the way, how are things working out at Oregon State), Houston did punt in four games for the Badgers last season…his punts ranged from 19 (yes, 19) to 52 yards. Thankfully the Houston punting experiment came to an end as soon as Andersen bolted to Corvallis…good riddance!
I’m sure Stave will need to go through the concussion protocol this week…but maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to see Houston for one more week (who knows, Houston could be the starter next season…especially with D.J. Gillins now on offense and special teams). I’m not saying Houston is the answer, but what if he lights things up against Rutgers (I know, Rutgers) next week…things could be pretty, pretty, pretty interesting in Madison.
In the end, I’m sure it really doesn’t matter…losing to Iowa really hurt Wisconsin’s chances of making the Big Ten Championship game. The Badgers did become bowl eligible (for the 14th straight season) yesterday…it will be interesting to see which bowl they end up in because the Badgers have ZERO good wins and their schedule is incredibly SOFT! But hey, a bowl is a bowl…I’m sure the Arkansas and Oregon State fanbases would love to have such a streak.
#StartBart