Wisconsin may be in trouble after quarterback Graham Mertz tests positive for COVID-19.
There seemed no better way to kick off the Big Ten season than what we saw on Friday night. Wisconsin steamrolled Illinois behind a dazzling Air Raid offense and the arm of new star Graham Mertz.
The performance set the stage for a thrilling Saturday slate of Big Ten games, which included the return of Michigan Football and our first upset of the season, but it might all be crashing down less than a day after it all took off.
According to multiple reports out of Wisconsin, Graham Mertz tested positive for COVID-19. He’ll undergo further testing but this could be the start of multiple problems for not only Wisconsin but the Big Ten and college football as a whole.
For Mertz and Wisconsin, the next step is seeing what a second test yields. If Mertz tests positive twice, he’ll be forced to sit for 21 days which could essentially end his season just as it was getting started.
There’s hope that this isn’t as bad as it seems, though. Last week Alabama head coach Nick Saban tested positive for COVID, but it turned out to be a false-positive and he ended up coaching against Georgia that same week.
For the Big Ten, this is a nightmare scenario from the getgo. The conference was one of the first to cancel its season amid concerns that COVID could be contracted and spread, yet it buckled under pressure from fans, parents, and boosters who demanded a season at all costs. That cost, as it was then and is now, is the health and safety of teenagers playing football without monetary compensation. Mertz testing positive likely won’t end the Big Ten season just as it was getting started, but it’s the exact scenario the conference feared could happen when it made its original decision to cancel the season.