MADISON, Wis. – An all-smiles Graham Mertz admitted he had yet to check his phone before addressing the media following the clinic, he put on for No.14 Wisconsin in its 45-7 win over Illinois. When he turns it on, he’ll see notifications from NFL most valuable player Patrick Mahomes, former Badgers defensive end J.J. Watt and a whole lot more.

And if he ever opens the Wisconsin Football’s Record Book, he’ll be all over that one, too.

Becoming the first Wisconsin freshman to start a season opener at quarterback since 1978, Mertz went 20-for-21 for 248 yards and five touchdowns to set UW fans into a tizzy. His five touchdowns tied the highest single-game total in UW history, matching the school record set by Darrell Bevell vs. Nevada in 1993 and Jim Sorgi vs. Michigan State in 2003, and he set the Wisconsin completion percentage record with a mark of .952, besting Alex Hornibrook’s mark of .947 (18-19) vs. BYU on Sept. 16, 2017.

“I thought he had good poise,” head coach Paul Chryst said of Mertz. “I thought he saw the field well. You never know quite how someone's going to react in their first start. I thought he was himself. And that you appreciate. I thought there was a good plan for him by the offensive coaches. He was able to execute it.”

Mertz wasn’t just Wisconsin good, but FBS good. According to UW Athletics, Mertz is the third FBS player over the last 25 seasons to post at least five TD passes and complete at least 95 percent of his passes, joining Cincinnati’s Gunner Kiel (vs. Central Florida in 2015) and USC’s Matt Barkley (vs. Colorado in 2012).

Completing his first 17 passes, Mertz matched the Badgers’ single-game school record for consecutive completions with Tanner McEvoy. The streak was also the third-longest in a conference game in Big Ten history.

Game captain: senior RB Garrett Groshek

Friday’s game marked the latest start to a Wisconsin football season since the Badgers opened the 1918 season — which was delayed due to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-20 — on Oct. 26.

Wisconsin won its home opener for the 25th consecutive season, a run that dates back to 1996. Only Florida (31) owns a longer active streak among FBS teams.

The Badgers claimed a win in their season-opening contest for the fifth straight year.

The win marked Wisconsin’s first season-opening victory over a Big Ten opponent since a 21-14 triumph over No. 1-ranked Michigan on Sept. 12, 1981 (which also was UW’s last opener vs. a conference opponent at Camp Randall).

UW claimed its 8th straight victory over Illinois at Camp Randall Stadium, dating to 2004.

Overall, Wisconsin has won 10 of its last 11 (and 14 of its last 16) meetings with the Illini.

Chryst improved to 53-16 (.768) in his sixth season as Wisconsin’s head coach, passing Milt Bruhn (1956-66) for 4th on UW’s all-time wins list. He trails Barry Alvarez (119), Bret Bielema (68) and Phil King (65) on the school’s all-time list.

Under Chryst, Wisconsin is: 35-10 (.778) in Big Ten Conference play, 26-5 (.839) vs. the Big Ten West Division. 5-1 (.833) in season openers, 5-1 (.833) vs. Illinois

Wisconsin won its 8th consecutive home game, dating to last season.

UW tallied its most points in a Big Ten opener since beating Nebraska 48-17 in 2011.

The Badgers held Illinois to just 218 yards and just eight first downs. Those numbers are the fewest by a UW Big Ten opponent since Michigan State totaled just 149 and 7 first downs against UW last season.

Wisconsin dominated the time of possession by a margin of 43:28 to 16:32. That’s UW’s most lopsided total since owning a 44:31 to 15:29 advantage over Minnesota in 2004.

The Badgers finished a perfect 6-for-6 in red zone opportunities, scoring 5 touchdowns and 1 field goal.

Mertz finished with a pass efficiency rating of 277.1, the third-highest mark in Badger history behind John Stocco (296.7 vs. Indiana in 2006) and Hornibrook (277.4 vs BYU in 2017) - minimum 15 pass attempts. Mertz’s rating also trails only Russell Wilson (292 vs. UNLV in 2011) for a Badger in his starting debut.

Mertz threw for 248 yards, the third-highest single-game total by a Wisconsin freshman, trailing Darrell Bevell (274 vs. Northwestern in 1992) and Joel Stave (254 vs. Illinois in 2012).

Junior TE Jake Ferguson caught a career high 7 catches for 72 yards and hauled in a career-best 3 touchdowns. Senior WR Danny Davis caught 2 passes for 72 yards, including a 53-yard TD pass in the second quarter, his 12th career touchdown.

Senior RB Garrett Groshek finished with a career-high 99 yards from scrimmage, rushing for a team-best 70 yards and catching 4 passes for 29 yards.

Senior FB Mason Stokke pulled in the first touchdown reception of his career on a 10-yard pass from Mertz to open the scoring for the Badgers in the first quarter

Junior FB John Chenal scored his second-career touchdown on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Senior DE Isaiahh Loudermilk racked up the 7th sack of his career.

Freshman OLB Nick Herbig recorded the first sack of his career in his collegiate debut.

Sophomore LB C.J. Goetz posted his first-career sack and made a career-high 3 tackles.

Freshman S Titus Toler tallied his first-career interception, picking off Isaiah Williams in the fourth quarter.

Junior P Andy Vujnovich punted 4 times for 184 yards (46.0 avg.) in his Wisconsin debut, including 60-yarder on his first attempt as a Badger.

Junior K Collin Larsh connected on a 19-yard field goal in the fourth quarter and all 6 of his extra points. Larsh is now 13-for-19 on FGs in his career.