MADISON - Wisconsin put last week's loss against Washington State behind it and handled business against New Mexico State on Saturday. The performance against one of the worst teams in college football might not mean a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it got UW back on the right track.

Here are some things we learned from speaking with players after a 66-7 win.

It's not often when hearing news of a partially torn meniscus is a good thing. But when offensive lineman Tanor Bortolini got that diagnosis during fall camp, he couldn't help but feel relieved that he avoided the worst.

"Got that phone call and I was like, 'wow, this is great. Tore my meniscus,'" he joked with reporters after the game. "This is the best news ever."

The injury occurred back on Aug. 15, with Bortolini blocking one-on-one in pass protection. He was anchoring against a bull-rush when he felt a pop.

"Felt a pop and I was like, 'that's not good.' Tried to get up and couldn't stand, and I was like, 'that can't be good, either,'" he recalled.

In terms of knee injuries, he avoided a number of worst-case scenarios. Along with a partial tear of his meniscus, Bortolini also tore some of the cartilage behind his knee cap.

"Obviously scary when it's something with your knee," he said. "Don't know what it's going to be but I think as a knee injury goes, it's as positive an outcome as it could have been."

Bortolini wouldn't be cleared until warm ups against New Mexico State. The plan was for him to test it out and see how he felt. The redshirt sophomore felt strong during warm-ups, and from there it was on a drive-by-drive basis.

"Just nice to knock the rust off," Bortolini said. "At least get some snaps against real live competition. Now I feel confident that my knee isn't a factor and I can just go out there and play."

Graham Mertz and wide receiver Skyler Bell kept tabs on a four-yard throw and catch in the second quarter. When the two saw that look again, they knew how to attack it.

The first of two scores on the afternoon came against a similar Cover 2 look they got on that earlier play. Mertz gave Bell a signal and hit the receiver in stride, which he took the distance with a cut past the safety.

"The drive before he had told me," Bell said. "I caught it for a short gain and he said if they give us that same coverage, he’s going to give me a signal and let me know I have the go."

"We called it earlier in the game and I was like, 'alright, if we get a two trap, be ready to convert that and be able to win,'" Mertz added. "We both saw it, I gave him a signal and he executed."

The second touchdown, an 18-yard connection in the end zone with a safety coming down and Bell making the catch over the corner, came against the same coverage.

"It was another two trap," Mertz said. "Corner bit a little bit. He had a step on him, he was tight but we talked about it all week and we were able to execute."

On one of the few miscues on the day for Mertz, he tried to hit Bell with two defenders in the area. As it turns out, it was a miscommunication between the two.

"We had a miscommunication on the interception today but other than that, I feel like we’re on the same page with a lot of things," Bell said. "It wasn’t the look we thought we were going to get and I had to do a little bit more to get open. We weren’t on the same page but we came back and talked about it on the sideline."

"That shows us that during the week we have to watch a little more tape and talk through every coverage just to see what we’re thinking," Mertz added.

Wisconsin went against their conventional red on white look that it dons at home. Instead, the Badgers went with a bold all-red look with red pants to compliment the red jersey.

The uniform was the result of a push from sophomore running back Braelon Allen, who brought the idea up to head coach Paul Chryst back in the summer.

"I don't want to take all the credit, but yeah I brought it up to him in the beginning of the summer," Allen said. "Just threw the idea out there. Was giving him a couple of ideas of things we could do to switch it up a little bit. He was all for it. Left it up to our uniform committee who comes up with the combinations.

"We're real traditional, so it was to throw something different out there as an alternate."

Coming away with a dominant 66-7 win in the uniforms, Mertz and Allen made it clear the look will definitely make a return this season, with Mertz saying the color combination will stick around.

As for Chryst, the only thing that matters is how well the group executes.

"I don't care as long as they play well," he said.

Along with Bortolini, the contest against New Mexico State also marked the season debut for senior cornerback Justin Clark. Clark played a total of 21 snaps on defense and on two targets, he didn't allow a completion.

Dealing with a hamstring injury that goes back to the second week of fall camp in August, Clark practiced last week but didn't feel he was 100 percent. This week, he practiced on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and felt he was ready to go.

Throughout the process, he had been dealing with a similar injury to Alex Smith, who is also working his way back from a hamstring injury.

"It was definitely good to have someone who understands what I'm going through," Clark said. "Understanding the grind, the rehab, waking up early before everyone else is even here."

For Clark, the first reps of the season was his debut in a Wisconsin uniform and his first taste of Camp Randall.

"It was surreal," he said. "Just playing in front of that crowd. Seeing the excitement of the crowd, you feed off that."

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