Penn State football: Upcoming Big Ten opponent’s QB suffers season ending injury

At the end of October, the Penn State football team will visit Madison, Wisconsin. There the Nittany Lions will take on the Wisconsin Badgers which always leads to a tough matchup. That matchup has lost some of its punch due to a recent injury suffered by starting Badgers QB Tyler Van Dyke against Alabama last Saturday.

On October 26, the Penn State football team will play in a challenging Big Ten road matchup against Wisconsin. The environment and the hardnose program have always led to close games in the past. But Wisconsin will be without one of its most important players in QB Tyler Van Dyke.

According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, Van Dyke will miss the rest of the 2024 season due to an injury he suffered against Alabama in the first quarter of last weekend’s game. Van Dyke transferred to Wisconsin ahead of the 2024 season from Miami and he was off to a strong start.

Van Dyke had accounted for 422 passing yards and one touchdown with zero interceptions in 2024. But now the Badgers will turn towards Braedyn Locke who threw for 142 yards and one touchdown against Alabama. Locke has experience from last season where he was forced into action due to injury. He threw for 777 yards to pair with five touchdowns and one interception in 2023.

Wisconsin QB Tyler Van Dyke will miss the rest of the season after suffering injury vs Alabama, per @PeteThamel pic.twitter.com/agVY5Xkzcq

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 16, 2024

A homecoming for Nolan Rucci

© Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

While the Nittany Lions will battle Wisconsin for a Big Ten conference game, they have a former Badger on the roster this fall. Nolan Rucci who has been in the rotation on the offensive line this fall transferred from Wisconsin to Penn State ahead of the 2024 season.

James Franklin spoke about Rucci’s transition to the Penn State football team this past February.

“He’s [Nolan Rucci] been great, Frank said. “There’s a lot of excitement with the coaching staff and the strength staff. I know our players I hear them constantly from high school recruits as well as the transfer portal guys our current players do a really good job of embracing those guys and putting their arms around them and teaching them how we operate and how we do things around here…”

Thank you for reading Basic Blues Nation, one of the fastest-growing outlets covering Penn State athletics. Part of the Full Ride network, we are an alumni-owned, community-operated, credentialed media outlet dedicated to providing you with updated and reliable insights for all your favorite Nittany Lion sports. Whether it’s Penn State football, basketball, wrestling, or anything in between, you can find it all on Basic Blues Nation!

Please follow us on our social channels, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, and subscribe to our newsletter on Substack for breaking news and notifications. For feedback, questions, or concerns, please email us at basicbluesnation@gmail.com or direct message us on social media.