Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, January 17, 2013

News that Wisconsin quarterback Curt Phillips received a sixth season of eligibility is good for the Badgers-and for Phillips, who has endured a lot in his career.

New Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen and offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig will have many options to choose from when it comes to selecting a quarterback with Danny O?Brien back for his senior season and Joel Stave back for this sophomore campaign along with Phillips. And freshman Bart Houston also is back after a redshirt season.

Few Big Ten teams will have as many viable options. Who will it be? Stay tuned. I like Stave, the best passer of the trio who showed potential in 2012.

All three quarterbacks started games last season, which began with O?Brien under center. But the Maryland transfer was benched during the third game of the year vs. Utah State and replaced by Stave. But on Oct. 27 vs. Michigan State, Stave hurt his left shoulder and Phillips took over the next week at Indiana and never looked back in going 2-3 as a starter to finish the year.

[UWBADGERS.COM: Read Phillips bio at UWBadgers.com. ]

It was a story of perseverance for Phillips, who had endured major knee injuries that cost his 2010 and 2011. In fact, he entered the season having played in just four games and thrown only 12 passes. Phillips finished 2012 completing 35-of-65 passes (55.4 percent) for 457 yards with four touchdowns and a pick and ran for 35 yards. He?s still a work-in-progress as a passer but is a leader and well-liked by teammates.

Here are Phillips' season stats for 2012.

Passing Rushing
Date Opp Cmp Att Yds Pct TDs Int Long Car Yds Avg TDs Long
10/6/2012 Ill 0 0 0 – 0 0 – 1 -2 -2.0 0 0
11/10/2012 @ Ind 4 7 41 57.1 1 0 17 7 68 9.7 0 52
11/17/2012 OhioSt 14 25 154 56.0 1 0 29 6 -33 -5.5 0 2
11/24/2012 @ PSU 12 25 191 48.0 2 1 57 6 -1 -0.2 0 7
12/1/2012 Neb 6 8 71 75.0 0 0 22 2 3 1.5 0 3
1/1/2013 @ Stan 10 16 83 62.5 1 1 22 5 64 12.8 0 38
About Tom Dienhart BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.

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