Wisconsin will be without nose tackle Olive Sagapolu for the rest of the season, and possibly without quarterback Alex Hornibrook for Saturday’s game at Penn State.
Sagapolu, a senior who has started games in each of the past four years and became a full-time starter in 2017, underwent season-ending surgery for a right arm injury suffered during an Oct. 27 loss at Northwestern. His college career is over with 26 starts and 44 game appearances. Freshman Bryson Williams started in place of Sagapolu last week against Rutgers and will get the nod again at Penn State.
“I’ve liked the way he’s approached this whole year,” Badgers coach Paul Chryst told reporters of Williams after Thursday’s practice. “All those previous experiences help you in your next game.”
Hornibrook, a three-year starter, is listed as questionable for the Penn State game with a concussion. He missed the Northwestern game while going through concussion protocol and returned for the Rutgers game, but he didn’t play in the second half after absorbing a hit and re-entered the concussion protocol.
Sophomore Jack Coan, who started against Northwestern and played the second half against Rutgers, would start if Hornibrook isn’t cleared.
“The protocol, the steps of it are such that you can do some things,” Chryst told reporters Thursday, “but at the same time, you don’t want to be in that the whole season. So we’ll see if he can, and if not, then obviously Jack will go, and we feel good with the preparation that he’s had.”