Call to Arms: Quarterbacks press on in battle for starting spot
April 29, 2016 | Football, Mike Lucas
Houston and Hornibrook's QB quest will carry on into Badgers' fall camp
As expected, the competition to become Wisconsin's starting quarterback will carry past spring practice and into the summer — when it's solely up to candidates Bart Houston and Alex Hornibrook to continue making progress in the passing game before the Badgers reconvene for fall camp. Neither seems to have an edge in the race, but that could change by the time August rolls around. | From Varsity Magazine
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
There's more to completing a pass than sometimes meets the eye.
Listen to Wisconsin quarterback Bart Houston at the conclusion of spring practice.
"We won't be just going through the motions," he said of the informal summer passing drills that he will help organize. "All of our routes will have a specific reason why we're doing it.
"When a receiver is running his route, the DB can be in four spots. Up right. Up left. Back right. Back left. You have to know how you're going to come out (of the break) on each spot."
So you're really not just slinging it? Or chucking it? Or winging it?
"Exactly," Houston said. "It's the educated wing that we're trying to get to."
Pausing to let that sink in, he suggested, "It's kind of like an educated guess."
A crooked smile appeared on his face.
"You have to understand how the receivers and the tight ends are going to come out of their breaks and routes," he said. "I have to be an educated gunslinger, I guess."
Gunslinger, huh?
"They called me that after Illinois," he said, beaming now.
Last October, in relief of starter Joel Stave who was knocked out of the game in the first quarter, Houston completed 22 of 33 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-13 win at Illinois.
He was also intercepted twice in the end zone.
UW wide receiver Alex Erickson has not forgotten Houston's "gun-slinging" tendencies. For the record, Erickson matched his career high with 10 catches against the Illini.
"He's got that mentality — that short memory," Erickson was saying last Friday. "He's going to get up there and he's going to chuck it, and whatever happens, he's going to chuck it again.
"You've got to love that about him. He's got that toughness. He's not afraid to stick his nose in there. If you've seen him practice, he's always diving around. He's Bart. He's a unique guy. He's himself."
Now listen to Alex Hornibrook after Saturday's scrimmage.
First, to reiterate, there's more to completing a pass than sometimes meets the eye though Hornibrook made it look relatively easy on two deep throws to George Rushing and one to Peter Roy.
On the specifics of getting the ball to Rushing, he underplayed the tosses by saying, "It is easy when you've got a guy like George. You just kind of put it up and he runs under it for you."
Surely, it's more complicated than a "go deep" exhortation to your neighbor in the backyard.
"A lot of it is the positioning of the defense," said Hornibrook, accenting the importance of film study, "because there are multiple ways to come out of a route. It's not all the same.
"I'm excited to see how the competition plays out through fall camp. Either way, Wisconsin is going to be in good hands with Alex or Bart."
"For the spring, we're not game-planning our defense. For specific players, you'll get to know them from going against them every day in practice and how they're playing things."
Like whether they're likely to jump a route or not. Like safety Keelon Brookins did on the goal line, stepping in front of tight end Kyle Penniston, only to drop the would-be interception.
"I could have gotten the ball out a little quicker," Hornibrook lamented. That aside, he also conceded, "Just from watching film this spring, there are a couple of routes that we need to get down."
And that's why he has pledged to "dive deeper into the playbook (this summer) and understand all the plays because there are different layers to every play. Once you have it, you don't have it."
That makes more sense than it may sound on the surface.
"I mean, if you have a play and you see a coverage based on the playbook," Hornibrook explained, "you're going to go to this certain read.
"But, at the same time, once you get more advanced, you don't have to (necessarily) go to this guy versus this coverage. You also have this (route) and all the other options to the play."
The recognition and processing factor spells out the challenge for college quarterbacks.
"The reads are a lot more complicated," Houston said. "In high school, we had a curl, a flat and a read that." A read that? "If you don't read that right then you're on the bench."
Erickson can probably appreciate his sense of humor better than most.
"Me and Bart spent a lot of time working on things after practice," Erickson said. "I'd run extra routes and he'd get extra throws just because Joel was already getting enough reps in practice.
"I've not been around Alex obviously as long as I have been Bart. But he (Hornibrook) has got that calmness to him. He's got the confidence that he can make a lot of throws. He believes in himself.
"He's one of those guys who's going to put in the work; he's going to put himself in the best position. You always root for a guy who's working hard and doing it the right way."
Which is why Erickson also mentioned "I'm pulling for" Houston.
"He (Hornibrook) is going to have a bright future here whether he gets the starting job this year or not," Erickson said. "He's going to be a heck of a player, I believe.
"I'm excited to see how the competition plays out through fall camp. Either way, Wisconsin is going to be in good hands with Alex or Bart."
• • • •
After 15 spring practices, Houston and Hornibrook drew the same conclusion.
"We weren't perfect in beating air," Houston said.
"We have to beat the air," Hornibrook seconded.
The air?
"It's when we're going with just receivers and no defense," said Hornibrook. "And we're throwing it to a spot before they're breaking."
And when you're not beating the air?
"It's when a receiver runs a route and we don't know exactly where he's going," said Houston.
Offensive coordinators hate that. So do head coaches, especially quarterback whisperers.
But there's still much to like about Wisconsin's competing QBs — Houston and Hornibrook.
