Wisconsin received bad news about its starting quarterback, while Iowa received good news on its. The availability report was released two hours before the game, showing Billy Edwards Jr. for Wisconsin as OUT, while Mark Gronowski was nowhere to be found. This means that the Badgers will be without their starting quarterback while Iowa will have theirs.
This is significant as the Badgers have yet to win a Big Ten game this season and have yet to see more than a few plays from Edwards Jr. He was injured in the opening game against Miami (OH), and while he tried to return against his former team, Maryland, that may have actually set him back more than it helped.
Billy Edwards Jr. is listed as OUT.
— Badger of Honor (@BadgerOfHonorFS) October 11, 2025
It's gonna be Hunter Simmons again.
3-string quarterback Hunter Simmons will start against the Iowa Hawkeyes
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The Badgers will turn to third-string quarterback Hunter Simmons again, as last week he looked more ready and effective than backup Danny O'Neil did in his starts. O'Neil will serve as the backup, similar to last week. It will be interesting to see how much of the offense is opened up to Simmons.
The biggest frustration from Wisconsin fans for Simmons' last start was that he never took any shots. It seemed as if head coach Luke Fickell and offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes were keeping things easy and simple for him. However, the Michigan Wolverines figured this out and crashed the backfield and jumped the short routes.
The only time that Simmons was able to air it out, the refs missed a huge pass interference call against Michigan, and the ball was picked off. This week against Iowa, Simmons will need to be able to use the whole playbook if the Badgers hope to pull off the upset and get the Heartland Trophy back.