The Big Ten season got underway Friday with the #14 (AP) Wisconsin Badgers hosting the Illinois Fighting Illini, and the first half went very well for Wisconsin and for quarterback Graham Mertz. Mertz joined Wisconsin ahead of last season and was 247 Sports’ third-ranked pro-style passer nationally in the 2019 recruiting class, but only appeared in limited mop-up duty against Central Michigan and Kent State last year, with Jack Coan serving as the Badgers’ starter. An injury to Coan this spring paved the way for Mertz to win the starting job, and the first half of this one went about as well as he could have hoped:
In his first career start, Graham Mertz has been PERFECT in the first half 🔥
14-14 Comp/Att
190 Yds
4 TDs pic.twitter.com/phfLViD7ZR— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 24, 2020
Here are those four touchdown throws:
✅ First B1G TD of 2020
✅ First passing TD of Graham Mertz's career@BadgerFootball jumps out to the early 7-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/nuqbFs0ifJ
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 24, 2020
9-9
2 TDsHow are you liking @GrahamMertz5, so far, @BadgerFootball fans? pic.twitter.com/P0OC40mjwL
— Wisconsin On BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) October 24, 2020
Okay, @GrahamMertz is pretty good 🔥
That's now 3 TDs in the first half for the @BadgerFootball Freshman QB! pic.twitter.com/ujybVcyrtW
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 24, 2020
14-14
190 yards
4 TDs@GrahamMertz5's first @BadgerFootball start = perfection. pic.twitter.com/FMIlMVq7ER— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 24, 2020
That’s an incredible start for Mertz and the Badgers, who led 28-7 at the half. And Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes was one of many taking note:
https://twitter.com/PatrickMahomes/status/1319812149636698112
We’ll see where Mertz and Wisconsin go from here.
[Big Ten Network on Twitter; photo from Jeff Hanisch/USA Today Sports]
