Wisconsin football gets encouraging injury news on QB Billy Edwards: Report
Wisconsin football escaped Miami (OH) with a win and some positive QB news: Billy Edwards' MRI shows a sprained knee and is week-to-week.
For a moment on Thursday night, it felt like the Wisconsin football team might be staring down the barrel of an all-too-familiar nightmare. Starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. went down with a non-contact lower-body injury in the second quarter of the Badgers’ 17-0 win over Miami (OH), and you could feel the air sucked out of Camp Randall Stadium.
Given what this program has endured at QB during Luke Fickell’s tenure as head coach, with Tanner Mordecai sidelined by a broken hand that required surgery in Year 1 and Tyler Van Dyke lost to a torn ACL in Year 2, you’d have to forgive Badgers fans for holding their collective breath.
Edwards, the 6-foot-3 Maryland transfer, walked off under his own power and returned to the sideline in street clothes after halftime. He stayed engaged with teammates in huddles, but his night was over after just 28 offensive snaps. Statistically, it was an uneven debut: 6-of-13 passing for 68 yards, with a 51.9 offensive grade from Pro Football Focus.
That left the Badgers to turn to San Diego State transfer Danny O’Neil, a sophomore who started 11 games last season for the Aztecs. O’Neil completed 12-of-19 pass attempts for 120 yards, two total touchdowns, and one interception. On paper, it was solid enough for a guy who didn't get many first-team reps during game week preparation. However, O'Neil graded out as Wisconsin’s lowest offensive performer, logging a 44.2 offensive grade and just a 32.2 passing grade across 50 snaps.
"He’s played a lot of ball," Fickell said of O'Neil. "That maturity to prepare well enough to perform when you don’t get as many reps, that’s huge. Hindsight says maybe we should have split the reps more evenly, but that’s the game. You never know when your number’s called. Competitive excellence means being ready, and I thought he did a good job. There’ll be plenty to harp on, but you never saw it on his face. That confidence isn’t something you can teach."
As steady as O’Neil looked under the circumstances, Fickell’s focus naturally shifted back to his preferred starter. And as impressed as he was with the way O’Neil handled himself, he still didn’t have any answers on Edwards. After the game, Fickell made that clear.
“First things first, I’ll start off by saying I don’t have any answers on Billy, so we can just get that out of the way right now," Fickell said. "Don’t know a whole lot. Good to see, though, that he was back out there, able to be a part of the game and be with our team. Hopefully that’s a really good sign for things moving forward, but we won’t have any updates right now.”
Less than 24 hours later, Wisconsin finally got some clarity.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Edwards had a clean MRI and is considered week-to-week with a sprained knee. The precise timetable remains uncertain, but the worst fears were eliminated. This wasn’t season-ending. In fact, considering the alternatives, this is about as good of news as the Badgers could have hoped for. It is, however, worth noting that this is the same knee Edwards tweaked during fall camp, forcing him to wear a brace. That makes his recovery something to monitor.
The reality is simple: if Wisconsin is going to outperform expectations in Year 3 under Fickell, having Edwards available is non-negotiable.
O’Neil is a capable backup with legitimate game experience, and that mattered against Miami (OH). But the ceiling of this team is tied to Edwards being under center. They caught a break here, and now the challenge will be playing it safe and ensuring Edwards is fully healthy before he’s asked to take another snap for Wisconsin.
Wisconsin (1-0) now turns its attention to Middle Tennessee, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. next Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. The Badgers escaped the opener with a shutout win, and just as importantly, with their quarterback’s long-term health largely still intact.
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Good, informative post. Seems like if we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't have any luck at all.
Not another injury; seems every game someone’s hurt !!! Not in shape???