On one hand, there's the right-handed throwing Houston, 23, a fifth-year senior. On the other hand, there's the left-handed throwing Hornibrook, 19, a redshirted freshman.
"They both know in some respects that they need each other," said offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph. "Bart knows he needs that push and that has been great for him. It has made him better.
"Alex knows that Bart sets a great example so he's learning from him. I have great confidence that they will continue to do that in the best way for this team to get better."
After Saturday's practice, the head coach, Paul Chryst, also weighed in.
"I told them the other day," he said of his conversation with Houston and Hornibrook, "we're not where we want to be. But I don't think they're behind schedule."
The next developmental phase is the summer period beginning in early June.
"Summer is a really good time for our kids," he said Saturday. "They're going to class but they don't have the full load and it's a chance to really focus on the weight room … and do some field work.
"It's a time when we come together as a team."
Following the Holiday Bowl and the players reconvening on campus for the second semester, Chryst cited how the leaders began to emerge during winter conditioning and through spring practice.
"I think in the summer is when they take it over and it becomes their team," Chryst proposed. "One of the things I've always believed at Wisconsin is the players have maximized summers as well as any group I've ever been around."
Houston and Hornibrook will shoulder the responsibility of getting everyone together for the throwing sessions. That's what quarterbacks do. They take charge of the summer.
"Joel (Stave) was pretty good at that — taking control of everything and letting everyone know what they've got to do," said wide receiver Jazz Peavy, a redshirt junior.
"That's the challenge for any quarterback. You have to step in as that leader. You have to be that guy that everyone looks to when they have questions and you have to be able to answer them."
What happens when you have two quarterbacks vying for alpha dog?
"Bart knows he needs that push and that has been great for him. It has made him better. Alex knows that Bart sets a great example so he's learning from him."
"I just think they both will take charge," Rudolph said. "I always remember Paul (Chryst) telling the story about how he had two guys, and one would say, 'I'm not going to throw on Sunday.' And the other would say, 'I'm not going to throw on Sunday, either.'
"And then one would show up on that Sunday morning and see the other. And it would be like, 'What are you doing here? No, what are you doing here?'
"That competitiveness is a good thing," Rudolph insisted. "Especially if you can do it and still support the other guy, which Bart and Alex have been able to do all spring. They've shown a maturity and a team mentality that is special."
Mickey Turner has had a good sight line on the competition between Houston and Hornibrook.
"They're both competitors," said Turner, the UW tight ends coach. "But like any position, it's about consistency. We've seen throughout the spring where they've both made great throws.
"They've dropped it in the bucket 50 yards downfield — they've lasered it in there on a slant. But who's going to do it every play? I'd say for both of them that's the battle right now."
Like it would be for any other position, he was quick to add.
"It's that one play here or there where they do have a mental lapse," said Turner, a former UW captain (2009). "And we can't have that in the fall. There's no room for that."
Despite appearing in only 15 career games and attempting just 51 passes in his first three seasons, Houston still has an edge in experience over Hornibrook.
"And you can tell," Turner said. "I don't know if it's from playing a few games or just being a veteran, but he (Houston) is not scared of a whole lot.
"If things start breaking down, or the play goes the wrong way, he has no problem scrambling out and making something happen. That's what you love about him. He's not going to flinch."
Hornibrook is a solid argument for the benefits of graduating from high school in December and enrolling in college for the second semester. This was his second spring on the Madison campus.
"He's a guy who played well in high school and, boom, he comes in as a freshman and has a good year learning under Joel," Turner said. "But he knows there's a ton more that he can learn.
"The great thing about Alex is that he's really ambitious. You always push as a coach for a kid to be that way. But when he brings it himself, it makes our job easier."
Houston and Hornibrook will not have to do it all on their own.
"We're going to give them all the opportunities and resources," Turner said. "But they've got to be the ones who step up and take over the reins."
The winningest quarterback in school history has faith in the process, and the QBs.
"Bart," Stave said, "is a guy who has a lot of arm strength. He shows that every day by the way he can wing it. He's a smart guy, too. If he does get the chance to start, I think he'll do a great job.
"He has been around a long time and he has been able to learn from watching the team prepare under different coaching staffs. He has taken in a lot.
"Watching (Hornibrook) last spring, I thought he did a really nice job coming in and learning the offense, trusting the guys around him and throwing it quick and with timing.
"That's one thing you'll see a lot of guys do — hold on to the ball. And he did a great job of getting rid of it. Whether he starts or not this year, he's got a very promising career ahead of him."
The most immediate concern is how will the quarterbacks manage the summer drills.
"We already have a plan set out for throwing with the receivers," Houston said. "Now, we're going to put the meat on the bone — that kind of thing. What routes? What are we going to detail?
"The summer will be a good time to watch film (with the receivers) and say, 'OK, you've got a high corner on you, how are you going to come out of this route?'"
The focus will be on learning and growing — pitchers and catchers — and beating the air.
"We've got to get the whole group together," Houston said, "especially since we had eight receivers at the beginning of the spring and five of them went down (with injuries)."
The receiving corps lacked continuity and that made it more difficult. And yet it didn't seem to deter Houston and Hornibrook from staying "on schedule." At least that's where they are in April.
"Everybody, as a whole, made a lot of strides," Houston said. "I felt this spring set the stage for a good springboard into the summer. It just depends on how we, as a group, tackle it."
