Wisconsin's Graham Mertz enters school's record books with performance vs. Illinois

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Graham Mertz had a record-setting night for Wisconsin in its blowout victory over Illinois on Friday to kick off the regular-season Big Ten Conference schedule.

Mertz set the school record for completion percentage and tied the record for most touchdown passes in a game. He was 20-for-21 with five touchdown passes and 248 passing yards.

 

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His touchdown passes tied a record set by Jim Sorgi in 2003 and Darrell Bevell in 1993, according to ESPN.

“It was definitely fun,” Mertz said after the game. “I owe it to Coach [Jon] Budmayr and Coach [Paul] Chryst, we took a ton of time, one-on-one meetings and really just sorted the game plan out and we knew what we were doing and I felt confident in my ability to go execute and I think there's definitely some stuff we need to clean up. A lot more stuff we can clean up.”

Mertz, a redshirt freshman, was named the Badgers’ starter after Jack Coan went down with a non-contact foot injury in practice.

Wisconsin won the game 45-7.

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Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes even took notice of Mertz’s performance.

“That man @GrahamMertz5 going crazy tonight!” Mahomes tweeted.

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Wisconsin heads to Nebraska next week for a Halloween matchup.