QB battle continues in Madison while Illinois' backfield reloads

Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst doesn't chain himself to a system, but he wouldn't mind chaining himself to a starting quarterback.

"There's times when you just want them to go grab that thing, whoever it is, go grab it," Chryst said. "You'd love for it to go that way, and yet it's not like I'll come away disappointed with the spring that someone didn't move forward."

Top contenders Allan Evridge and Dustin Sherer competed throughout this spring, but the distance between them remained negligible when practice wrapped Saturday. Evridge, a transfer from Kansas State who hasn't seen meaningful playing time since 2005, holds a slight edge over Sherer, but the competition will spill over to the summer.

Chryst isn't surprised. He didn't settle on last year's starter, Tyler Donovan, until weeks before the season. And given that Evridge and Sherer entered the spring with just 15 combined pass attempts for the Badgers, a lengthy contest seemed probable.

"Guys have had their moments where one is starting to separate, and then it's followed up by another guy [improving] or inconsistency," Chryst said. "Understanding it's April, not August, I'm all right with it. There's nothing that needs to be decided now."

Chryst admits that sometimes a team can identify the starting quarterback before the coaches can, but he's not concerned about split loyalties.

"It's not like there's a clubhouse favorite," he said.

Whoever wins the job will run an offense tailored to his skill set. Chryst doesn't believe in the plug-and-play method and embraces change with new personnel.

"Our offense should have enough structure, but also enough flexibility," Chryst said. "If you lose Brian Calhoun or Brandon Williams or Owen Daniels, you lose a Luke Swan, you lose a Joe Thomas, you don't replace those guys with guys just like 'em."

The Badgers don't have to replace anybody at running back, and Chryst doesn't mind the logjam there. He spent the spring evaluating a four-pack of backs: incumbent P.J. Hill, top reserves Zach Brown and Lance Smith, and redshirt freshman John Clay.

Smith, the only back who participated in practice last spring, comes off a season in which he rushed for 429 yards despite playing only in home games because of a suspension stemming from an alleged fight with his girlfriend.

"There were a lot of distractions and no continuity," Chryst said. "It's been good for him to go to work."

The same goes for Hill, who had never been healthy for spring ball before this year.

P.J. Hill and Clay, who check in at 228 and 231 pounds, respectively, provide power in the backfield. Smith and Brown counter with top-shelf speed.

"They all are a little bit different," Chryst said. "That's what is kind of nice."

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