Wisconsin football: QB Alex Hornibrook named Big Ten Freshman of the Week

A solid starting debut leads to a conference honor for quarterback Alex Hornibrook.

After guiding the Wisconsin Badgers (4-0) to three touchdown drives in the red zone and moving the chains through the air in their 30-6 against the Michigan State Spartans (2-1) last Saturday, the Pennsylvania southpaw earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.

Hornibrook completed 16-of-26 passes for 195 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The more impressive statistics come on third down, where he completed nine of 13 passes for 136 yards with six first downs and a touchdown. Even more impressive, he completed all six of his passes when facing conversions of over 10 yards.

On the season, Hornibrook has completed 29-of-43 passes (67.4 percent) for 378 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Hornibrook and the Wisconsin offense will face a Michigan defense ranked first in the nation in third-down conversion defense, allowing opponents to move the chains just 12 percent of the time. Michigan has given up only 268.8 yards and 13.8 points per game so far.