Stanley Jackson and Joe Germaine flourished in the two-quarterback system at Ohio State during the 1996 season.

Together, they helped lead the Buckeyes to a share of the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl win over Arizona State.

Jackson was the better runner.

Germaine was the better passer.

And that clear-cut distinction was one of the reasons why their tagteam partnership was so successful.

In the late '90s, Steve Spurrier got some mileage out of two quarterbacks at Florida: Doug Johnson and Jesse Palmer (who scored far better off the field than on).

Even Michigan's ultra-conservative Lloyd Carr once dabbled with a two QB rotation: Tom Brady and Drew Henson (who then was viewed as a better prospect than Brady).

Penn State's Kevin Thompson and Rashard Casey weren't in the same skill class as Henson and Brady. But they were part of a JoePa's gameplan most weeks.

Arizona's Keith Smith and Ortege Jenkins were off the national radar. But they were able to mesh their individual strengths with positive results for the Wildcats.

When are two quarterbacks too many? LSU head coach Gerry DiNardo once tried to play three different QBs: Rohan Davey, Josh Booty, and Craig Nall.

How did it work?

DiNardo is now a TV analyst for the Big Ten Network.

Florida's Urban Meyer may have initially had some reservations about utilizing two quarterbacks.

But since Chris Leak and Tim Tebow complemented each other so well -- Leak was Germaine to Tebow's Jackson -- the Gators rode the combination to a national title.

Not everyone buys into the system.

That two are necessarily better than one.

"I don't believe you can have two quarterbacks and play efficiently,'' said the college head coach. "If you have two guys starting, what you really have are two backups.''

The coach?

Kansas State's Ron Prince.

He made his comments at the start of preseason practice in 2006. At the time, he had four QB candidates.

Shortly thereafter, Prince was left with two after two transferred: Allen Webb, and Allan Evridge.

Yep, that's the same Allan Evridge who just came up a little bit short in competition with Tyler Donovan.

Not that the Badgers won't wind up playing Donovan and Evridge in some combination this season. They may.

But, for now, Donovan was the right call.

Evridge has been down this path before at Kansas State. As a redshirt freshman, he opened the 2005 season as the No. 2 quarterback behind the starter, Webb.

After playing sparingly in the first four games, Evridge came off the bench against Kansas, completed 14-of-21 passes for 136 yards and led the Wildcats to a 12-3 victory.

Evridge started the final six games that season. Though he struggled as a passer (48 percent, 7 interceptions, 6 TDs), he gave K-State the best chance to win.

That was reflected in the close losses: 30-28 to Texas A&M, 23-20 to Colorado and 27-25 to Nebraska.

Some numbers are more important than others.

Practice numbers don't count.

Donovan's numbers?

2-0.

That counted for more than you can imagine. Not that Evridge won't be counted on, too.

But unlike Jackson/ Germaine, or Leak/Tebow, there isn't that clearly defined separation between Donovan/Evridge.

Bret Bielema, thus, will pitch his "1-0'' mantra on 2-0 Donovan with the promise of 3-0, and much more.

That "much more" will likely include Evridge at some point.