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Wisconsin nose guard Warren Herring and Derek Watt will both miss time with injuries, various outlets reported Tuesday night.
Warren Herring had right knee surgery today. Out 4-6 weeks. Derek Watt right foot surgery. Out until November. #Badgers
— Jesse Temple (@jessetemple) September 3, 2014
Both players were injured in Saturday's loss to LSU. Herring, a senior and one of the most critical players on Wisconsin's defense, was injured on the final play of the third quarter when his right knee/leg was rolled up upon. His replacement will be Arthur Goldberg a redshirt sophomore who didn't play last season and posted five tackles vs. LSU. A pair of freshmen whom UW remains undecided (at least publicly) about redshirting, Conor Sheehy and Jeremy Patterson, are also expected to play more.
As for Watt, he also injured his right foot vs. LSU. He posted just one tackle in the game, though his versatility as a blocker and rusher was expected to land him more playing time in the offense. Redshirt freshman Austin Ramesh is his backup. Ramesh redshirted last year.
Losing two starters obviously stings, especially after the way the opener went down. UW's schedule is at least manageable -- on paper, that ever-popular caveat -- until November. Wisconsin plays Western Illinois at home before its first bye, then hosts Bowling Green (which just lost starting quarterback Matt Johnson for the season) and South Florida to round out non-conference play. Home games vs. Illinois and Maryland, with another bye sandwiched in between, will get the Badgers to November. Road games at Rutgers and Purdue then come next.
Some good injury news for the Badgers came from defensive end Konrad Zagzebski, who is expected to play Saturday after suffering a scary-looking head/neck injury in the first quarter of Saturday's game. Zagzebski, who's head was crunched into a LSU ball-carrier while making a tackle, said he lost feeling in the left side of his body. He was able to travel home with the team, however, and has been a limited participant in practice this week.