Wisconsin Badgers and Luke Fickell sticking with true freshman QB against Indiana

Smith entered once O'Neil went down against the Huskies and remained under center for all but one drive, which he ceded to Hunter Simmons in the closing seconds of the first half.

Despite helping lead Wisconsin to its first ranked win in four years, Smith seemingly had to compete with Simmons in the days before facing Indiana.

Fickell abstained from naming a starter during his weekly press conference Monday, noting that Smith's entrance against Washington was, in part, due to his ability to run the football.

That was a primary focus in Wisconsin's offensive attack when O'Neil was at the helm.

But Smith threw for just eight yards on 12 passing attempts, putting no pressure on the opposing secondary.

Against a team like Indiana, which leads the country in points per game, Wisconsin's offense must be able to throw the ball downfield — something Fickell acknowledged in his press conference.

Simmons is in his fifth year of college football and may have been more well equipped to threaten the Hoosiers secondary. But in four starts this season, he has struggled to consistently complete passes.

He topped 100 passing yards in just one of those outings and completed eight or fewer passes in each of his final three starts.

Instead, Fickell will roll the dice with the true freshman, who, despite looking unpolished in the pass game, offered the Badgers a major spark as a rusher against Washington.