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College Football: Misericordia, King’s, Wilkes vying for postseason

Once again, a concussion may keep Alex Hornibrook from facing Penn State. How much it will actually affect the game remains to be seen.Wisconsin&#8217;s starting quarterback wasn&#8217;t able to suit up for the 2016 Big Ten title game because of a head injury, and his availability for Saturday&#8217;s game at Beaver Stadium is in doubt for the same reason.The junior from Philadelphia suburbs was listed as questionable by the Badgers at the start of the week has twice been in concussion protocol in the past month. Sophomore Jack Coan has been practicing with the first team this week according to reports out of Madison.Coan got his first career start last month in a critical game against Northwestern when Hornibrook was unavailable. He completed 20 passes but for just 158 yards in a 31-17 loss that knocked the Badgers out of the driver&#8217;s seat for another Big Ten West title.Last Saturday against Rutgers, Hornibrook hit his head off the turf at the end of the first half and did not return. Coan wasn&#8217;t asked to do much to close out a 31-17 win, going 5-for-7 for 64 yards and a touchdown.Penn State will have to prepare to face both, with Coan being the more mobile of the two.&#8220;In today&#8217;s day and age with concussions and things like that, when you know a guy is in a concussion protocol and he&#8217;s been in it a couple times this year, I think that&#8217;s challenging,&#8221; Nittany Lions coach James Franklin said. &#8220;I think we&#8217;d better be prepared for not only the starter, like we always do, but also the backup.&#8221;But on some level, the quarterback won&#8217;t make a huge difference in the flow of the game. While the Lions would undoubtedly prefer to face the less-experienced Coan, they recognize that the Badgers&#8217; main plan on offense will be to keep feeding Jonathan Taylor, the nation&#8217;s leading rusher at 1,363 yards.Taylor is the latest in a line of star tailbacks to emerge at Wisconsin, bursting onto the scene last season as a freshman.&#8220;I think at the end of the day, with them, I don&#8217;t know how much (the quarterback) will factor in because I think it will start with the run game,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;It&#8217;s going to go with the run game through the second and third quarter and it&#8217;s going to be the run game in the fourth quarter. It starts and ends with the run game for them, and then obviously they are going to compliment it with play-action pass.&#8220;So we&#8217;ve got to be prepared for those things, but I don&#8217;t really see the style of the game changing based on the quarterback that they have in there.&#8221;THREE AND OUTChallenge for the defenseTaylor presents a big problem for a Lions defense that ranks in the bottom half of the country against the run. At 172.2 yards per game allowed on the ground, Penn State sits at 79th nationally.Last week at Michigan, the Wolverines were able to set the tone early on the ground. On their first drive, all seven play calls were runs, capped off by a quarterback bootleg for a touchdown.This will be the biggest test yet.&#8220;Obviously they are a talented team up front and he&#8217;s a very talented back,&#8221; safety Garrett Taylor said. &#8220;But you know, I&#8217;ve been saying for a long time, I think we&#8217;re really talented as a defense. I think you&#8217;ve got to look at guys like (defensive linemen Shareef Miller, Yetur Gross-Matos and Kevin Givens). Our front seven are playing really well right now.&#8220;I think it&#8217;s going to start up front and I think our guys are going to do a great job of giving Wisconsin hard looks and getting knocked back off the ball. And I think we&#8217;re going to come out with the right intentions on defense. I think everything after that will take care of itself.&#8221;Sparking the offensePenn State&#8217;s own running game was stuck in neutral against the Wolverines, finishing with 68 yards &#8212; 107 if not counting sacks. But the majority came of that on runs by backup quarterback Tommy Stevens with the game well out of hand.Previously one of the top rushers in the Big Ten, Miles Sanders finished with just 14 yards on seven carries with a long run of 4.Not that Sanders could be expected to do much against a smothering Michigan defense. But the problem was compounded by the fact that the Wolverines had little to no fear of getting beaten deep with Penn State&#8217;s receiving corps banged up and inconsistent.Leading receiver KJ Hamler was visibly frustrated at the end of the game after he was held to one catch in front of friends and family from his nearby hometown of Pontiac, Mich.&#8220;Yeah, they are frustrated with us not having the team success last Saturday,&#8221; Franklin said of the wideouts. &#8220;That&#8217;s kind of where our guys are at. Our guys want the team to be successful. They want to contribute towards that success.&#8221;Helping the Lions will be the absence of starting Badgers nose tackle Olive Sagapolu, as the massive senior underwent arm surgery on Wednesday and will miss the rest of the season.Celebrating THONLions players will be wearing stickers on the backs of their helmets to recognize the efforts of the university&#8217;s THON event, a two-day-long dance marathon that has raised more than $147 million in the fight against pediatric cancer.Senior offensive lineman Charlie Shuman helped spearhead the effort to hold a THON day during the season. Shuman has been deeply involved in charity work since high school and has participated in THON himself.&#8220;It puts everything that we get to do in perspective,&#8221; Shuman said. &#8220;We get to play a game every day and work throughout the year to play 12 games, when really throughout the year we have it easy. And no matter how hard our workouts can get, we&#8217;re blessed with the opportunity to play football and play a game where some of those kids don&#8217;t get that opportunity.&#8220;It&#8217;s all about perspective. I think THON gives back to us just as much as we give to it.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State struggled to stop Karan Higdon and Michigan&#8217;s running game last week and now must deal with the nation&#8217;s leading rusher in Wisconsin&#8217;s Jonathan Taylor on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_AP18308149036499.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State struggled to stop Karan Higdon and Michigan&#8217;s running game last week and now must deal with the nation&#8217;s leading rusher in Wisconsin&#8217;s Jonathan Taylor on Saturday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Ding | AP photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>PSU GAMEDAYWisconsin (6-3, 4-2) atNo. 20 Penn State (6-3, 3-3)Noon, todayBeaver StadiumTV: ABCLine: Penn State by 9</factboxMeta></div>

Plenty of questions for Penn State, Wisconsin to answer Saturday