A bad weekend for the Wisconsin Badgers got even worse on Monday.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Monday that Wisconsin quarterback Tyler Van Dyke tore the ACL in his right knee during the Badgers’ 42-10 loss to Alabama, sidelining him for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Wisconsin added Van Dyke via the transfer portal this offseason with hopes of bolstering its passing attack after ranking 120th in the nation last season with only 6.1 passing yards per attempt. Van Dyke transferred to Wisconsin from Miami, where he threw for 2,703 yards and 19 touchdowns with 12 interceptions and a 65.8% completion percentage in 2023.
With Van Dyke sidelined, redshirt sophomore Braedyn Locke – who started three games for the Badgers in 2023, including their 24-10 loss to Ohio State – takes over as the Badgers’ starting quarterback. He completed exactly 50% of his 152 passing attempts for 777 yards and five touchdowns with one interceptions last year, and completed exactly 50% of his 26 attempts for 125 yards with one touchdown after replacing Van Dyke against Alabama on Saturday.
Van Dyke’s injury won’t make life easier for Luke Fickell’s squad as the Badgers look to bounce back from Saturday’s blowout loss. While they have two weeks to begin rebuilding their offense around Locke, as they are on their first bye this week, they face a difficult matchup coming out of the bye to begin Big Ten play as they travel to face USC on the road.
After beating each of Western Michigan and South Dakota by only 14 points before Saturday’s loss to Alabama, and now losing their starting quarterback, the Badgers could have their work cut out for them just to secure a winning season as they face a Big Ten schedule that also includes home games against Penn State and Oregon as well as road trips to Rutgers, Iowa and Nebraska.
