MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin’s quarterback room is finally back to full strength

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday, and head coach Paul Chryst confirmed that senior quarterback Jack Coan is expected to dress for Saturday’s game against Indiana and play Saturday, if needed.

“Each week, Jack has been able to progress,” Chryst said Thursday. “It’s been a little bit of a long road for him, but each week been able to do more.”

Coan, who started all 14 games for Wisconsin last season, suffered a right foot injury on Oct. 3 and underwent surgery four days later. He was ruled out indefinitely with no timetable placed on him, but Chryst said last week that he was doing more on a weekly basis.

In Coan's place, redshirt freshman Graham Mertz has completed 65.5 percent of his passes (55 of 84), has averaged 201.7 yards per game and thrown eight touchdowns to three interceptions. Coan completed 69.6 percent of his passes last season for an average of 194.8 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Redshirt sophomore Chase Wolf, who has dealt with coronavirus, and redshirt junior Danny Vanden Boom have both played this season but not attempted a pass.

C.J. Goetz appears to have finally found a home.

Originally recruited to and beginning his career at inside linebacker, Goetz started to bulk up to play defensive end last season but ended up playing primarily on special teams throughout the season. Being shifted to outside linebacker, the former Waukesha Catholic Memorial athlete has started to find his niche.

Goetz is tied for the third on the team in tackles (nine), has added two tackles for loss and a sack. More importantly, the redshirt sophomore seems to consistently be around the ball.

“CJ’s been awesome to see and watch his growth,” Chryst said. “I think he’s playing with a real confidence in the position. We’re kind of bouncing him around. I think he’s truly found a home where he can fit and contribute. Love his approach, his competitiveness, his toughness. We think he’s athletic for his size. We get to see him every day and there’s quite a bit of production in him. I think he’s been on of those bright spots, just to see a guy take advantage of an opportunity and continuing to grow.”

Nick Herbig left his comforts of Hawaii to enroll at Wisconsin this past January, sacrificing the warmth of the Hawaiian Islands to get a jump start on spring practices in a cold Midwest winter. And while winter conditioning was a success, spring practices were a bust due to their cancelation because of COVID. He hasn’t missed a beat.

Starting the first three games of the season, Herbig has seen five of his nine tackles go for a loss as

“I’m definitely blessed to be in this position,” he said. “My main goal coming into was to not just impact the defense, but the team in any way possible. It just so happened that my chance was to play outside linebacker and get a lot of playing time this year. I just took that role upon myself. I’m doing it for more than myself. It is for the team.”

Herbig had another advantage in his hip pocket for early playing time with his daily training battles with his older brother, Nate, a second-year guard with the Philadelphia Eagles. Throw in the two inches and 100-plus pounds Nate had over him, Nick had quite the conditioning challenge.

“I love it, even though it’s a love-hate thing for me,” Nick said. “I love training with him, but I hate it because he’s so hard on me. He pushes me, but I love that. He pushes me to be better, to be great, and push through it, push through the pain. I know it’s going to pay off.”

The cancelation of Wisconsin’s third game last weekend made the Badgers ineligible for the Big Ten championship game, but they are far from alone in dealing with COVID issues. Maryland had to cancel two games last month as it dealt with elevated coronavirus numbers and had its third game canceled this week because Michigan had to pause team activities. The Gophers canceled this weekend’s game against Northwestern because the program has had over 40 cases.

Ohio State – which lost its game against Maryland – had to cancel last week’s game against Illinois and is trying to play against Michigan State this weekend, even though multiple contributors will be absent.

Despite all the sudden starts and stops the 2020 season has provided, and outside criticism that the season shouldn’t have been played in the first place, Burks said he and numerous players are “absolutely” thankful to play any games.

“We are all very grateful for the opportunity to get a chance to play games this season,” said outside linebacker Noah Burks, one of 21 seniors on the roster. “We’re thankful to the Big Ten for allowing that and getting us back out there. I think just being around the guys and knowing that we are able to play every week is a motivator within itself, coming here and treating every game the same way, getting our prep in and, honestly, going out there and getting to play the games.

“It does suck when the games do get canceled because it what guys want and especially for guys who this is going to be their last season. At least them having this opportunity to play some games is a really big thing.”

Extra Points: Chryst said senior receiver Danny Davis hasn’t done much work during the week but “has been feeling better each day” … The Hoosiers are the first top-10 team to come to Madison since No. 2 Ohio State and No. 7 Nebraska visited Camp Randall for a pair of overtime thrillers over the course of 3 weeks in 2016 … The Badgers are currently favored by 14 points.