Badgered: Mertz & Chryst Need to Find Some Answers. Fast.
About a week ago, it was gut-check time for the two quarterbacks who matter in the land of Cheddar and Gouda.
Aaron Rodgers, who had not looked good in Green Bay’s opening debacle against New Orleans, needed a big win against Detroit to silence his many Packer critics. They were even more edgy because Rodgers had openly displayed his discontent with the team’s front office during the off-season.
Prima donna or not, Rodgers made worries about the Lions game look foolish. A week later, on Sunday night at San Francisco, he made even more hash out of all the anguish by leading Green Bay to a game-winning field goal in the final 37 seconds with no timeouts against a pumped-up 49er defense.
If Rodgers really is out of Green Bay after this season, cue up that under-appreciated Bob Dylan song, ``You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.’’
Graham Mertz, who had not looked good in Wisconsin’s opening loss to Penn State, faced a similar situation when the Badgers took on Notre Dame at Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday.
That’s where the similarities end.
Rodgers, a seasoned pro who showed his clutch genes when he put Bryson DeChambeau on his back with a hot putter in their made-for-TV golf match against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady, thrives on this kind of stuff.
Never mind Mertz' hype. Wisconsin’s most talented quarterback recruit since the beginning of time was a proverbial deer in the headlights against an Irish team that didn’t seem to be all that imposing. Mertz also looked like he was in over his head against Penn State, another game that was there for the Badgers’ taking.
``I was wrong about Graham Mertz and I feel like a real big idiot,’’ blogger Drew Hamm wrote at Bucky’s 5th Quarter, an SB Nation website. It was succinct and blunt. And it pretty much summed up the feelings of many people who like to Jump Around at the start of the fourth quarter.
In one ugly September, he has gone from Otto Graham to Fred Mertz.
This is not a good situation for Wisconsin football—or for apparel sold at GrahamMertzShop-Dot-Com, ``the official store of Graham Mertz.’’ NIL? It’s probably more like nil.
To put this kind of heat on a pro like Aaron Rodgers is one thing. Picking on a college kid like Mertz is a very different thing. But that's the world we live in.
What matters now, though, is that—gulp—Wisconsin plays host to a rejuvenated Michigan that seems bent on removing the tarnish from Jim Harbaugh’s damaged image.
This isn’t merely gut-check time for Mertz. Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst, whose hands are all over this mess, now finds a target on his back among Badger followers who are used to much better.
The Badgers—who have had exactly one losing season (2001) in 25 years since Barry Alvarez put the W in Wisconsin—have now lost seven of their last 12 games.
Quarterback isn’t their only problem. Their trademark running game managed only 78 yards against an Irish defense that loaded the box and dared Mertz to beat them by throwing. That was a dare Chryst was afraid to take.
Even more frustrating, Wisconsin has a defense that could win championships. It has allowed just 36 points in three games. The trouble is, the Badgers have given up 28 more points. Twenty-one of them came on Pick Sixes. The other seven were on the kickoff return for a touchdown that cost them their 13-10 fourth-quarter lead against Notre Dame and started the slide to the embarrassing, devastating 41-13 loss in Chicago.
So what does Chryst do now? With an ascending No. 14 Michigan coming to Camp Randall Stadium 4-0 and thinking it can have a big season? Which is looking more possible because Ohio State is looking vulnerable. And because Penn State’s win at Wisconsin isn’t looking as good as it did when it happened.
The crux of Chryst’s problem, of course is what to do at quarterback.
The fact that Jack Coan, beaten out by Mertz, was taking the snaps for Notre Dame, is another troubling reminder that Wisconsin has no realistic options other than Mertz.
Ironically, Coan’s pre-season foot injury a year ago, which thrust Mertz into the starting job as a redshirt freshman, was not a good thing for Wisconsin football. Everyone thought Mertz was ready to shine. Everyone was. . . not correct.
It sure looked like it at the time, though. In his first collegiate start, Mertz passed fancy, completing 20 of 21 for five touchdowns in a 45-7 rout of Illinois. The next week, he was only 12 of 22 but passed for two more touchdowns as the Badgers smoked Michigan 49-11 in Ann Arbor.
That was then. A COVID-truncated season.
Now, Drew Hamm and all of the other ``idiots’’ who believed in Mertz are cringing at the thought of what might happen on Saturday.
Here’s the dilemma. Chryst doesn’t have a running game to take the heat off of his frazzled quarterback, who threw those two Pick Sixes at the end of the Notre Dame game. And he doesn’t have a backup QB to turn to.
A lot of this is on Chryst. Either he misread Mertz’ potential—or he hasn’t coached him up. Which is not a good thing for Christ’s reputation as a quarterback guru. That’s especially true because Chryst took over the play-calling duties this season from offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph and also became the team’s quarterbacks coach.
Early Las Vegas lines listed the Badgers as a 1.5-point favorite, but that quickly changed to a Pick ‘Em. And then to Michigan minus-1. By kickoff? Who knows?
No matter what Vegas says, it’s tough to imagine what kind of an offense Wisconsin can fashion with a broken quarterback against a fired-up Michigan. Can that vaunted defense engineer a 6-3 win?
If Mertz and Chryst were feeling pressure against Penn State and Notre Dame, they’re going to need to figure some things out quickly. And not just against Michigan.