Big Ten Daily (Oct. 7): Wisconsin QB Jack Coan Out For Several Weeks After Foot Surgery

The Big Ten gets back to playing football in two weeks and there is plenty going on around the league, with injuries a big story and players thrilled to be back on the field.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. —Now that we're just two weeks away from the return of Big Ten football, it's a good time to re-start our "Big Ten Daily'' report, which gives you links to some of the biggest stories of the day around the conference. 

The conference season resumes the weekend of Oct. 24, with seven conference games on the schedule. There is a chance one of those games will be played on Friday night, Oct. 23, but the league has not yet released game times or television information for Week 1, but they are expected to do so within the week.

Here's the latest big news around the league:

Wisconsin loses QB Jack Coan 

Jack Coan, Wisconsin's standout starting quarterback, underwent successful surgery on his injured foot on Tuesday, according to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

The Journal Sentinel's Jeff Potrykus reported that Wisconsin officials have said that Coan is out indefinitely, with no timetable for his return at this point. Wisconsin opens the season on Oct. 24 in Madison against Illinois.

Head coach Paul Chryst, speaking to reporters Monday via Zoom, declined to speculate how much time Coan could miss. He injured his right foot during practice on Saturday.

“We’ll know more in the coming days,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said. "Any time this happens, you know that you don’t know how much time."

Coan has played in 25 games at Wisconsin, including 18 starts over the past two seasons. A year ago, he passed for 2,727 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for four more.

Chryst had said earlier in the week that redshirt freshman Graham Mertz has been working with the No. 1 offense during Coan's absense. Chase Wolf and Danny Vanden Boom have been working behind Mertz.

The early part of the Badgers' schedule includes an Oct. 31 game at Nebraska, a home game with Purdue on Nov. 7, and a road trip to Michigan on Nov. 14.

The current schedule is the third of the year for the Big Ten. On the first two, Indiana and Wisconsin were supposed to play in the season opener. Now they play on Dec. 5 in Madison.

Here is Indiana's complete football schedule. CLICK HERE

Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan (17) has started 18 games for the Badgers, but he's going to miss a few weeks this season after having foot surgery on Tuesday. (Mike DiSisti/USA TODAY Sports)

Minnesota WR Bateman thrilled to be back

All-Big Ten wide receiver Rashod Bateman opted out of the 2020 season when the league postponed the fall season in August. But now that the season will start in a few weeks, he's opted back in and is good to go.

Bateman caught 60 passes for 1,219 yards and 11 touchdowns during his sophomore season in 2019. Bateman said he is changing jersey numbers now, going with 0, which is allowed for the first time this year,  "because there is zero tolerance for racism in this culture, and there is zero doubt about what this program stands for.”

“These past few months have been uncertain and challenging, challenging for myself, this university and our society,” Bateman said in a video posted on his Instagram account. “The Row the Boat culture has changed my life forever. I know that to get through tough times, you have to keep your oar in the water, and I feel the safest and the best place to move forward is here at the University of Minnesota. We’ve got work left to be done, as a team and as a society.”

Minnesota's Rashod Bateman is back with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. (USA TODAY Sports)

Ohio State RB Teague returns

Master Teague was devastated when he ruptured his Achilles back in March, because he was primed to be the next great running back at Ohio State. 

Thanks to an aggressive rehab and a strong spirit, Teague is healthy much sooner than one might expect when they initially hear that someone has ruptured their Achilles and he is anxious to get back on the field to represent the Buckeyes.

"When it happened, I wasn’t excited about that, of course. It was an unexpected circumstance that happened, but I had some good people around me. I just had to be disciplined and do everything I was told to do by the athletic trainers. It was another chance for me to grow as a person, man, and player.”

Here's the complete story from Sports Illustrated's Brendan Gulick, who does a great job of covering the Buckeyes on our BuckeyesNow site. CLICK HERE

To follow Ohio State in our SI team network, CLICK HERE

Indiana plays at Ohio State on Nov. 21.

Ohio State's Master Teague (33) is back with the Buckeyes after rupturing his Achilles in March. (USA TODAY Sports)

Scruggs back for Penn State, at long last

Last week, Penn State offensive lineman Juice Scruggs delivered his first hit in nearly two years. It was a simple pass play against defensive end Judge Culpepper, and Scruggs wondered for a moment how he and his back would respond.

"In my head, I'm thinking to myself, 'Is it going to be different?'" Scruggs said. "After that first hit, it was like it was back to normal. I was like, 'Yeah, I'm good, no worries after that.'"

Scruggs, a redshirt sophomore offensive lineman, returns to the field for Penn State after missing the 2019 season while recovering from a spring car accident. Earlier this year, Scruggs said he wanted nothing more than to play again after enduring a long rehabilitation process, through which he wore a back brace for eight months.

"Right now, I feel great," Scruggs said. "I feel like I'm about as close to 100 percent as I've been. And I would say that right before they postponed [the season], I felt like I was ready to go. I didn't have any issues at all."

Here's the complete story from Sports Illustrated's Mark Wogenrich, who does a great job of covering the Nittany Lions on our AllPennState site. CLICK HERE

To follow Penn State in our SI team network, CLICK HERE

Indiana opens the season with Penn State on Oct. 24 in Bloomington.

RELATED: The latest Indiana football stories

• RUN, RUN, RUN: Indiana wants to put some added emphasis on the running game this season, and they've got the horses to do it. CLICK HERE
• TOM BREW COLUMN: There's an obvious sense of urgency with this Indiana football team that's looking to validate last year's eight-win season. CLICK HERE
• LINEBACKERS READY TO SHINE: Indiana's group of linebackers all arrived in Bloomington together, and they're ready to do big things. CLICK HERE