One drive into his first season as a starting quarterback at Wisconsin, Graham Mertz threw a touchdown pass.

Thanks to an Illinois fumble on the opening drive of the game, the Badgers had their first offensive possession in great field position, setting up a 6-play, 33-yard touchdown drive to start the contest on Friday night.

Mertz, a redshirt freshman making his first start at the college level, hit Mason Stokke for a 10-yard touchdown pass to give Wisconsin an early 7-0 lead. It was the first touchdown of the B1G season in 2020.

Mertz completed all 3 of his passes on the drive for 25 yards.

Not a bad way for the redshirt freshman to start as a first-time starter at QB. He came into the contest having appeared in just two career games for the Badgers, completing 9-of-10 pass attempts in 2019.

Wisconsin was a 20-point favorite in the B1G opener.