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Notes: Chryst speaks at the Big Ten Media Days

Paul Chryst addresses the media Tuesday at the Big Ten Media Days. (Jessi Schoville)

Chicago – Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst spoke about a few different topics on Tuesday during his appearances at the Big Ten Media Days, including touching on UW’s impending quarterback battle.

Highlights from Chryst’s podium interview are included below.

Quarterback battle about to resume

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With Joel Stave out of the picture after exhausting his eligibility the Badgers will need to choose a new starting quarterback before they take on LSU on Sept. 3 at Lambeau Field, but Chryst said early on in his session that he’s not sure when he will decide whether it’s senior Bart Houston or redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook standing under center after kickoff. Chryst did say that both players have kept the competition from distracting them, and it’s up to him and his coaching staff to try and make sure both players are ready for action at the start of the season.

“They've done a great job to this point of not worrying about the common question of who is going to be the starter and the quarterback competition,” Chryst said Tuesday. “They've done a great job this summer. And I know our players respect who they are as people, as teammates, and those two will get a ton of reps in fall camp.”

They might not be able to keep the competition out of their minds for much longer, though: the Badgers report for fall camp on August 7, and their first practice is scheduled for August 8.

Bring on LSU

The Badgers should be used to opening their season against a top-shelf opponent by now, after they played LSU in Houston to open the 2014 season and Alabama in Dallas to kick off 2015. But this year UW will welcome LSU to more familiar turf in the Carmex Lambeau Field College Football Classic, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 3 in Green Bay, Wis.

And while those games came with their own fair share of excitement and hype, Chryst said playing a marquee game at Lambeau Field will be special for his team.

“These young men put in so much time and to be finally be able to play the season, that's a big deal,” Chryst said. “Then when you get to do it at a stadium, in a stadium such as Lambeau Field, especially so many of our players from instate that grew up and probably dreamed of and envisioned an opportunity to play in Lambeau.”

“And then to do it against a really good opponent in LSU, it's the trifecta. Our kids are excited about it. I don't know if it's more or less -- we've been lucky. And I was thinking about this and we talked about this with our players, this game comes about because of the teams and the players at Wisconsin that have come before. They've made Wisconsin a special place. I think that's why our kids chose to come to Wisconsin, to play in big games such as our opener, or such as the games that we'll play in the Big Ten schedule.”

Easy transition from Aranda to Wilcox

Dave Aranda’s departure for LSU sparked a major change for the Badgers on the defensive side of the ball this year. Chryst hired former USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox to replace him, and the UW head coach said he was pleased with how Wilcox and his players adjusted to working with each other,

“I'm excited about this group,” Chryst said. “Our kids, they made an easy transition, I think, for our kids as far as how we're calling the defenses.”

“I'm excited to see our kids and coaches as we grow and adjust to each other and certainly our defense last year, they gave us a chance to be in a lot of games and I think that we value and our kids know what good defense is, what it should look like. We'll be tested differently than we were last year.”

“But I like the way that they've come together and transitioned from a new defensive coordinator, new player stepping in, and thought we've had to make great strides this summer. I think that we have and certainly in fall camp it will be important for us to continue to grow and come together. But I'm excited about the pieces, and we've got some guys on defense that have played a number of significant snaps, significant roles, and they've got to be great leaders and we've got other players that need to step up and step into those roles. But that's kind of the fun of this whole process.”

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.

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