Five players to watch for Wisconsin Football vs. BYU

MADISON, WI - AUGUST 31: Jonathan Taylor #23 of the Wisconsin Badgers celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Camp Randall Stadium on August 31, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

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MADISON, WI – AUGUST 31: Alex Hornibrook #12 of the Wisconsin Badgers drops back to pass in the first quarter against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Camp Randall Stadium on August 31, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Hornibrook is who I’m actually most looking forward to seeing this weekend. Last year against BYU he completed 18 of 19 passes for 256 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Besides the Orange Bowl, it was probably his best game of the year.

Jonathan Taylor still ran for over 120 yards in the game last year, but I think Hornibrook playing at an elite level is why the game was so out of hand. Now BYU is tasked with game planning against one guy or the other. There’s no way they can stop both Taylor and Hornibrook.

Most teams would opt to load the box and force Hornibrook to beat them with his arm. The problem for BYU is they saw first hand what that arm can do when it’s on. It might not want to try that game plan again.

So far, Hornibrook hasn’t been airing it out too much. He only completed eight passes last week, but that’s mostly due to the running game being so dominant. Who knows? Maybe he won’t have to complete more than eight passes this week. But I do know his game last year will be talked about plenty during the broadcast. And I want to see if he can do it again.