WISCONSIN FOOTBALL 18 STRAIGHT BOWLS ▪ 102 WINS LAST 10 SEASONS ▪ 11 CONSENSUS 1ST҃TEAM ALL҃AMERICANS LAST 10 SEASONS POSTGAME NOTES #14 WISCONSIN 45, ILLINOIS 7 ▪ FRIDAY, OCT. 23, 2020 ▪ CAMP RANDALL STADIUM ▪ MADISON, WIS. TEAM NOTES INDIVIDUAL NOTES Badger tight end in the last 50 years, joining Owen Daniels (2005) and Garrett Graham (2009). Today’s game captain: senior RB Garrett Groshek Redshirt freshman QB Graham Mertz became the first Wisconsin freshman to start a season Senior WR Danny Davis caught 2 passes for 72 Friday’s game marked the latest start to a opener at quarterback since 1978, going 20-for-21 yards, including a 53-yard TD pass in the second Wisconsin football season since the Badgers opened for 248 yards and 5 touchdowns. quarter, his 12th career touchdown. the 1918 season — which was delayed due to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-20 — on Oct. 26. Mertz’s 5 touchdowns tied the highest single- Senior RB Garrett Groshek finished with a game total in UW history, matching the school career-high 99 yards from scrimmage, rushing for Wisconsin won its home opener for the 25th record set by Darrell Bevell vs. Nevada in 1993 a team-best 70 yards and catching 4 passes for 29 consecutive season, a run that dates back to 1996. and Jim Sorgi vs. Michigan State in 2003. yards. Only Florida (31) owns a longer active streak among FBS teams. Mertz set the Wisconsin completion percent- Senior FB Mason Stokke pulled in the first touch- age record with a mark of .952, going 20-for-21 down reception of his career on a 10-yard pass from The Badgers claimed a win in their season-open- overall. He surpassed Alex Hornibrook’s mark of Mertz to open the scoring for the Badgers in the ing contest for the 5th straight year. .947 (18-19) vs. BYU on Sept. 16, 2017. first quarter The win marked Wisconsin’s first season-opening . Mertz is the third FBS player over the last 25 sea- Junior FB John Chenal scored his second-career victory over a Big Ten opponent since a 21-14 tri- sons to post at least 5 TD passes and complete touchdown on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter. umph over No. 1-ranked Michigan on Sept. 12, 1981 at least 95% of his passes, joining Cincinnati’s (which also was UW’s last opener vs. a conference Senior LB Isaiahh Loudermilk racked up the 7th Gunner Kiel (vs. Central Florida in 2015) and opponent at Camp Randall). sack of his career. USC’s Matt Barkley (vs. Colorado in 2012). UW claimed its 8th straight victory over Illinois at Freshman OLB Nick Herbig recorded the first . Mertz tallied the most TD passes (5) and best Camp Randall Stadium, dating to 2004. sack of his career in his collegiate debut. completion percentage (95.2%) by a Badgers QB Overall, Wisconsin has won 10 of its last 11 (and in his starting debut. He also posted the second- Sophomore LB C.J. Goetz posted his first-career 14 of its last 16) meetings with the Illini. most completions (20) and third-most yards in a sack and made a career-high 3 tackles. Paul Chryst improved to 53-16 (.768) in his sixth first start. Freshman S Titus Toler tallied his first-career season as Wisconsin’s head coach, passing Milt . Mertz finished with a pass efficiency rating of interception, picking off Isaiah Williams in the fourth Bruhn (1956-66) for 4th on UW’s all-time wins list: 277.1, the third-highest mark in Badger his- quarter. WINS AS WISCONSIN COACH, ALLTIME tory behind John Stocco (296.7 vs. Indiana Junior P Andy Vujnovich punted 4 times for 184 Coach (Years) Wins in 2006) and Alex Hornibrook (277.4 vs yards (46.0 avg.) in his Wisconsin debut, including 1. Barry Alvarez (1990-2005)* 119 BYU in 2017) - minimum 15 pass attempts. 60-yarder on his first attempt as a Badger. 2. Bret Bielema (2006-12) 68 Mertz’s rating also trails only Russell Junior K Collin Larsh connected on a 19-yard 3. Phil King (1896-1902, ’05) 65 Wilson (292 vs. UNLV in 2011) for a Badger in field goal in the fourth quarter and all 6 of his extra 4. Paul Chryst (2015-present) 53 his starting debut. points. Larsh is now 13-for-19 on FGs in his career. 5. Milt Bruhn (1956-66) 52 . Mertz completed his first 17 passes, matching * Also served as coach in 2 bowl games (2012, 2014) the Badgers’ single-game school record for con- secutive completions. His 17 straight comple- Under Chryst, Wisconsin is: tions also ranks as the third-longest streak in a . 35-10 (.778) in Big Ten Conference play conference game in Big Ten history. 26-5 (.839) vs. the Big Ten West Division . 5-1 (.833) in season openers CONSECUTIVE COMPLETIONS, SINGLE GAME . 5-1 (.833) vs. Illinois Cmp. Player Opponent (Date) 17 Tanner McEvoy Western Ill. (9/6/2014) Wisconsin won its 8th consecutive home game, 17 Graham Mertz Illinois (10/23/2020) dating to last season. 16 Russell Wilson at Minnesota (11/12/2011) UW tallied its most points in a Big Ten opener 15 Alex Hornibrook at BYU (9/16/2017) since beating Nebraska 48-17 in 2011. 14 Darrell Bevell Northwestern (10/9/1993) 14 Darrell Bevell SMU (9/23/1995) The Badgers held Illinois to just 218 yards and just 8 first downs. Those numbers are the fewest . Dating to last season, when he completed his by a UW Big Ten opponent since Michigan State final 9 attempts, Mertz had a streak of 26 straight totaled just 149 and 7 first downs against UW last completions. season. Mertz threw for 248 yards, the third-highest Wisconsin dominated the time of possession by single-game total by a Wisconsin freshman, trail- a margin of 43:28 to 16:32. That’s UW’s most lop- ing Darrell Bevell (274 vs. Northwestern in 1992) sided total since owning a 44:31 to 15:29 advantage and Joel Stave (254 vs. Illinois in 2012). over Minnesota in 2004. Junior TE Jake Ferguson caught a career high 7 The Badgers finished a perfect 6-for-6 in red catches for 72 yards and hauled in a career-best 3 zone opportunities, scoring 5 touchdowns and 1 touchdowns. field goal. Ferguson is just the 9th player in UW history to catch at least 3 TDs in one game and the third .