Notes and quotes: Post UNLV

MADISON - Though his team had just reeled off a pretty impressive 51-17 win over UNLV, Wisconsin head coach cast a dark cloud in regards to the prognosis of sophomore quarterback Jon Budmayr following the game.

"He's going to have a procedure tomorrow that will require surgery," Bielema said. "We won't really know the projected comeback until the procedure is done."

Budmayr, who has been sidelined since early August, has had issues with the nerve in his throwing elbow. Since he was injured for most of spring camp freshman quarterback Joe Brennan has emerged as the backup to senior Russell Wilson.

Brennan received some playing time during UW's blowout win, but didn't look especially comfortable at any given point throughout his appearance. He finished the season opener 1-of-2 passing for three yards. He also took a sack that cost him nine yards.

Injury update:

Even though it was the hottest home game in school history and just the sixth 90-degree game in the UW record book, the team didn't really seem to have any sort of issues with the hot and humid weather.

"Our kids really bought into it," Bielema said. "We really didn't have any problems with cramping or anything. I was impressed."

-Though Philip Welch was seen walking on crutches, it's apparent that Bielema doesn't feel too concerned with the prognosis of his quad injury.

"He had a little procedure," Bielema said. "He had this thing where they take your own blood, swirl it around in a machine and then inject it right where the tissue is sore. It heals quickly, but you have to remain inactive for a period of 10 days or something. We did that going back to last Tuesday or Wednesday. They want him on crutches for seven days.

"The hope and the thought would be that maybe the Northern Illinois game or somewhere around there he'd be back and kicking."

-The only other injury to note is that of Travis Frederick. The starting left guard had ice around his left knee as he walked off the Camp Randall field following his team's win.

"I know we'll wait and see," Bielema said. "They're going to do an X-Ray on his knee. He got something a little bit at the end. Otherwise I think everybody else was clean."

Team notes:

-With the win, Bielema is now 21-0 in regular season non-conference game. Only two other coaches - - Fielding Yost (41-0) and Joe Paterno (23-0) - - have started their career off with more consecutive non-conference wins.

-UW has also won 14 consecutive season openers. That's good enough for the third-longest active streak behind only Nebraska (25) and Florida (21).

-Wisconsin remains incredibly difficult to beat under the lights. With Thursday's win UW can now boast a 27-3 record during it's past 30 night games.

-Only Bo Schembechler, Joe Paterno, Earle Bruce, Lloyd Carr and Jim Tressel were able to reach 50 wins quicker than Bielema.

Individual notes:

-Russell Wilson's 317 yards of total offense broke UW's school record for most total yards in during a quarterback's debut.

-Montee Ball's four touchdowns was the most in a season opener since Brian Calhoud had five against Bowling Green in 2005.

-Defensive end Louis Nzegwu recorded two sacks during Thursday's blowout victory.

Quotes:

-Bielema on the performance by punter Brad Nortman:

"If there is a better punter in the country I'd like to see him. He really has done a nice job for us. He doesn't get a lot of work sometimes, but his first punt was outstanding."

-Bielema on the fact he was wearing a windbreaker during the hottest game played in Camp Randall:

"There was one play there that we had reviewed and the players gave me a little bit of heat because they thought I pulled a hammy trying to get down there for the timeout. It is a little sticky out there."

-Mike Taylor on whether UNLV surprised UW when they went to their Pistol formation:

"Yeah, it kind of reminded me of TCU when we would go over TCU and they would run a similar zone read. When they came out in Pistol that first quarter it kind of took us off balance and off guard. But we made adjustments and I think we came out pretty well."

-Kyle French on the way he was hitting the ball:

"With the second one I was a little far away on my plant, but other than that I hit the ball really well. The field goal, the 29-yarder, I was very happy with that going into halftime."

Peter Konz on how well he hydrated

"I was sweating like crazy at the beginning. I hydrated a lot because I knew it would be the hottest game of the year. Last year I played all of Vegas and remembered how hot it was so I just downed water. This morning I probably took six pees. I don't want to go out with any cramping because that leads to injuries."

Aaron Henry on the team's tackling performance:

"It's definitely something we have to work on. Anytime you're put in a game situation, even if it's the first one, we didn't tackle the way we wanted to. I think this week there will be some emphasis put on that. That's what that boils down to."