Less than two weeks remain until the Wisconsin Badgers begin their 2019 season with a road contest in Tampa against the South Florida Bulls.

UW allowed media to view four practices in their entirety this week -- eight overall in the past two weeks -- and BadgerBlitz.com was in attendance for each one. The team will participate in a closed scrimmage on Monday and with some limited sessions remaining, the time to make an impact is shrinking quickly.

Miss our practice recaps and analysis? Catch them all here:

Aug. 12: Recap | Jim Leonhard video | Jon Budmayr on QBs | Photos, videos |

Aug. 13: Recap | Jack Coan video | Chase Wolf video | Josh Seltzner video | Photos, videos |

Aug. 14: Recap | Keeanu Benton video | Reggie Pearson video| Izayah Green-May video | Jack Coan making strides for QB1 |

Aug. 15: Recap | Photos, videos |

The last three practices of the week significantly stood out in terms of improvement for quarterback Graham Mertz. Among those plays that stood out for the true freshman:

Wednesday in simulated two-minute drill, Mertz may have had his best drive of fall camp practices open to the media to that point. Working with what appeared to be the second-team offense, he made some strong throws against the first-team defense. That included a deep, would-be touchdown pass to A.J. Abbott with cornerback Deron Harrell in coverage.

Thursday when receiving snaps with what could be described as the first-team unit, Mertz hit sophomore wide receiver Aron Cruickshank perfectly in stride for a touchdown.

Then on Friday in red zone skeleton/7-on-7 work, Mertz completed a couple touchdown passes. That included an easy strike to Cruickshank and a spectacular one-handed grab by tight end Jake Ferguson in the back of the end zone. In a red zone team drill as well, he hit Cruickshank nicely for a solid gain.

Last week, one could define Mertz's performance as not setting the world on fire after an impressive spring debut. Quarterbacks coach Jon Budmayr mentioned a lot of install happening early on in fall camp as a challenge.

“We did about four, five days of heavy install to get it in. So, therefore, now we can run a bunch of those plays. So early in camp, I think it was just that OK, seeing those pictures, understanding those progressions, what did I retain from the spring?" Budmayr told reporters on Monday. "Getting a jump on those installs is a lot. Those are heavy at times, and now it’s fun because the last couple of days you’ve seen him -- Graham’s best as with any quarterback, but especially Graham -- when his feet are in rhythm.

"Early on a little bit in camp, you saw those feet where I think you got going a little bit, and once they get going, you can tell that the brain is going a little bit. The last couple of days have been fun because there haven’t been any install so we’ve been able to tighten down the plan and start just running plays, getting ready what would be the season. Since then, he’s done a great job of getting back to that rhythm with his feet. He can make all the throws. That’s not the issue, but it’s just understanding, recognizing defensive coverages and progressions and trusting his eyes.

"I think that’s a tough thing when you take that jump is the speed of the game. What a window might have been real last fall, is it real this fall? He’s getting that understanding and I’ve loved the way he’s attacked it each day.”