Wisconsin to start true freshman Carter Smith at QB vs Indiana

Wisconsin is expected to start true freshman Carter Smith on the road against No. 2 Indiana during Week 12, On3’s Pete Nakos confirms. The decision comes after Danny O’Neil was injury last week against Washington.

Smith came into the game after O’Neil was injured. He ended up rushing for 47 yards and a touchdown, while completed 3-of-12 passes during the 13-10 win over the Huskies.

The move makes Smith the fourth quarterback to start a game for the Badgers. That includes Smith, O’Neil, Billy Edwards and Hunter Simmons.

Edwards was the starter out of fall camp but sprained his knee in the season opener. He tried to come back for the Maryland game, but didn’t make it past the first quarter before re-injuring his knee.

O’Neil and Simmons had split time under center over the next several weeks. However, the decision has been made to start Smith, a former three-star recruit, against the No. 2 team in the country.

For Edwards there is some potential that the Badgers QB could receive a medical redshirt having only competed in two games this season. However, head coach Luke Fickell has said that if Edwards was available, he’d play him.

“Am I hopeful that we see Billy play the last four games of the season? Yes,” Fickell said earlier this month before the Washington upset. “Would I be the last three? Yes? Would it be the last two? Yes? Would even the last one? Yeah, but I just don’t know where that is, and that’s what’s been as much of a struggle for us to continue to grow as anything.”

If this is the case, it would grant Edwards, a fifth-year senior, one more year of eligibility. He could either stay at Wisconsin or use it to play his last season of college ball elsewhere. Edwards began his career at Wake Forest where he took his initial redshirt before playing the next three seasons for Maryland.

As a result of the Bagers’ inconsistencies under center, Wisconsin is 3-6 overall with a 1-5 record against Big Ten opponents. It won its first conference game last week against the Huskies, and would love for that momentum to follow them through the end of the regular season.

With no room for error moving forward, Smith will make his first collegiate start against one the nation’s best teams this season. Kickoff is set for Noon ET live on the Big Ten Network.