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Wisconsin Badgers' 2026 QB commit connects on multiple deep bombs in dominant Week 1 win

The future of the Wisconsin Badgers' quarterback position looks bright, as Ryan Hopkins dominated in his first game of 2025 at Mater Dei high school.
Lorin Cox|
Wisconsin head football coach Luke Fickell is shown during spring football practice Thursday, April 3, 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin head football coach Luke Fickell is shown during spring football practice Thursday, April 3, 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin. | Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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The future of the Wisconsin Badgers' quarterback position looks bright.

2026 four-star QB commit Ryan Hopkins started off his senior season with a dominant performance against a big-name opponent.

He threw for 272 passing yards and 3 TD in Mater Dei's 28-26 win over St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday in front of a national TV audience on ESPN.

Hopkins and the Monarchs took it to the Raiders early on, pulling away with a 26-3 lead at the half. St. Thomas Aquinas fell short on their second-half comeback attempt.

The future Badgers quarterback showed off his arm with some impressive deep bombs, including a 62-yard post route in-stride that allowed his receiver to outrun the defense to the endzone.

Hopkins also got some help from a teammate who will be a future rival. Ohio State commit Chris Henry Jr. made a great adjustment for a tough catch and then took the ball 81 yards for the score.

Performances like these will only increase the recruiting interest in Hopkins, who is ESPN's 11th ranked quarterback in the nation. Rivals and 247Sports have him ranked lower as a three-star recruit, but that designation might not last long at this point.

The excitement for him coming to Madison is only going to build as the season goes on, and he could end up as one of the most hyped quarterback recruits coming to Wisconsin since Graham Mertz.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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