As the Nebraska football team prepares for its Big Ten schedule, starting with a ranked faceoff against Illinois this Friday, it just found out its path got a bit easier. One of the Huskers’ chief rivals since joining the conference officially has to undergo a quarterback shuffle.
The Wisconsin Badgers have already had problems starting Year 2 of the Luke Fickel era as they hoped. Suffering a blowout loss to Alabama last weekend was just the start of a nightmare couple of days for Wiscy.
While not a real surprise after seeing Tyler Van Dyke exit that game early and return on crutches, the Nebraska football rival made it official on Monday. The starting quarterback is officially out for the rest of the 2024 season.
ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Van Dyke tore the ACL in his right leg. While the school hasn’t said for sure what injury is keeping him sidelined, it has confirmed Fickel now needs to find a new quarterback to lead his squad for the bulk of a season he hoped would end in a playoff spot.
Nebraska football rival suffers big quarterback blow
It looks like Fickel will now turn to Braedyn Locke for the remainder of the season. Locke did come into the game against Alabama after Van Dyke had to exit. He didn’t perform too poorly.
Last weekend, he completed 13-of-26 passes for 125 yards and the Badgers’ only touchdown. He put up those numbers because Van Dyke - who transferred to Madison after three seasons with the Miami Hurricanes - was injured after throwing just five passes.
Locke has some experience as the emergency quarterback for Fickel’s squad. Last year, he appeared in four games after last year’s starter, Tanner Mordecai broke his hand in the middle of the 2023 campaign.
Locke finished last season with 777 yards, 5 TDs and 1 INT. However, it wasn’t all wine and roses as Wisconsin went just 1-3 with him at the helm.
The Nebraska football rival will get his first test right away. The Badgers take on the 11th-ranked USC Trojans on September 28 after getting a chance to practice up with a bye this weekend.