Fifth-year senior linebacker Vince Biegel is expected to miss 2-4 weeks after having minor surgery Thursday night to mend a cracked bone in his foot.
Biegel’s father, Rocky, told ESPN.com that the Wisconsin captain had been playing on the injury for a few weeks and finally had X-rays on the foot Wednesday that determined he would need to put in a screw.
Football: Wisconsin announces kicker Rafael Gaglianone out for season with back injury
Biegel is the undisputed leader of a Badger defense and linebacker core that ranks 16th in the nation in rush defense and ninth in total defense. The news is especially alarming considering the team faces the toughest schedule in the country in the month of October, with the worst of it coming Saturday at No. 4 Michigan and at home against No. 2 Ohio State Oct. 15.
Head coach Paul Chryst and defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox have several options to replace Biegel until his return. The most likely will be moving junior Jack Cichy from inside linebacker to outside and replacing him with sophomore Ryan Connelly on the inside. The second option could be plugging in redshirt freshman Zack Baun and splitting reps with junior Garret Dooley in the meantime.
The news of Biegel’s absence comes only half a day after it was announced that junior kicker Rafael Gaglianone would miss the rest of the season after sustaining a back injury two weeks ago against Georgia State. The two will be sorely missed for a Badger squad that now looks to take on the brunt of one of their toughest Big Ten schedules in recent memory without two of their biggest leaders.
