Ryan Hopkins' big day vs. Rutgers makes Wisconsin's QB situation more complicated

It's been a fascinating season for the Wisconsin Badgers football program. For the most part, it's been a successful season thus far, with a 6-3 record through nine games, having won four of six of their Big Ten Conference matchups. That was punctuated by a 21-point win against Rutgers at Camp Randall, led by freshman quarterback Ryan Hopkins, making his first start of the season.

The results of previous starter Colton Joseph have been a mixed bag, with the lowest completion rate in the Big Ten Conference at 55.6% for the season. He's made up for it at times with 371 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, but that hasn't been enough to make up for the struggles in Wisconsin's passing game.

Hopkins, on the other hand, offers a fantastic change of pace as a more efficient and effective passer in his start against Rutgers. He completed 18 of 24 passes, or 75%, for 241 passing yards and three touchdowns in the air. His contributions in the run game were far less significant, however, with -10 rushing yards on five attempts. Is that enough to lay a wet blanket on his significant contributions in the passing game, though? Probably not.

It's going to be a tough week for head coach Luke Fickell as he stares down his two quarterbacks and has to make a tough call as to whether he'll revert back to Joseph when healthy, or stick with the young gun in Hopkins.

If Ryan Hopkins gives the Wisconsin Badgers the best chance to win football games, Luke Fickell needs to ride with the freshman.

The word is that Joseph has been banged up over the last few weeks. He reportedly suffered an undisclosed injury during Wisconsin's blowout loss to Iowa, when he was initially benched for Hopkins. However, taking over late in the third quarter, Hopkins surpassed Joseph's passing total for the game with 93 yards on 8-of-13, to Joseph's 90 yards on 5-of-14.

What makes this situation more confusing is the matchups Hopkins has faced. Iowa, obviously, was a tough test for either quarterback, whereas Rutgers was more of a walk in the park. Can we really judge if a freshman is ready to start at quarterback in the Big Ten based on a win against one of its worst teams? Ultimately, that call is going to belong to Fickell alone.

You've got to feel for Joseph, who transferred to Wisconsin for his senior season and might have his starting job taken from him. Nonetheless, the Badgers' coaching staff has a responsibility to position itself to win, and sometimes, that means making a tough call like elevating the freshman quarterback who's producing at a higher rate in favor of a senior's last chance.

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