F
orty-eight hours before arguably the biggest football game in his young life
— his first Big Ten start at Nebraska — Joel Stave walked over to the Humani- ties Building on the UW campus after
Thursday's practice and sat down at a piano in one of the unoccupied music rooms in the basement. "I just wanted to relax, so I went over there and played for about an hour,'' said Stave, whose skills as a pianist have been well-documented. "It's a good way to get my mind off everything else.'' There was a chance "Drops of Jupiter'' by Train was one of his selections; especially since it's an old standby and he hasn't had much time lately to expand his playlist. While he may be surprised by how many people have taken note of his music, he doesn't mind when it comes up in conversation. "It's something I've done for such a long time,'' he said, "it's natural for me to talk about it.'' Stave is less inclined to talk about himself as Wisconsin's starting quarterback; at least to any
great length. Others aren't so reserved; most no- tably first-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Last spring, he took an instant liking to Stave's acumen on the whiteboard, not the keyboard. "The way we do it in the quarterback room, if you can teach it, you know it,'' Canada said. "I could get up there right now and talk to you about any- thing. And if I said, 'Do you understand it,' you'd say, 'Yeah, I got it.' But that doesn't really mean you have it.
"In our (meeting) room, the quarterbacks teach each other and they teach me. When Joel was on the board early on in the spring, he showed me that he understood the offense. I really liked him. I liked his demeanor. He's a pretty cool customer and a smart, intelligent guy.'' There was something else that caught Canada's eye in the spring.
"Joel has a big arm,'' he said. • • • •
26 » VARSITY OCTOBER 11, 2012
DAVID STLUKA
