Wisconsin's Chris Borland is expected to play Saturday when BYU visits the Badgers, meaning two of the nation's top senior linebackers will be on the field.
Borland suffered a hamstring injury in the first quarter and missed the rest of the game against Illinois on Oct. 19, then missed this past Saturday's win over Iowa.
The return of Borland (5-foot-11, 246 pounds) means scouts can see two of the nation's most active linebackers in the same game. BYU's Kyle Van Noy (6-3, 245) has 10.5 tackles for loss this season and 55 in his career. Borland has 44 in his career to go along with 13 forced fumbles, which is one shy of the NCAA career record held by five players (Purdue's Ryan Kerrigan, Southern Miss' Cordarro Law, Cincinnati's Antwan Peek, Arizona State's Terrell Suggs and USC's Kenechi Udeze).
Borland was expected to play against Iowa, but decided during warmups that he wasn't ready.
While Borland is back, the Badgers might be without star wide receiver Jared Abbrederis (chest injury). If he can't play, the passing attack -- which is nothing special to begin with -- takes a huge hit and puts even more pressure on tailbacks Melvin Gordon and James White. BYU has allowed just four rushing TDs, tied for third-fewest in the nation.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
