Phil Longo updates Wisconsin's quarterback battle

The Wisconsin Badgers open up fall camp on Tuesday ahead of head coach Luke Fickell‘s second season with the program. A fall camp that will be highlighted by a quarterback battle between Braedyn Locke and Tyler Van Dyke for the team’s starting job under center.

Both signal callers started their college career elsewhere, with Van Dyke joining the Badgers this offseason through the transfer portal from Miami and Locke entering his second season with Wisconsin after spending a year at Mississippi State. Both working with offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Phil Longo as they strive to become Wisconsin’s next QB1.

“It’s a competition, is there anything other than a close competition?” Longo asked ahead of fall camp. “So these guys are battling right now and I think the advantage that Braedyn has is he has a year under his belt and a huge working knowledge.”

“And he is twice the player that he was last year, I just said that in the staff meeting the other day. He has vastly improved the things that he needed to do from last year and I’m excited about watching him in camp.”

Locke appeared in five games for the Badgers last season with three starts, completing 50% of his passes for 777 yards and five touchdowns with just one interception. Looking to build on his second year in Longo’s offensive system as he competes with a veteran quarterback who joins the Badgers with 25 career starts following his four seasons with the Hurricanes.

“And then Tyler came in and went through the same learning curve that Tanner Mordecai and Braedyn had to go through last year,” Longo said. “The difference is though we have so many people now, so many players in these rooms that know everything. And so the learning curve this year for the new guys is not what it was last year.”

“You know, we still had coaches learning. I mean I didn’t even know where the restroom was until April. You know what I mean?” Longo joked. “And I had not worked with Fic (Luke Fickell) on a day-to-day basis, and so this year there’s none of that this year. There’s a lot of familiarity and we also have a great locker room.”

Van Dyke may have more overall experience, but Locke has more experience within Wisconsin’s system. But overall it’s clear that the Badgers as a program top to bottom are entering the season feeling more confident and sure of themselves regardless of who their starting quarterback ends up being.

“So our older guys/more experienced guys are all grabbing on to some of these young guys and they’re helping them with where to go, what to do, how to get things done, and then that stuff’s going on the field as well. So year two, typically, is going to be vastly improved over the first one, no doubt,” Longo concluded.