Houston gets nod at quarterback
He fills in after Gophers roughed up Hornibrook
Indianapolis — Wisconsin quarterback Bart Houston got the start against Penn State in the Big Ten title game Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium, his first start since Week 3 against Georgia State.
Houston replaced redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook, who suffered an apparent concussion in the regular-season finale against Minnesota but practiced all week. Houston completed 16 of 21 passes for 174 yards against the Nittany Lions.
UW was without defensive lineman Conor Sheehy, who suffered an arm injury in the 3117 victory over the Gophers. Sheehy was listed on the team’s injury report as questionable. The Badgers’ top two nose tackles were Olive Sagapolu and
Garrett Rand. Sagapolu missed five games because of an arm injury before returning last week.
What if? The near misses have been few but maddening since Barry Alvarez resurrected the UW program.
Beginning with the breakthrough season in 1993, UW has finished in the top six of the national polls four times.
After the 1993, ’98, ’99 and 2006 seasons UW fans were left to wonder what more the Badgers could have done to win a national title.
Paul Chryst, who is 20-6 in his first two seasons as head coach at Wisconsin after Saturday’s gut-wrenching loss against No. 7 Penn State in the Big Ten title game, believes UW eventually can finish No. 1.
“I think every program strives for that,” he said. “Yeah, I think it is possible in a lot of places, Wisconsin being one.”
In 1993, UW finished 10-1-1 and No. 5 in the final poll. The only loss was a 28-21 decision at Minnesota.
In ’98, UW was 9-0 and ranked No. 8 when it traveled to Michigan. A 27-10 loss to the Wolverines dropped UW five spots in the rankings. The Badgers went on to upset UCLA in the Rose Bowl to finish 11-1 and No. 5.
In ’99, consecutive losses to Cincinnati and Michigan dropped UW from No. 8 to unranked. The Badgers won their final eight games behind redshirt freshman quarterback Brooks Bollinger and running back Ron Dayne to finish 10-2 and No. 4.
In 2006, UW’s lone loss came at Michigan in the Big Ten opener. UW won its final eight games and finished 12-1 and No. 5 in Bret Bielema’s first season as head coach.
UW entered the Big Ten title game Saturday with only an outside chance to qualify for the College Football Playoff. The consecutive losses to Michigan and Ohio State left UW needing to defeat Penn State and see Virginia Tech upset No. 3 Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game to reach the playoff.
“I think Wisconsin is a team that competes for the national championship every single year and will continue to compete for the national championship,” redshirt senior outside linebacker Vince Biegel said. “We’ve got a guy who believes in that motto, that mind-set. We’re fortunate to have him on board.”
Playoff update: Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany, appearing Saturday morning on the set of ESPN’s “GameDay,” opined that No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Ohio State have done enough to secure spots in the four-team field. That field is to be revealed Sunday on ESPN.
“It seems to me like there’s probably winners of games today, plus Michigan, who the committee is going to have to sort through, to fill out those next two slots,” he said. “What we have right now are two slots available and probably three, four, five teams fighting for those.”
Delany at one time was a proponent of the four best conference champions qualifying for the playoffs. No more.
“I was a campaign manager four years ago for the best conference champions,” he said. “We lost that election. And what we decided on was the four best teams, which I’m fine with.
“Obviously, this year is
unique in some ways. We have the two divisional champions playing head to head here today, for the conference championship. And they’ve won their divisions and they should be respected for that.
“The committee has another role and that is to pick the four best teams in the country.” New coach, new offense:
Penn State coach James Franklin wasted little time last year searching for an offensive coordinator who could breathe life into a moribund unit. Franklin fired John Donovan after the 2015 regular-season finale Nov. 28 and hired Fordham head coach Joe Moorhead in mid-December. Moorhead guided the Rams to a 38-13 record in four seasons and was known for fielding a dynamic spread offense.
Under Moorhead’s guidance this season, the Nittany Lions are averaging 36.6 points and 429.7 yards per game. They averaged 23.2 and 348.4 last season. Quarterback Trace McSorley, in his first season as the starter, passed for 2,976 yards and rushed for 372 entering Saturday. He had 21 touchdown passes and only five interceptions.
Tailback Saquon Barkley rushed for 1,219 yards and 15 touchdowns and added 327 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Penn State had 80 plays of 20 yards or longer through 12 games — 57 pass plays and 23 runs.
“I’ve been following Joe for a number of years,” Franklin said. “I thought it just made sense. I thought Joe was going to bring a lot of creativity and excitement to our offense — and leadership.”