Wisconsin 66, New Mexico State 7: 2-minute drill

September 17, 2022
|In Badgers
|By Zach Heilprin

Wisconsin rolled up nearly 600 yards of offense and forced three turnovers on its way to a dominating 66-7 win over New Mexico State on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.

Game Balls

Offense:

QB Graham Mertz

Three games into the season it’s now clear that Mertz has taken a big step in his development. The quarterback completed 12 of the 15 passes he threw against the Aggies and three of them resulted in touchdowns. The first and third were on-time and on-target throws that gave the wide receivers a chance to make a play. Mertz’s 251 yards were a career high and he’s now thrown for at least 200 yards in three straight games for the first time. His pass efficiency mark of 273.2 was the third best in program history and topped his remarkable performance against Illinois (273.0) in his first start in 2020.

Mertz did throw an interception in the red zone, though the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage. His other two incompletions were misses early in the game on out routes to Chimere Dike. Otherwise, he was locked in to help the Badgers bounce back from their loss to Washington State.

WR Skyler Bell

It had been a slow start for the redshirt freshman, who appeared poised to be a big part of the offense coming into the year. Through two games he had caught four passes for 38 yards, but against New Mexico State Mertz came his way four times and he turned those into 108 yards and two touchdowns. That included a 49-yard catch and run for a score.

Bell is the third different player to lead the Badgers in receiving, with the others being Chimere Dike against Illinois State and Keontez Lewis last week.

Defense:

LB Maema Njongmeta

Big plays from the inside linebacker position were a given last year with Leo Chenal and Jack Sanborn. Those were missing in the first two games but Njongmeta provided one for the Badgers on Saturday, pulling down a ball that had tipped off the helmet of another player and holding on to for the interception. It gave Wisconsin the ball at the New Mexico State 2-yard line and shortly after the offense punched it in for another score to take a 28-0 lead.

CB Ricardo Hallman

The redshirt freshman had what may be the interception of the year for Wisconsin. Playing in man coverage, Hallman fended off (maybe some pass interference) the New Mexico State receiver with one hand while pulling in Diego Pavia’s pass with his other hand. It was Hallman’s first career interception and the first of three on the day for Wisconsin.

What Went Right

The offense

Wisconsin put up 595 yards of total offense despite sitting the first-team group for more than the final 20 minutes of the game. It was the most yardage for the Badgers since dropping 606 on Purdue in 2019. As it was in the first two games, the offense was relatively balanced (335 yards passing, 260 yards rushing) under new offensive coordinator Bobby Engram.

The special teams

A week after a disastrous performance in the loss to Washington State, the Badgers special teams were a positive. It started with Isaac Guerendo returning the opening kickoff 50 yards, continued with giving up just 24 yards on two kick returns and finished with Nate Van Zelst hitting his lone field goal attempt. The units weren’t amazing but anything better than bad is just fine for Wisconsin’s purposes.

What Went Wrong

Tackling

The defense was pretty good once again, limiting the Aggies to 242 yards and just 3.7 yards per play. But there were some tackling issues, especially against New Mexico State’s Star Thomas. The 230-pound running back ran through a bunch of arm tackles on his way to a 22-yard gain in the second quarter. They did a much better job on him after the half but it’s something to watch moving forward.

In Case You Missed It

— Wisconsin played without several starters again, including right tackle Riley Mahlman, cornerback Alexander Smith and safety Hunter Wohler.

— The Badgers changed up their home uniform, pairing their normal red jerseys with red pants. It was the first time since coach Paul Chryst took over the program in 2015 that the club had worn red pants. Those were reserved for big road games under former coaches Barry Alvarez and Bret Bielema, while Gary Andersen routinely switched up the team’s uniform during his two years as coach.

— Two potentially important contributors – offensive lineman Tanor Bortolini and cornerback Justin Clark — made their season debuts. Each went down with injuries in fall camp and missed the first two games. Bortolini was the second-team right guard, while Clark rotated in with several others at cornerback.

— Bortolini and redshirt sophomore Trey Wedig also saw time with the first-team offense at right guard and right tackle, respectively. They replaced senior Michael Furtney and junior Logan Brown. The two pairing were swapped several times throughout the game.

— Wisconsin played without starting kicker Vito Calvaruso and starting kickoff man Jake Van Dyke. Both were listed out with leg injuries. Freshman Gavin Lahm handled kickoff duties, while redshirt freshman Nate Van Zelst served as the the place kicker.

— The only reported injuries were to running back Chez Mellusi and cornerback Semar Melvin. Mellusi had a shoulder injury but returned to the game. Melvin left with a leg injury and did not return.

— Backup quarterback Myles Burkett saw action for a second time in his career and actually got to throw a few passes this time. The true freshman went 4-for-5 for 84 yards and led three scoring drives. His first career completion went to Dean Engram for 37 yards. That also happened to be Engram’s first ever catch. The junior went on to catch three passes from Burkett for 63 yards

Inside the Numbers

3 – That is how many touchdowns Braelon Allen scored in the first half. The sophomore finished with 86 yards on 15 carries, with just two of those touches coming after halftime.

260 – That’s how many yards rushing the Badgers had. In addition to Allen’s 86 yards, Isaac Guerendo had 74 yards (6.2 ypc), Mellusi had 71 yards (7.1 ypc) and Julius Davis had 45 yards (9.0 ypc). Guerendo scored twice, while Mellusi also got in the end zone for the first time this year.

4 – That is how many penalties Wisconsin had on the day. It was seven fewer than a week ago.

66 – That is how many points Wisconsin scored. It’s the most in coach Paul Chryst’s tenure and the seventh most in school history.

335 – That is how many yards passing Wisconsin had. It’s the third most by the Badgers in a game since 2012.

35 – That is how many straight wins Wisconsin has when scoring at least 30 points.

7 — That is how many interceptions Wisconsin has this season. They have come from seven different players.

1 – That is how many touchdowns Keontez Lewis has caught in his career after pulling in an 18-yard score from Mertz in the second quarter.

What’s Next

Wisconsin (2-1) travels to Columbus to face No. 3 Ohio State (2-0) on Saturday night (6:30 p.m.) in the Big Ten opener for both teams.