Named Badgers’ starting quarterback, Houston has his day
August 26, 2016 | Football, Mike Lucas
Fifth-year senior focused on making the most of his long-awaited opportunity
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — There are nine tables, a bunch of chairs, a small refrigerator, five dry erase boards, a pull-down projector screen, a digital clock and two wall hangings in Team Room 3328.
This is the man cave for Wisconsin's quarterbacks.
Wide receivers are welcome. There's ample floor space and seating to accommodate them.
When you walk in the door, your eyes are drawn to the Player Oath: Smart, Tough, Dependable.
Right next to the sign is a quote from Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham (Burt Lancaster), who bears his soul to Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) in the 1989 release of Field of Dreams: "It was like coming this close to your dreams and then watching them brush past you like a stranger in a crowd. At the time, you don't think much of it.
"You know, we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then, I thought, 'Well, there will be other days.' I didn't realize that was the only day."
There are two mug shots accompanying the quote on the wall. One is of Graham; the other is of former UW quarterback Scott Tolzien, now with the Indianapolis Colts (whose "moments" came in Green Bay after Aaron Rodgers got injured).
In the film, Graham laments, "I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down … "
He later pleads and asks of Costner's character, "That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?"
Bart Houston walked into the room late Thursday afternoon and took a seat.
"I've seen the movie," he said, looking up at the quote. "You've got to take advantage of your opportunities because you never know; you could have just one day … like he had.
"He got called up for one game. The ball was never hit to him in the field. And he didn't have an at bat. And that was his opportunity.
"I actually kind of think of me. You've got one opportunity, one last kick at the can. This might be it. I think it does fit me."
•  •  •  •
Earlier in the day, Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst called Houston into his office and informed the fifth-year senior that he would be the starting quarterback in the Sept. 3 opener. Dream come true.
"Bart gives us our best chance against LSU," Chryst said. "He earned the right to be the starter."
Since last spring, Houston has been locked in a competitive battle for the No. 1 job with redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook. How did Houston react when he got the good news?
"I kept it inside," said Houston, a career backup who will be making his first start at Wisconsin. "I was excited. But then, it was like, 'All right, let's get to it. Let's go watch some LSU film.'"
But first he called his parents, Guy and Inge, in San Ramon, California.
"My mom went …" said Houston, making a shrieking sound. "She went crazy."
"My dad just said, 'Good job. We're proud of you. All you needed was an opportunity and a chance. Now do something with it.'"
Moonlight Graham could not have put it better.
Bart Houston was named after Guy Houston's all-time favorite player: Bryan Bartlett Starr.
Bart is short for Bartlett, and now he will be starting on Starr's former turf in Green Bay.
Another dream come true. Another Field of Dreams. Lambeau Field.
"No way," Bart Houston protested Thursday. "I didn't think that would ever happen."
Not ever. Not when he was growing up in Dublin, California, where his father was the mayor (and later a state assemblyman). Not when he was going 38-1 as the starter at De La Salle (in Concord).
Not then, but not now, either? Maybe not, maybe he didn't think that would ever happen — not after struggling in the first scrimmage of the 2016 training camp.
"I wasn't happy, I wasn't playing the game like I usually play the game and, that is, just going out there and playing the game," said Houston, who by his own admission was "pressing" too hard.
"I was getting too focused on what happened on the last rep and I let it affect me on the next rep."
Houston needed to clear his head. So that same night he rode his scooter to the Wisconsin marching band's Walnut Street practice field on the southwest shore of Lake Mendota
"That's my quiet zone," Houston said. "I sit. I walk around a bit. I stare at the stars. It was a beautiful night."
But he was there for a reason — "To think about it hard (how he was playing) and wash it out."
He was searching for a new persona, he said. And he found it.
"I decompressed a bit," he remembered. "I said, 'OK, let's go back to the (Bret) Bielema mindset of '1-0' — only we'll make it for the rep instead of the day.'"
What should we call it? An epiphany?
"I guess you could call it a reboot," Houston suggested.
The following day, he added, "I felt better. But I still had more work to do."
