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Phillips out to earn his place on the field LUCAS AT LARGE MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM ster. Over the years, he has enjoyed some good-natured fun at the expense of unsuspecting teammates that he's "punked.'' But don't mistake that free- spirited player with the one who has undergone three ACL surgeries on his right knee and takes football very seriously. This is no laughing matter. Never has been. Last Saturday, the 22-year-old Phillips saw his first game action since Dec. 5, 2009. Some may have concluded that his mere presence on the field again represented a per- sonal triumph for Phillips. That would be a mistake, too. "Some outsiders made a bigger deal out of it than I thought it was myself,'' Phillips said. "I knew that I was going to come back and play. There was no doubt in my mind. "But I just didn't want to get on the field. I wanted to play a bigger role than that (three snaps against Illinois). I want to be running our offense, and running it at full capac- ity. W "It wasn't any kind of victory for me to finally get into a game.'' On Wisconsin's third offensive possession, Phillips took over for Joel Stave, the starting quarterback the last three games. Phillips was inserted to execute a zone-read series. "I realize to the outside world,'' said UW coach Bret Bielema, "when he (Phillips) popped in there, people thought it was a reaction (to 10 » VARSITY OCTOBER 11, 2012 isconsin quarterback Curt Phillips has always been known as a prank- decisions.'' In retrospect, he said, "I wish it was more productive than it was. Once you get hit, you're into the flow of the game. That was the frus- trating part. I got hit and I was out. It leaves you wanting more.'' In 2009, Phillips appeared in Stave's play). It was not. It was just a chance to get Curt in.'' The Badgers have been working on this package for over a month. But this was the first time that the coaching staff pre-determined when Phillips would actually enter the game. On first down, Phillips handed off to Melvin Gordon for no gain. On second down, Phillips complet- ed an 8-yard pass to James White. But it was erased by an offsides penalty on the Illini. On what was now second-and-5, Phillips pulled the ball and was tackled for a 2-yard loss. That ended his day. Stave replaced Phil- lips on third down and Stave's pass was intercepted. After evaluating the film, slow- ing everything down, Phillips recognized that he had made the incorrect read on second down. He should have handed off the ball instead of keeping it. "I wanted to make something happen and it didn't happen,'' he said. "If I could make decisions with that (video replay) clicker in my hand I'd be a helluva quarterback. But we have to make full-speed five games for the Badgers. That included a similar cameo against Iowa when he replaced starter Scott Tolzien for one series late in the first half. That was many ACLs ago. "I'm not the same athletic quar- terback that I was,'' conceded Phil- lips, a fifth-year senior from King- sport, Tenn. "But my knee doesn't bother me and it doesn't limit me playing in this offense.'' Earlier in his UW career, he said, "I didn't have to spend as much time in the film room. I just kind of reacted. If a guy came free (on defense), I just ran.'' On the difference between then and now, he said, "Now I have to have a plan. I have to know where I'm going with the ball and not just rely on my legs. I have to be a more complete quarterback.'' Phillips knows all about Purdue quarterback Robert Marve, a sixth- year senior who started his career in Miami. For a third time, Marve is dealing with ACL damage to the same knee. Sound familiar? "I definitely have a lot of respect for him and what he's battling through,'' said Phillips, who just wants to earn his time on the field, as he did against Illinois. "It's a start, and we'll see where we can go with it.''