Wisconsin football head coach Bret Bielema said Monday that he has not made a decision on who will start at quarterback for Wisconsin against Iowa this Saturday.
Although backup junior Dustin Sherer replaced starting quarterback Allan Evridge in the second half of last week's 48-7 loss to Penn State, Bielema said the team will decide on a starter after seeing how the two practice.
[Quarterbacks coach] Paul [Chryst] and I have [had] discussions in the last couple weeks about the quarterback situation and where we'd go,"" Bielema said. ""How they [Sherer and Evridge] handle this week will determine what happens on Saturday.""
According to Bielema, Sherer and Evridge must be able to lead the team as quarterbacks.
""You naturally want that position to be your playmaker,"" Bielema said, adding, ""The better teams that I've been around '¦ are typically the ones that probably have a guy in that position that plays way above their own personal abilities.""
Whoever starts, Wisconsin will try to end its three-game conference losing streak. Bielema said he thinks the team should focus on his ""1-0"" mantra: that they must concentrate on winning the game at hand, and not focus on those in the future.
""I don't think there's any better time in this season to focus on that [1-0] mentality to get where we need to be,"" he said.
The Badgers will rely on their quarterback Saturday, as Iowa boasts the No. 2 rushing defense in the Big Ten and allows the fewest points per game of any team in the conference.
""It's a traditional Big Ten game,"" Bielema said, speaking about the tough, physical football that characterizes the Iowa-Wisconsin matchup.
""That's their style of play,"" he said. ""Make it a four-quarter game and not give up big plays. It's kind of the nature of the beast.""
The idea of playing a ""four-quarter game"" will be important for the Badgers, who, with the exception of Penn State Saturday, have led in the fourth quarter of every game this year.
However, against Michigan and Ohio State, Wisconsin could not hold those leads and lost. Bielema hinted earlier in the season that he may rest some players who seemed to fade down the stretch, and he may have to do the same before Saturday.
Although he wants Wisconsin to play with that Big Ten toughness for the entire game, Bielema said it won't be easy against a team like Iowa. He joked that the Hawkeyes' similar style of football means that while he can prepare his team for it, he cannot make the game less physical.
""I can't call [Iowa head coach] Kirk [Ferentz] and both agree to only hit so hard in certain quarters, certain plays,"" Bielema said. ""It's the nature of who we are, it's the nature of who they are.""
Wisconsin and Iowa will meet for the 84th time in their rivalry, and for the fifth time since the introduction of the Heartland Trophy, which the Badgers currently hold.
