Jack Coan to start at quarterback for Wisconsin in 2018 Pinstripe Bowl

Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst told reporters on Thursday morning that sophomore quarterback Jack Coan will start against Miami in the 2018 Pinstripe Bowl.

Chryst noted redshirt junior Alex Hornibrook practiced for two to three weeks of bowl practices before some “reoccurring” symptoms popped up related to a head injury suffered earlier this season.

The head coach also noted Hornibrook saw a specialist in Michigan sometime during the season as well. This will be the fourth game missed by the redshirt junior, who was ruled out for the Northwestern game on Oct. 27, then exited the home win against Rutgers after the first half. He missed the next two games at Penn State and Purdue before starting in the 37-15 home loss to Minnesota.

When asked if his southpaw is still hopeful to return to football next season, Chryst mentioned it was too early to tell.

“You’re going through it, and so I don’t know all the ramifications right now,” Chryst said. “You just take it day-to-day, and week-to-week on it.”

Coan will play in his fifth game (fourth start) of this 2018 season. He completed 61 percent of his passes for 442 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. His last game action came in the triple-overtime comeback win at Purdue where he completed 16 of 24 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns.

Starting against Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl will effectively burn Coan’s redshirt for this season under the NCAA’s new redshirt rule.

“Jack’s awesome,” Chryst said when asked what Coan’s mindset when he learned he would start. “He’s excited, and we didn’t go into this season saying we want to redshirt you. We went into the season saying we want your snaps to be meaningful and all that.”

The first notification that came out about Coan’s apparent start was through social media on Wednesday night, by his father, Mike.

Chryst said that the team started “in-depth preparation” for its bowl match-up against Miami on Dec. 27 (4:15 p.m. CT, ESPN).