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UW football: Optimism reigns heading into spring ball, but there are question marks

Jim Polzin  —  3/06/2008 7:09 am

If you believe some of the national pundits who have weighed in, the 2008 season could be a special one for the University of Wisconsin football team.

ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach put the Badgers No. 13 in his pre-spring Top 25 poll. Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com has UW at No. 14 in his poll.

Olin Buchanan took it one step further. The college football senior writer for Rivals.com labeled the Badgers a darkhorse to reach the Bowl Championship Series title game.

That seems like a stretch, although UW returns ton of experience from a team that went 9-4 in 2007. Star power also isn't an issue, as tight end Travis Beckum, right tackle Kraig Urbik, defensive end Matt Shaughnessy, linebacker Jonathan Casillas, safety Shane Carter and tailback P.J. Hill were named All-Big Ten in some fashion a year ago.

Still, the Badgers have too many questions to answer to be considered a title contender -- Big Ten, or otherwise -- just yet.

The good news for coach Bret Bielema and his staff is there's plenty of time to answer those questions before UW opens the 2008 season against Akron on Aug. 30 at Camp Randall Stadium.

Spring practice begins Saturday for the Badgers and concludes prior to the annual Spring Game on April 19 at Camp Randall. Over the next six weeks Bielema and UW will have 14 practices and an intrasquad scrimmage to begin answering these five burning questions:

1. Who will start at quarterback?

The best bet is senior Allan Evridge, although the Kansas State transfer looked shaky in the precious few opportunities he saw the field as Tyler Donovan's backup last season.

Evridge was handicapped during spring practice a year ago by his unfamiliarity with offensive coordinator Paul Chryst's system. Evridge finally felt comfortable during fall training camp and was pushing Donovan for the starting spot, but a couple nagging injuries derailed any chance Evridge had of pulling ahead of Donovan.

Don't count out fourth-year junior Dustin Sherer, who should know Chryst's system as well as any of the quarterbacks because he's been around the longest.

The player whom fans will be most anxious to see during the Spring Game is Curt Phillips, who enrolled early at UW after putting up amazing numbers as both a runner and passer as a prep standout in Tennessee. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, however: Expecting Phillips to come in and start would be a lot to ask of a true freshman.

2. Who will step up in the defensive backfield?

Secondary coach Kerry Cooks has his hands full. The only certainty in the group is Carter at free safety, and even he'd be the first to admit that he has a lot of improvement to make after his up-and-down first season as a starter ended with seven interceptions but too many missed tackles.

The other safety spot is up for grabs. It's clear the coaching staff isn't sold on Aubrey Pleasant as a starter. Jay Valai will be expected to push Pleasant. Another option might be Kim Royston, who can play either safety position. Chris Maragos, a transfer from Western Michigan who was moved to safety from wide receiver, is another intriguing prospect.

The bigger issue may be at cornerback. Jack Ikegwuonu left school early to enter the NFL draft, and the two other corners with the most experience, Allen Langford and Aaron Henry, are both recovering from torn anterior cruciate ligaments.

That opens the door for players like Josh Nettles, Niles Brinkley, Mario Goins and Otis Merrill. Goins and Merrill redshirted last season as freshmen.

3. Does UW have enough depth along the defensive line?

The only sure things are Shaughnessy and senior Mike Newkirk, who split time between end and tackle last season.

Otherwise, there are a lot of buts.

Jason Chapman has been a solid contributor for three seasons but he's coming off a torn ACL.

Kirk DeCremer looked like a rising star as a redshirt freshman last season but he was slowed at times by back troubles.

Dan Moore should help out in the middle but do you ever really know what you're going to get from a junior-college transfer?

Other players to watch are Jeff Stehle, a backup last season; and freshmen Patrick Butrym and Louis Nzegwu, both of whom redshirted last season. Another player who might help, if healthy, is Brandon Hoey.

4. Will the young wide receivers grow up in a hurry?

The silver lining -- if it can be called that -- to injuries sustained by seniors Luke Swan and Paul Hubbard last season was that it allowed Kyle Jefferson to get some experience under his belt.

Jefferson finished the season with 26 receptions for 412 yards and two touchdowns, although he appeared to hit the freshman wall late in the season.

The rest of the returning wide receivers had a combined four receptions last season: Xavier Harris had two, and David Gilreath and Daven Jones had one apiece.

This isn't a huge issue because Beckum, who had 75 receptions for 982 yards and six touchdowns last season, is basically a wide receiver with the title of tight end. And UW also returns anther productive pass-catching tight end in Garrett Graham, who was second on the team with 30 catches last season.

Finding a complement to Beckum, Graham and Jefferson would make life easier on the new starting quarterback, however.

5. Who's going to be that special someone?

UW had quite a luxury the last few years with Ken DeBauche at punter and Taylor Mehlhaff at kicker.

Replacing those two won't be easy -- and almost certainly won't be settled until well into fall camp.

Philip Welch and Matt Fischer will battle to replace Mehlhaff. Brad DeBauche -- Ken's younger brother -- is an option at punter, although highly touted Bradley Nortman will arrive in the fall and may end up making the biggest impact among UW's true freshmen.

Jim Polzin  —  3/06/2008 7:09 am