While Wisconsin is a familiar opponent for Northwestern, you may have not watched the Badgers much this season so far. The Badgers have not played many big-name opponents, with BYU being the best team they’ve played in non-conference. However, Wisconsin has been nearly flawless in those three games.
When Wisconsin promoted redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook from the second-string early last year, the results were decidedly mixed. Hornibrook quickly gained a reputation as a bit of a “game manager.” He split snaps with Bart Houston at times and also got injured at the end of the season against Minnesota.