MADISON - Three hundred and sixty four days prior to Wisconsin football’s shellacking of Illinois State, the Badgers lost a sloppy, heart-wrenching game to open the 2021 season.

Penn State was the culprit, and it won an airtight game off big plays from a pair of future top 50 NFL draft picks. Jahan Dotson torched the Wisconsin secondary for huge receptions, and Jaquan Brisker picked off Graham Mertz to stifle the Badgers’ comeback attempt.

Illinois State does not have any top 50 NFL draft picks. As is tradition for big, storied programs, Wisconsin played an overmatched FCS team to open the season as one of its three non-conference opponents.

Last season, the Badgers were thrown right into the fire that is Big Ten football. There was no time to acclimate, no time to gradually rise to the expected level of competition.

This year was a different story. It wasn’t the Nittany Lions rolling into Madison for the first test of the season. It was a team from Normal, Ill., that had only beaten an FBS team five times.

And yet, early in the game, the Redbirds were poised to take the lead. Illinois State had marched down the field, thanks in part to penalties from the Badgers. Ricardo Hallman was flagged for a late hit out of bounds after Jay Shaw blew up a screen pass on the sideline. A few plays later, receiver Brock Annexstad beat cornerback Cedrick Dort Jr. out of the slot, and the Redbirds were knocking on the door.

“We just had to settle down,” Nick Herbig said. “First game of the year, everybody has to figure out kinda what they’re doing, how they’re running things.”

In front of 73,727 strong at Camp Randall Stadium, under the lights, in the first game of the year, emotions are running high. Do they account for the jittery start?

“A little bit, but at the same time, that’s kinda how we’re trained to be all the time. Ride the wave, don’t get too high in the positive things, but also, in the negative times, we can’t get too low,” explained Isaac Guerendo. He only logged two carries on offense, but he scored a touchdown and had a 33-yard kick return to set up Mertz and the offense in good field position.

“It’s a next play mentality. Continuing that on, and making sure we’re calm, cool and collected throughout whatever’s going on.”

From Wisconsin’s nine-yard line, Illinois State was facing a third-and-seven. Right before the play, safety John Torchio turned to Herbig.

“He was like, ‘Herbie, I’m about to pick this one,’” the linebacker recalled. “So I’m pass-rushing and I turn around and sure enough there’s Torch with the ball in his hands. I mean, he’s called the jewelry thief for a reason.”

One hundred yards and six points later, Torchio opened the scoring and the Badgers defense never looked back.

“I think we did a good job of finding ourselves,” Herbig offered.

The offense had some sloppiness as well. After the Badgers stopped Illinois State’s initial drive, a third down pass sailed through the hands of receiver Markus Allen. Wisconsin would punt, and wouldn’t see the ball until the second quarter.

“That was kinda weird, only having three plays in the first quarter,” Mertz said.

That stopped Wisconsin from establishing a rhythm early, but they hardly needed it. On their second drive, Braelon Allen set the school record for longest rushing play by taking a handoff 96 yards to the house. He had a lot of ground to cover, so the Redbirds had ample chance to catch up with him.

“I thought, no one’s in front of me. Corners and safeties are fast, obviously, so there’s a chance somebody might catch up to me,” Allen said.

“But I knew I wasn’t getting tackled.”

That confidence, that trust in the work they’ve put in is what carried Wisconsin through uncertain moments against an inferior team.

Despite the shaky start, Mertz had a hyper-efficient day throwing the football. Through much of the game, his only incompletion was a drop on his first pass attempt.

“It goes back to the trust in my teammates and my o-line, and the trust they have in me,” he said.

On the Badgers’ third drive, Illinois State safety Sy Dabney blitzed off the edge and flew into the backfield to sack Mertz with a big hit. Wisconsin would end up settling for a field goal.

“(Mertz’s) confidence and leadership was unreal. He took that big shot, and came back fired up and was able to keep making a lot of big plays,” Chimere Dike said. “I’ve got a lot of trust in that guy, and I’m excited to see him have that kind of performance.”

Perhaps weary of the inevitable nitpicking of Wisconsin’s mostly-dominant performance, Dike threw in a little dry humor:

“Any time you can have a game where you win 38-0 on opening day, it’s a win.”

The Badgers took care of business at home and avoided the shocking upset. There was some settling in to do, but having to settle in doesn't always spell doom against the Redbirds. It might against the Nittany Lions. Dike acknowledges the need to improve, but knows it’s within grasp.

“There’s definitely things we gotta clean up, but the thing is I know it’s things that we can.”

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