Jeff Potrykus

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Madison — Wisconsin should have its top two quarterbacks available for the Big Ten Conference championship game.

Redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook, who suffered an apparent concussion in the regular-season finale against Minnesota, practiced Tuesday.

UW coach Paul Chryst was not available for comment Tuesday but said Sunday that Hornibrook felt fine after going through an aerobic workout.

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Hornibrook has started all nine Big Ten games for UW (10-2, 7-2), which plays Penn State (10-2, 8-1) at 7:17 p.m. Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

He has completed 58.1% of his passes for 113.0 yards per game, with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions.

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Senior Bart Houston started the first three games, did not play in the first three Big Ten games but has come off the bench in the last six.

Houston has completed 63.9% of his passes for 101.3 yards per game, with five touchdowns and three interceptions.

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“I’ve got to tip my hat to both of them for the job they’ve done,” redshirt senior tight end Eric Steffes said after practice Tuesday. “It is tough enough having to start as a redshirt freshman and then getting into the situation where they split time.

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“Mentally, I think that would be a tough thing. But I think they’ve both done a great job embracing it and saying: ‘Hey, when I’m in, I’m the guy doing everything I can to help the team.’

“They both do that and I think it has worked out well.”

Michael Deiter — who started 13 games as a redshirt freshman last season, seven at left guard and six at center — understands the difficulty of being asked to start early.

“What is impressive about him is that through all those phases he hasn’t changed,” Deiter said of Hornibrook. “I know it is something I didn’t do. I got nervous and there were highs and lows.

“With Alex, he has been level-headed. He has been steady through good times and bad times. Because we’ve had some good games and we’ve had some bad games.

“He has stayed confident in himself, which is impressive for a young player, especially at that position.

“You have a bad game as a quarterback and it seems to me it would be easy to be hard on yourself because so much is riding on your performance. But he has stayed confident.”

Hornibrook, listed Monday on the team's injury report as questionable, was not available for interviews Tuesday.

Houston told reporters he is prepared to play as little or a much as necessary.

"I've been doing that ever since LSU, the first game of the season," he said. "Your prepare like you're going to play every snap."