But his play definitely picked up in practice. If he made a bad pass, he was on to the next rep.
1-0.
"You can't make the game bigger than what it already is," Houston said. "You can't think about the stuff you can't control.
"The ball was coming out crisper and more on time. The decision-making was a lot better, too. I wasn't trying to force too many balls."
Did Chryst notice the change in Houston?
"I thought he performed better," he said. "I just thought he was trying to do too much."
He told him as much. He also told him Thursday what he expected out of him.
"With every player, you want them to be themselves," Chryst said. "We talk about 'Being you. But be the good you.' With some of his competitiveness, the way he plays, he can't change.
"The worst thing you could do for anyone is try to make them be something they're not."
Houston got the message.
"I feel that I was picked because of the way I do play," he said, "and the way that I kind of bring energy to the team and the offense.
"It's different than anybody who has been through here. At least that's what Coach Chryst says. I may be similar to some guys in the past. But the way I do things is different. I'm my own guy."
Nine days from kickoff, Chryst decided the timing was right to announce his starter.
"I thought it would be good for everyone as we get ready prepping for LSU," he said. "It's kind of where we're at with everything. I didn't think we'd do anything that would change the situation.
"What I was happy to see is that both truly got better in fall camp. Both focused on improving and being the best they could be knowing there was a competition, but I didn't feel they were in one as much as they were competing with themselves.
"One didn't give it to the other. I was glad to see that. They both competed. And through that competition, we got better (as an offense)."
Hornibrook didn't necessarily see it unfolding this way.
"I felt throughout camp, I definitely could be the starter; I think I performed well enough to be," he said. "At the same time, I understand what Coach was saying and where he was coming from.
"If it's best for the team, then it probably is. I'm not going to complain. That's not me. I'll just work harder."
That doesn't mean Hornibrook was happy with Chryst's choice.
"It got me a little angry when I heard about it," he admitted. "But there are no negatives that will come from me. I think it's going to be all positive."
Chryst was pleased with Hornibrook's reaction.
"I love that about him," Chryst said. "It shows you his mindset. He was competing and seeing himself as (the starter). I know he will continue to work. I think he's got a chance to be really good."
Houston shared the sentiment.
"I expected that out of him — out of any competitor, and he's a competitor," he said of Hornibrook's disappointment. "He's going to be a great quarterback."
Chryst has never ruled out the possibility of using two quarterbacks in any one season.
"Right now, we're not looking at how to divide it up," he said. "We're naming who's the starter for LSU and not trying to get ahead of ourselves.'
Chryst has a plan to allocate the practice reps between Houston and Hornibrook.
And it will be different from last season when Joel Stave got a majority of them.
"There are so many lessons learned," Chryst said. "Maybe I didn't give Bart enough reps during the season. But it was a little different. Joel was getting back into a new system and needed more.
"I think that's one area where we can get better, maybe giving our twos across the board a little more work weekly and quarterback would be a part of that. Certainly, Bart will get what he needs."
Hornibrook, meanwhile, has been down this path before in high school.
"When I was a sophomore, it was almost the same exact situation," said Hornibrook, a native of West Chester, Pennsylvania. "They named the senior the starter and I played on JV that season."
It is much different today in that Chryst has confidence in Hornibrook playing right now.
"I love what he does," Chryst said. "I love where he's going to go."
From this standpoint, Hornibrook will take a healthy approach to his backup role.
"Even though I'm not going to be starting in that first game," he said, "I still have to put myself in those situations and prepare like I am the starter. I'm in the same state (of mind) as I was before. I'm going to do everything I can to play and I'm going to be ready when called on."
December 17, 2011.
That was the last time that Houston was called on to start a game. He threw for 181 yards and one touchdown and also ran for two scores as De La Salle crushed Westlake, 35-0, in the CIF state championship game.
"I remember the feeling and what it meant to me," said the 23-year-old Houston, now a graduate student in kinesiology. "I don't know what starting feels like yet here, but I know what playing feels like.
"You always wish it would happen earlier. But it's college football. I'm just glad it's finally here. And I'm ready. I'm ready for the challenge."
