Wisconsin football legends J.J. Watt, Joe Thomas go bonkers over Graham Mertz

Graham Mertz had a game for the record books as the Wisconsin football quarterback caught the attention of some of the biggest names in Badgers’ history.

Wisconsin turned into a passing offense with the insertion of redshirt freshman Graham Mertz into the starting lineup in place of the injured Jack Coan. The run-oriented program will be just fine throwing the ball all over the field after their highest-rated quarterback recruit turned in a performance not seen since the magical season Russell Wilson had in his one year in Madison in 2011.

Mertz was almost perfect, completing 20-of-21 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns. His only incompletion came on a drop otherwise he literally would have had a perfect game. His performance caught the eyes of former Badger greats Joe Thomas, J.J. Watt and T.J. Watt who tweeted their praise for the redshirt freshman after his first start.

Graham Mertz has won over Wisconsin football alums with one start

Thomas replied to Pat McAfee’s hyperbolic sarcastic tweet about Mertz being the greatest quarterback to ever live.

What’s crazy about the performance by Mertz, the greatest in Wisconsin history, is that it happened in front of zero fans in Camp Randall.

Thomas is using the box score screenshot of his first-half performance as his new screensaver. I don’t blame him.

Even Patrick Mahomes took notice of what Mertz was doing in his first career start to which Thomas called the moment surreal.

JJ Watt flamethrower

TJ Watt was pumped to see his alma mater kick off the season with a thunderous win.

With the 45-7 win over Illinois, Mertz announced himself to the college football world that this isn’t your father’s Wisconsin offense.

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