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WRN Sports Daily (Video)

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In today’s WRN Sports Daily, I take a look at the departure of Wisconsin Badger QB Danny O’Brien.

It’s hard to call this a failure on Bret Bielema’s part.  He struck gold with Russell Wilson and with the Badgers quarterback depth lacking, Bielema figured he’d try again.

Even though it didn’t pan out, it was hardly a wasted effort.

O’Brien found himself well down the depth chart and decided to cut his ties with the Badger football program.  He has one year of eligibility left elsewhere and he should use it to have a shot at playing some place, rather than sit on the bench in Madison.

O’Brien leaving Wisconsin

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According to reports, Wisconsin quarterback Danny O’Brien is leaving the program.  O’Brien dropped to 4th on the Wisconsin depth chart this

Danny O'Brien

Danny O’Brien

spring and may have fallen all the way to 5th by the time fall camp opened.

O’Brien started three games for the Badgers last season and completed 60% of his passes for 523 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Curt Phillips and Joel Stave finished the spring 1 and 2 on the depth chart but junior-college transfer Tanner McEvoy is expected to challenge Phillips and Stave for the starting job in fall camp.

 

Badgers face Nebraska in Big Ten Championship game (AUDIO)

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The Wisconsin Badgers get a second chance to beat Nebraska this season and this time, it’s for the Big Ten Championship and a trip to

Big Ten Trophy

the Rose Bowl. 

When the teams met back on Sept. 29, the Badgers rushed for only 56 yards on 41 carries.  Everything went their way early and they built a 17-point lead before caving and falling 30-27 to the Cornhuskers. 

Joel Stave was the quarterback back then, taking over for the benched Danny O’Brien.  Stave and the Badgers led it 27-10 before the Huskers mounted their comeback.

Stave is out himself now and this time it’s the turn of 5th year senior Curt Phillips.  He’ll try to lead the Badgers to the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

AUDIO: Bret Bielema on Curt Phillips trying to lead the Badgers to the Rose Bowl. :38

The Badgers beat Michigan State in last years Big Ten title game and those that were along for the ride will have gained some valuable experience.  Phillips isn’t a part of that group.  Last season, Phillips didn’t even make the trip. [Read more…]

Stave takes over at QB for Badgers

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It was one of the worst kept secrets in Madison this week.  Redshirt freshman

Joel Stave

Joel Stave (Whitnall High School) is taking over at quarterback for the Badgers when they host Texas-El Paso on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.

Stave replaces Danny O’Brien, who started the first three games for Wisconsin (2-1), but was benched at halftime last week against Utah State.

AUDIO: Bret Bielema likes Joel Stave’s poise :15

The Badgers are 2-1, but they’ve struggled offensively this season.  They’ve already switched offensive line coaches and are starting to see some improvement. [Read more…]

Bielema is quiet on this weeks starting QB

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Wisconsin Badger coach Bret Bielema has already informed his quarterbacks

Joel Stave

who will start against UTEP (Texas-Elpaso) this week, but he’s not saying and won’t make his quarterbacks available to the media this week.

Danny O’Brien was pulled at halftime after the Badgers trailed Utah State 14-3 at halftime.  He fumbled and threw an interception prior to being pulled at the half.  The Badgers went with redshirt freshman Joel Stave in the second half and rebounded for a 16-14 victory. 

Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator, Matt Canada said he would prefer to stick with O’Brien and it would appear that O’Brien hasn’t done enough to lose his job.  But Bielema has spoken highly of Stave.

AUDIO: Bret Bielema on Joel Stave’s strengths :21

 

Canada wants O’Brien to return as starting QB

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Wisconsin Badger offensive coordinator Matt Canada said the Badger coaching

Danny O’Brien

staff hadn’t yet decided who will start at quarterback this week after Danny O’Brien was benched after the first half on Saturday night.

O’Brien was shown the bench after fumbling and throwing an interception in the first half of Wisconsin’s 16-14 win over Utah State.  The Badgers trailed
14-3 at halftime. 

AUDIO: Bret Bielema on why he made the change at QB :17

Redshirt freshman Joel Stave took over in the second half and finished 2 of 6 for 15 yards.  O’Brien was 5 of 10 for 63 yards.  O’Brien said he was disappointed to get benched, but he’s happy the Badgers won. [Read more…]

O’Brien off to a good start in Madison

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New Wisconsin quarterback Danny O’Brien posted solid numbers in his debut,

Danny O’Brien

leading the 12th ranked Badgers to a 26-21 win over Northern Iowa. 

O’Brien threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns after transferring from Maryland to replace Russell Wilson who is now playing for Seattle in the NFL.

The Badgers ground attack was rather lackluster.  They ran it 47 times with only 5 of those carries good for 10 or more yards.  The Badgers lacked the big play that the ground attack can historically count on.

Next up for the Badgers, a trip to Oregon State on Saturday.

Bielema picks O’Brien

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As expected, Wisconsin head football coach Bret Bielema picked transfer

Danny O’Brien

quarterback Danny O’Brien as the Badgers quarterback to start the season. 

Bielema made the announcement via Twitter on Sunday, saying O’Brien would start the opener on Sept. 1 against Northern Iowa.  O’Brien won the job over senior Curt Phillips and redshirt freshman Joel Stave.

O’Brien comes to the Badgers with 17 starts under his belt at Maryland.

Ex-Maryland QB to visit Wisconsin this weekend

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Danny O'Brien

Former Maryland quarterback Danny O’Brien paid a visit to Penn State last weekend and the University of Mississippi on Monday.  O’Brien will visit with the Badgers this weekend in Madison.

O’Brien has two years of eligibility remaining and will be eligible to play next season because he’s scheduled to graduate this spring.

The Badgers are interested because they have quarterback injuries to junior Jon Budmayr, senior Curt Phillips and incoming freshman Bart Houston.  It leaves the Badgers with only two healthy quarterbacks to start spring practices on Thursday.

Last season, O’Brien completed just over 56% of his passes for 1,648 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.  He broke a bone in his left arm in a loss to Notre Dame on Nov. 12 that ended his season.

O’Brien isn’t considered to be as polished and ready as Russell Wilson was a year ago at Wisconsin, but teams are interested because O’Brien has two years of eligibility remaining.

According to several media reports, O’Brien isn’t expected to make a decision official until the end of April.

O’Brien to Madison?

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Maryland released quarterback Danny O’Brien from his scholarship, allowing

Badger football

him to sign with another school. 

According to the Baltimore Sun, the list of schools that O’Brien is considering includes Wisconsin, as well as Vanderbilt, Stanford and Michigan State. 

O’Brien is reportedly on track to graduate in the spring and would be eligible to play immediately in 2012, just like Russell Wilson did last year.  The difference is, O’Brien would have two years of eligibility remaining while Wilson had just 1-year at Wisconsin.  The Badgers do expect to have a scholarship available if necessary.

O’Brien was named a freshman All-American by the Football Writers’ Association of America in 2010.  He went 7-3 as a starter, passing for 2,438 yards and 22 touchdowns with just 8 interceptions.

OBrien struggled last season under a new offensive coordinator (Gary Crowton), who was fired after the Terrapins finished just 2-10.  O’Brien’s numbers dropped to 1,648 yards passing with 7 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. 

At the moment, Wisconsin has no clear-cut candidate to start at quarterback going into spring practice.