Passing a crash course at QB
Hornibrook plays well as role grows
Arlington, Texas — The losses to Michigan and Ohio State, his second and third college starts, still sting for Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook.
“Those two losses are the ones that hurt the most,” the redshirt freshman said. “But you learn from every single one. Even the games that went well, you learn from those, too.”
Hornibrook has carried a full course load this season, having started nine of the 11 games in which he has played.
After sitting and watching Bart Houston go the distance in the opener against LSU, Hornibrook played well in a reserve role in Games 2 and 3. He completed 13 of 17 passes (76.5%) for 183 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Those performances, against Akron and Georgia State, so impressed head coach Paul Chryst that he made Hornibrook the starter
for the Big Ten opener at Michigan State.
Hornibrook went the distance in the first three league games, including the losses to the Wolverines and Buckeyes, and Chryst then decided to use both quarterbacks.
He did so for the final six regular-season games, with UW going 6-0.
“You’re going to have different things thrown at you in a season and you can’t really predict what they are,” Hornibrook said. “But me and Bart have just adjusted to it. All we can do is play when we’re on the field and then help out when we’re not.
“It hasn’t been a huge deal.”
Hornibrook completed 54 of 96 passes (56.3%) for 680 yards, with five touchdowns and six interceptions, in his first five games.
In the six regular-season games during which Houston came off the bench, Hornibrook completed 50 of 83 passes (60.2%) for 563 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception.
With 1,243 passing yards, Hornibrook trails only Darrell Bevell (1,479 yards in 1992) for passing yards by a UW freshman.
One area identified by Hornibrook as needing improvement is how long he holds onto the ball if a play isn’t there.
He was sacked on the final play of overtime in the loss to Ohio State — though no receiver was open — and he held onto the ball too long when he scrambled in the regularseason finale against Minnesota.
He absorbed a hard hit near the sideline on the play against Minnesota and suffered a concussion when his head hit the turf.
Hornibrook returned to practice in a few days and was cleared to play in the Big Ten title game. However, the reappearance of symptoms late in the week led the staff to hold him out against Penn State.
“If I would have got it off I would have been all right,” he said of the play against Minnesota.
Whereas Houston has been used as a runner at times, Hornibrook believes he needs to stay in the pocket until the last possible moment.
“I just know my strength is throwing the ball and I’m not afraid to take a hit and hang in there,” he said. “If I’ve got to hold onto the ball longer and take one in the mouth then I’ll do it.
“I feel good in the pocket. Obviously, pocket presence improves when you play more and have more guys coming at you. We work it every day in practice. All quarterbacks do, so it just kind of develops.”
Hornibrook and Houston both are expected to play when No. 8 UW (10-3) faces No. 14 Western Michigan (13-0) on Monday in the Cotton Bowl.
Beginning in the spring, Hornibrook will resume the battle to open 2017 as UW’s No. 1 quarterback.
His competition: Kare’ Lyles, who is redshirting this season, and Jack Coan, who is graduating early from high school and is set to enroll at UW and participate in spring practice.
“Boy, there’s so many lessons to be learned,” Chryst said when asked about Hornibrook’s first season on the field. “And maybe (other) lessons are reinforced.
“He’s got to take all these experiences — finish out this year, obviously — but then the off-season … he has got to take that and grow. There is nothing like experience.
“I think he’s got a lot of areas he can build on that are positive and a lot he can get better at.”