Bart Houston to start at quarterback for Wisconsin against Penn State

#StartBart takes full effect tonight, with a lot at stake.

Redshirt senior Bart Houston will start at quarterback on Saturday night for the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Championship Game against No. 7 Penn State.

Wisconsin (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) announced the move via Twitter, with the Big Ten Network’s Mike Hall first reporting it after his pregame discussion with head coach Paul Chryst.

Houston replaces redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook, who appears to be available per Chryst’s discussion with ESPN earlier on Saturday. Hornibrook suffered a head injury in the second quarter of Wisconsin’s 31-17 victory over Minnesota last weekend.

Before being replaced by Hornibrook in the third game of the season against Georgia State, Houston started the first three contests. Delegated to the backup role, the California native has played well as the change-of-pace quarterback since Wisconsin’s 17-9 win at Iowa on Oct. 22.

Since that victory over the Hawkeyes, Houston has completed 25 of 37 passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns with only one interception. He’s also shown a mobility that has added another dimension to the offense.

Against the Gophers last week, he completed nine of 14 passes for 123 yards with no interceptions and led Wisconsin on all five of its scoring drives.

For the season, Houston has completed almost 64 percent of his passes for 912 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions.