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FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES: WISCONSIN 42, NORTHWESTERN 7 ▪ OCT. 8, 2022 ▪ RYAN FIELD ▪ EVANSTON, ILL.

Jon McNamara

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Nov 14, 2006
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Wisconsin
TEAM NOTES
  • Today’s captains: senior NT Keeanu Benton, junior ILB Nick Herbig, junior QB Graham Mertz
  • Interim head coach Jim Leonhard collected his first career win in the dominant Wisconsin performance.
  • The win for Leonhard marks the first time a Badger head coach has won their first Big Ten matchup since Gary Andersen led the Badgers to a 41-10 win over Purdue in 2013 to begin the conference slate.
  • With the 42-7 victory, Wisconsin recorded its first win in Evanston since a 21-7 victory in 2016.
  • Wisconsin’s 42 points are the team’s most against Northwestern since a 70-23 win in 2010. The Badgers also recorded their most points at NU since a 51-48 loss at the Wildcats in 2005.
  • UW’s 35-point win is the team’s largest margin of victory at Northwestern since claiming a 49-0 win in Evanston in 1983.
  • After Kamo’i Latu picked off a pair of Wildcat passes, the Badgers are now 17-4 when grabbing an INT since the beginning of the 2020 season.
o Wisconsin moves to 45-9 when recording an INT since Leonhard joined the staff in 2016.
  • Wisconsin won the turnover battle against the Wildcats, forcing 3 while staying clean offensively. The Badger have forced multiple turnovers in 4 games this season.
  • Wisconsin recorded 2 interceptions and forced a fumble for the first time since grabbing 3 INTs and scooping up a pair of fumbles in a win over Purdue on Oct. 23, 2021.
  • In Graham Mertz, Braelon Allen and Chimere Dike, Wisconsin had a 200+ yard passer, a 100+ yard rusher and a 100+ yard receiver for the first time since the season-opening win over Illinois State. Wisconsin has now accomplished the feat twice in the same season for the first time since 2019.
  • Wisconsin totaled 515 offensive yards, its most in a Big Ten game since posted 579 yards at Rutgers last season.
o The Badgers threw for 322 yards, their highest total since totaling 322 passing yards in a 24-7 win over Purdue in 2015.

o UW threw for 6 touchdowns for the first time since tallying 6 passing scores in a 37-0 over Rutgers in 2014.
  • The Badgers went 10-for-14 (71.4%) on third down, posting their most third-down conversions since going 11-for-17 in a 31-28 win at Indiana in 2009.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
  • Junior WR Chimere Dike had a career day in the win, totaling 10 catches, 185 yards and 3 scores, all career-highs.
o The 185 yards were the most receiving yards for a Badger since Alex Erickson totaled 160 in a win over Minnesota in 2014.

o Dike’s 3 TD receptions are the most for a Badger since Jake Ferguson hauled in 3 scores in a win over Illinois on Oct. 23, 2020.

o Dike is the first WR to haul in a 3 scores and go for 175+ yards in a single game since Lee Evans went for 258 and 5 scores against Michigan State on Nov. 15, 2003. Evans and Dike are the only Badger WRs to do so since 2000.

o Dike’s 10 catches were the most since Danny Davis hauled in 10 passes vs. Minnesota on Nov. 24, 2018.

*Junior S Kamo’i Latu grabbed his first career INT in the 1st quarter and picked off another in the 3rd quarter. Latu is the first Badger to record a pair of INTs in the same game since Colin Wilder picked off 2 passes vs. Nebraska on Nov. 11, 2021.
o Latu is the 7th Badger to record multiple INTs in the same game since 2010. Dating back to 2007, the Badgers have won 13 straight games when a defender has snagged multiple INTs.

o Interim head coach Jim Leonhard totaled 4 multi-interception games during his career, the most for any Badger since 2000.

  • QB Graham Mertz went 20-for-29, finishing with a career-high 299 yards passing and matching his career high and the UW school record with 5 touchdown passes.
o This is just the fourth time a Wisconsin QB has thrown 5 touchdown passes in a game. Mertz is responsible for two of the four.

o Mertz’s 299 yards passing is the most by a Badger since Joel Stave threw for 322 yards in back-to-back games against Nebraska and Purdue in 2015.

o Mertz has posted 200-yard passing performances in 5 of 6 games this season. The Badger signal caller threw for 200+ yards in 3 games last season.

o Mertz now has 10 200-yard performances in his career. The 10 are the most for a Badger QB since Joel Stave totaled 18 200-yd performances as a Badger from 2012-15.

o Mertz’s 3 first-half TDs were the most for a Badger QB on the road in a single half since Russell Wilson registered 3 in a win over Minnesota on Nov. 12, 2011.

o Mertz posted a 212.5 pass efficency rating in the win. The junior has now posted a rating of 200 or better in 3 games this season. Heading into the 2022 campaign, Mertz had only done so twice in his career. Wisconsin is 5-0 during Mertz’s career when he totals a 200+ passer efficency rating.

o Mertz moved into 9th place on Wisconsin all-time passing yards list with 4,565 yards, passing Jim Sorgi (4,498).

  • Sophomore RB Braelon Allen rushed for 135 yards on 23 carries, posting his 11th 100-yard performance in his last 15 games. Allen also completed a TD pass, the first of his career, to Chez Mellusi in the 2nd quarter.
o The touchdown pass was the first for a Badger non-QB since 2012 when James White threw for a score in the Big Ten Championship on Dec. 1, 2012.

  • RB Chez Mellusi recorded his first receiving TD as a Badger, finding the end zone on a Braelon Allen pass. Mellusi’s receiving TD was his first since scoring in 2020 as a Clemson Tiger.
  • Redshirt freshman WR Markus Allen recorded his first-career touchdown on a 19-yard pass in the fourth quarter.
o Allen became the 8th different Badger to haul in a touchdown pass this season.

  • Redshirt freshman WR Skyler Bell snagged his third-career touchdown, a 15-yarder in the first quarter.
  • Freshman WR Vinny Anthony recorded his first career rush, a 4-yard jet sweep handoff that a resulted in a Wisconsin 3rd down conversion on the opening drive.
  • Junior LB Nick Herbig recorded 7 tackles and forced a third-quarter fumble. The forced fumble was his first since Nov. 13, 2021 vs. Northwestern and he has now forced 2 of his 3 career FFs vs. the Wildcats.
  • Sophomore DE James Thompson Jr. recovered the Wildcat fumble, recording his first recovery of his career. Thompson Jr. also recorded 2 tackles in the win.
 
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