Making his first start for the University of Wisconsin football team, redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz had Twitter buzzing Friday night, tying a school record with 17 consecutive completions to open the game while also completing 20 of 21 passes overall for 248 yards and five touchdowns in the Badgers' 45-7 season-opening victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
See what fans, talking heads and some of the NFL's top players — including former Badgers star J.J. Watt — were tweeting about the Kansas native's eye-opening play:
Originally published on madison.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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In the Badgers’ dominant, 45-7 win against visiting Illinois, Mertz tied a program record with five touchdown passes and lived up to all the hype that’s built around him since he committed to UW in 2017.
Years from now, hundreds of thousands of UW football fans will say they were there for the debut of quarterback Graham Mertz. They'll all be lying.
The junior bounced back from his mistake with two key plays on the ensuing series before going on to finish his productive night with seven catches for 72 yards and three touchdowns.
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