MADISON - Wisconsin asserted itself against a lesser foe in its season opener with a 38-0 win over Illinois State.

The Badgers (1-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) were paced by Graham Mertz, who's performance included just a pair of incompletions. On the ground, Braelon Allen notched 148 yards on 14 carries with a 96-yard score highlighting the night.

Despite allowing seven plays of over 10 yards, the Badgers defense held up the shutout in the season opener.

BadgerBlitz.com offers key takeaways from Wisconsin's season opening win over the Redbirds.

The level of competition will certainly ramp up for Graham Mertz, but the Wisconsin signal caller passed his first test with flying colors. The third-year starter opened his redshirt season but completing 14-of-16 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown. The pair of incompletions came on drops from redshirt freshman Markus Allen on passes that Mertz gave him a chance to make a play on.

The first of his two incompletions came on the third offensive play of the game. Mertz dropped back and fired it in the hands of Allen, who couldn't haul in the reception on an in-breaking post route. After the drop, the Mertz rattled off 14 consecutive completions.

A mark of his decisiveness under center can be seen in the healthy distribution of targets. Mertz's 14 completions went to seven different receivers, with five players coming down with multiple receptions. The leading wide out was junior Chimere Dike, who racked up 106 yards on three catches, the first 100-yard game of his career.

"There was a lot of times where I thought he did — protection was good," head coach Paul Chryst said. "We had the one in the red zone where they got us. And yet I thought the protection was good. And I thought he was — I thought he saw things pretty well. I thought, you know, a number of guys got involved. That part was good.

Mertz wasn't asked to create much on his own tonight but there are encouraging signs to take away from the performance. On the 16-yard touchdown to Dike, who he found in the left corner of the end zone, Mertz looked off the safety to find Dike. Highlighted by a pair of completions to Hayden Rucci underneath in a mesh concept, Mertz consistently took what the defense gave him to move the ball.

It's difficult to evaluate how much a performance like this could mean for his season outlook given the caliber of the opponent, but the early returns are positive for Mertz.

Wisconsin's shutout of the Redbirds didn't come without its share of miscues throughout the night. UW's defense - which is replacing eight new starters - surrendered seven plays of 10 or more yards.

The unit can thank safety John Torchio for holding up a zero next to Illinois State on the scoreboard. With the game still scoreless, the Redbirds were in the midst of a 14-play, 71-yard drive before Torchio stepped in front of an ISU receiver and returned it for 100 yards for a touchdown.

"I thought we came out very flat," Nick Herbig, who tallied a pair of sacks, said. "Didn't come out the way we wanted to and I think if Torch doesn't get that pick-six, we're in a dogfight, but Torchio changed the game for us."

On the drive, Wisconsin didn't do itself any favors. The Badgers initially came away with a stop twice on third down with Illinois State on their side of the field before two personal fouls extended the drive.

The aforementioned penalties were just a part of a larger issue for the Badgers. In the first half, UW totaled five penalties. Two came on defense, extending a drive for Illinois State where it knocked on the door and got all the way down to Wisconsin's nine-yard line. Another pair came on UW's first two punt returns with two holds.

"We've absolutely got to be cleaner in those things that you can control," Chryst said after the game.

Wisconsin would not commit another penalty in the second half but will certainly have to clean those up. Better teams will be able to take advantage of extended drives or special teams miscues that back up an offense.

With news breaking early Monday morning that senior backup Chase Wolf suffered an injury during practice, Chryst never revealed who the primary backup quarterback was.

"Just thought it would be good for him to get that work that we had tonight," Chryst said.

With UW cruising up 38-0, Myles Burkett led the offense. Burkett stepped in for the final two drives of the game. He dropped back to pass just once before quickly getting sacked after a breakdown along the offensive line. It appears the true freshman has leapfrogged redshirt freshman Deacon Hill on the depth chart and would be the quarterback if Mertz does have to miss time for whatever reason.

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