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Two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes is back commenting about Big Ten football.
Badgers fans remember Oct. 23, 2020, Wisconsin’s season-opener against Illinois. Then-freshman Graham Mertz completed 20/21 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns in the contest as the Badgers rolled to a 45-7 victory.
Related: Big Ten Power Rankings after Week 1: Our first look at the expanded conference
The game dominated headlines because it opened the 2020 Big Ten season. It also did so because Wisconsin appeared to have finally found a difference-making quarterback.
Mahomes was famously tuned in that night, posting ‘That man @GrahamMertz5 going crazy tonight!’ on X.
Badgers fans know how the story continued. Mertz mostly struggled throughout his Wisconsin career, then transferred to Florida ahead of the 2023 season.
We’ll see if things are different this time around, as Mahomes is back to praising another freshman quarterback in the Big Ten: Nebraska five-star true freshman Dylan Raiola.
Raiola excelled in his first collegiate action against UTEP on Saturday, completing 19/28 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns. After Nebraska’s struggles at the position last year, the upgrade to Raiola makes him look like Mahomes on the field.
That, and Raiola actually does look like the NFL legend.
Raiola’s play will be something to monitor for Badgers fans as the Luke Fickell and Matt Rhule eras at their respective programs are inevitably linked. Wisconsin has not lost to Nebraska since 2012, but that streak could end this season if the two teams continue on their divergent trajectories.
For now, it’s cool to see Patrick Mahomes dialed into (former) Big Ten West football.
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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patrick-mahomes-praises-big-ten-132055858.html
Author : Badgers Wire
Publish date : 2024-09-01 13:20:55
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