Wisconsin sticks with Evridge at QB for now
October 6, 2008
Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg
Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema is promising changes after back-to-back losses, but they don’t involve the man lining up under center.
Senior Allan Evridge will remain the Badgers’ starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against No. 6 Penn State (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET), Bielema said today at his weekly news conference (click here for the video). Evridge has thrown more interceptions (3) than touchdown passes (2) and completed just 53.2 percent of his passes during the team’s slide.
Ohio State cornerback Malcolm Jenkins intercepted Evridge with 53 seconds left in last Saturday’s game to seal a 20-17 victory.
“The part that Allan has to be able to improve upon more than anyhting is probably his accuracy as a passer,” Bielema said. “There’s a number of plays in the last two games in particular and they’ve surfaced in every game where the ball might be a little behind them, a little over them, a little under them.
“We’ve got to expect the ball to be delivered with better accuracy. I saw that he made a reference that the Ohio State player [Jenkins] made a great play to make a break on the ball at the end of the game. I think he caught the ball in self defense. It was thrown right at him. So he’s got to see a clearer picture of what we’re trying to get done.”
That’s hardly a ringing endorsement, and Bielema will keep a close eye on the depth chart going forward.
Evridge, a transfer from Kansas State, beat out Dustin Sherer and Scott Tolzien for the starting job in the preseason.
He had some strong moments in non-league play, and some of the Big Ten struggles have come from dropped passes by wide receivers and not having tight ends Garrett Graham and Travis Beckum at full strength. But Wisconsin keeps its quarterbacks on a shorter leash than most teams.
Badgers quarterbacks are game managers more than anything, and mistakes won’t be tolerated.
“You don’t need to read into it, Allan’s going to start on Saturday and he’ll be our quarterback,” Bielema said. “But there comes a point in time where you have to make an assessment of where we are as a football team.”
Go to Source
Related Stories
Comments
Got something to say?