Wisconsin football: Grading position groups from week three vs. BYU

Again, Alex Hornibrook was the only quarterback to take meaningful snaps in this game. When we knew the game would be close, that was expected. He finished the day completing 18 of his 28 passes for 190 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception.

The interception was a pretty bad one. It was obvious on replay that he was just way too late on his throw and it wasn’t very accurate, to begin with. It was a gift that turned into a touchdown for BYU.

Hornibrook made another bone-headed play that could have easily been an interception too. He was being chased out of the pocket, stumbling to the ground, and blindly flipped the ball forward. A BYU defender was right in front of him, but Hornibrook didn’t see him. It caught the defender off guard, thankfully.

Hornibrook did have a few positives in this game, which results in his average score. A few of his 18 completions were some pretty impressive strikes. He found Jake Ferguson a few times, and Danny Davis and A.J. Taylor both also had catches that went for good gains in the game. His completion percentage (64%) wasn’t awful, but his yards per attempt (6.8) stunk.

Hornibrook also was able to lead a clutch drive at the end of the game. Wisconsin was pinned at its own eight-yard line trailing by three late in the fourth quarter. Hornibrook marched the team down into field goal range with good precision and decision making.

My favorite part of the drive was when Hornibrook scampered for a 16-yard gain on the ground and picked up a huge first down. I had been wanting to see if he could develop as a situational runner and that play showed me he has the potential to.

For just the second time in his Badger career, Hornibrook finished with positive rushing yards in a game.