As fall camp wound to a close and Wisconsin prepared for its season opener against LSU, only the quarterback battle between Joel Stave and Tanner McEvoy remained to be decided.
When the coaching staff opted to go with McEvoy to begin the year, it made sense. Head coach Gary Andersen has always been enamored with dual threat quarterbacks.
He had one at Utah State in Chuckie Keeton, had another in true freshman D.J. Gillins and would have dynamic high schooler Austin Kafentzis coming to Madison in 2015. McEvoy, with his 4.5 40-time, would be the stepping-stone to Gillins and Kafentzis, a transition away from the traditional pocket passer style that has always personified UW quarterbacks.
But then came McEvoy’s atrocious debut against LSU, going 8-24 for a measly 50 yards and two interceptions. As the game slipped away, questions abounded. Why hadn’t Stave been inserted at quarterback? Why did the Badgers insist on throwing the ball with an ineffective McEvoy?
Those questions seemed to be answered Sept. 2, when Andersen announced that Stave had a shoulder injury and would be temporarily shut down. But just one day later, Andersen retracted that statement, saying Stave wasn’t hurt and instead was dealing with the psychological issue known as the yips.
The yips, a mysterious and sudden inability to perform routine tasks, derailed the careers of baseball players Steve Blass and Chuck Knoblauch. It usually comes without provocation.
“It was a tough time for me,” Stave said. “I was a little disappointed that I obviously wasn’t playing and it just got in my head a little bit.”
The exact timing of the condition’s onset is unknown. Stave said the issues began after the team announced McEvoy would be the starter. However, Jesse Temple of Fox Sports Wisconsin previously reported that Stave was in line to start the opener until coaches noticed his struggles in mid-August, which was prior to any starter announcement.
The cause isn’t known, either. While some have speculated that the nagging shoulder injury originally suffered in last season’s Capital One Bowl may have had something to do with Stave’s issues, the redshirt junior dismissed that notion.
“I’ve had my issues with my throwing shoulder but I feel like, for the most part, besides aches here and there just from wear and tear of throwing the ball over and over, I wouldn’t say it really plays a factor,” Stave said.
Stave’s issues are particularly unusual considering he had a rather good season in 2013. Badger fans were spoiled by Russell Wilson’s brilliant 2011 numbers, but Stave’s 2013 remains one of the better seasons in program history.
Last year, Stave threw for 2,494 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He completed just under 62 percent of his passes while compiling an efficiency rating of 138.1. The touchdowns rank second, the yardage fifth, the completion percentage sixth, and the rating eighth all-time within Wisconsin annals.
But memories are short in sports. As the Badgers stumbled to a 9-4 record last year, all anyone could remember about Stave was the interceptions. Way before the yips arose, fans were intrigued by the prospect of McEvoy starting over Stave.
After losing his job and developing a psychological issue, Stave found himself back at square one in his Wisconsin career. He had arrived as a walk-on and worked his way to a scholarship and starting job. Now he had to re-learn how to throw a football.
“It’s frustrating, as it would be for anyone in any situation, but you just got to stay positive and keep fighting through,” Stave said. “It’s not an easy situation but just stay positive in your faith and what you believe in.”
Though Stave was solely responsible for overcoming his problems, he was not without support from the coaching staff.
“He did a great job working through it and you just keep coaching him, telling him how much confidence we have in all his abilities and his skillset,” said offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig, who also serves as Stave’s position coach. “He’s such a great leader and a good quarterback. We believed in him.”
Stave returned to action against Northwestern and had an awful game, tossing three interceptions in a 20-14 loss. But demonstrating that his problems are in the past, Stave has started all four games since and helped Wisconsin to four victories.
While his stats in those four games are by no means spectacular, averaging 132 passing yards per contest while completing 57 percent of his passes, Stave is key to the Badgers’ hopes of securing a spot in the Big Ten championship.
Wisconsin won’t be able to simply give the ball to Melvin Gordon and ignore the passing game. The Badgers face Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota in their final three contests, teams that rank 20th, 61st and 37th, respectively, in rushing defense.
Though fans remember the interceptions last year and complain about his statistical mediocrity this year, there is perhaps no player more essential to Wisconsin’s success down the stretch than Stave.
