And to think Graham Mertz broke into college football with a debut performance for the ages: 20-for-21 (95.2%), 248 yards and five touAchdowns.
Mertz's first-ever college start came in 2020 against...wait for it...Illinois.
And too think he never got better than that game. A developmental program cannot let the most important position on the field stagnate or decline.
So much too unpack here
Wisconsin dominated in the run game since Alvarez took over. Minnesota and Illinois have clearly passed Wisconsin in doing what the Badgers did best. Strike 1
Recruiting rankings, and lack of interest in transfer portal had the badgers on a downward trajectory. Why wouldn't every top lineman and running back want to play there? Chryst was old school and couldn't (didn't want too?) embrace the new landscape of college football. Strike 2
He had the personality of a dry fart. Didn't want to interact with boosters, cancelled the spring game and felt that sound bites were below him. The aw shucks personality was part of the charm when they were winning, but I think the "appreciate the opportunity" mantra was his downfall. Team is soft in the trenches. This is what made Wisconsin competitive. Strike 3
Ballsy move by new AD as he went all in with this move. Alvarez was (is) godlike in cheeseland, and McIntosh canned one of his boys. Hopefully Jim Leonhard can restore the fire to this program.
In all honesty, there's a certain masochistic nature to being a badger fan. Both football and basketball play slow down boring styles, but they win. So you accept the trade off. I think once the boring badger football became just bad football, the decision was easy.