David Stluka/UW Athletics
Was picking Alex Hornibrook as QB for the Ohio State game a bad decision?
The Wisconsin Badgers football team is halfway through its toughest schedule in years. After facing four teams ranked in the Top 10 — beating two of them (No. 5 LSU and No. 8 Michigan State), letting its guard down against No. 4 Michigan and taking No. 2 Ohio State to within one play of a second overtime on Oct. 15 at Camp Randall Stadium — it’s easy to ask “what if.”
What if head coach Paul Chryst hadn’t swapped fifth-year senior quarterback Bart Houston, who led UW to a 16-14 victory over LSU at Lambeau Field on Sept. 3, for redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook, whose first-ever start resulted in a convincing 30-6 defeat of Michigan State in enemy territory on Sept. 24? Hornibrook threw one interception and another almost-pick in Saturday’s 30-23 loss to the Buckeyes, and he tossed a critical interception against the Wolverines the previous week.
What if the Badgers’ bye week had come in between the Michigan State and Michigan games, rather than the Michigan and Ohio State games? Would the break have helped propel UW toward victory against the Wolverines and Buckeyes? Watching the Badgers play Ohio State, especially in the first half when they held OSU to two field goals, it was clear an additional week of preparation almost paid off.
What-ifs are nothing more than excuses, though. And as Chryst told his dejected team after Saturday’s crushing loss on national television: “There are no moral victories. You guys are too damn good for that.”
The Badgers, ranked No. 8 heading into the Buckeyes game and now at No. 10, are damn good — way better than most people expected. All you needed to do was read Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer’s lips after his post-game interview with ESPN sideline reporter Sam Ponder on Saturday, when he looked around Camp Randall and proclaimed “Wow” on his way to the locker room.
I don’t think that man says “wow” very often.
The Badgers (4-2 overall, 1-2 in the Big Ten) now face a slightly softer schedule, at least compared to the first half of the season. Of UW’s next six opponents, only one (No. 8 Nebraska) is currently ranked, but all save Minnesota have overall winning records.
Wisconsin meets Iowa (5-2 overall, 3-1 in the Big Ten) on Oct. 22 in Iowa City at 11 a.m., and they again will need to play their best football of the season to avoid any more what-if scenarios.
