Scott Tolzien is busy trying to make the San Diego Chargers roster but the former University of Wisconsin quarterback, like almost everyone else who bleeds Badgers red, is caught up in Russell-mania.
Just the other day, Badgers coach Bret Bielema received a text from Tolzien about former North Carolina State quarterback Russell Wilson, UW’s manna-from-heaven transfer who gives new meaning to the phrase “instant offense.”
“(Tolzien) kind of summed it up best,” Bielema said this week. “He said, ‘I can’t wait to see what happens.’ ”
The rest of us can’t, either.
Since that day a month ago when Wilson picked UW over defending national champion Auburn, the Badgers’ stock has soared. Considered a top-15 team even with a huge question mark at quarterback following Tolzien’s graduation and an underwhelming performance by all the quarterbacks during the spring, UW was installed by Big Ten writers as the heavy favorite in the conference’s new Leaders Division and given a strong chance to win the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game with Wilson under center. UW fans have taken that a step further, allowing themselves to speak openly about a national championship for perhaps the first time.
Those expectations can best be described as runaway in the state, but the buzz about Wilson at this week’s Big Ten media days came from all over. The prevailing opinion? His arrival and the forced departure of Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor significantly altered the balance of power in the conference.
Bielema cautioned everyone Wilson has yet to participate in a practice at UW and that the starting job is still a competition — yeah, right — between Wilson and sophomore Jon Budmayr. At this point, all we know is Wilson has generated enough hype, most of it from outside the program, that anything less than a Big Ten title will seem like a failure.
“The guy can definitely play,” defensive tackle Patrick Butrym said, “and whenever you have somebody like that, you’re definitely excited about it.”
