Michigan Wolverines registered a 38-17 victory over Wisconsin Badgers, who lost starting quarterback Graham Mertz to a chest injury, on Saturday and extended their unbeaten streak to five games in NCAA football.

Cade McNamara set up Cornelius Johnson twice with his touchdown passes for the Michigan side.

Wisconsin (1-3, 0-2 Big Ten) was behind 13-10 in the third quarter and possessed the ball when Mertz was sacked on a third-and-9 play by Daxton Hill. After that play, Mertz and tight end Jake Ferguson both went to the locker room with chest injuries and did not return to the game.

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Michigan scored 25 points in a row after Mertz and Ferguson left, putting the game out of reach.

The Wolverines (5-0, 2-0) won for the first game in Madison since 2001 by shutting down Wisconsin’s rushing assault, something Michigan has struggled to do the previous two seasons. Each of Michigan’s previous five visits to Camp Randall Stadium had ended in defeat.

Wisconsin defeated Michigan 35-14 and 49-11 in 2019 and 2020, running for over 340 yards in both games. On Saturday, Michigan held Wisconsin to 43 yards on 32 carries.

McNamara completed 17 of 28 passes for 197 yards. J.J. McCarthy, a highly rated rookie quarterback, also appeared and scored a 1-yard touchdown run and a 56-yard touchdown throw to Daylin Baldwin.

Before being wounded, Mertz was 8 of 15 for 115 yards and made a touchdown throw to Chimere Dike. Chase Wolf took over for Mertz and completed three of eight passes for 52 yards, an interception, and a touchdown pass to Clay Cufiff.

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For the opening 20 minutes of the game, Michigan led 10-0 and outgained Wisconsin 122-minus-2, as the Badgers failed to complete a pass or make a first down on each of their first four drives.

The Wolverines scored first on a flea-flicker by McNamara, who connected with Johnson for a 34-yard touchdown throw. In the fourth quarter, McNamara and Johnson connected once more on a 13-yard touchdown pass.

Wisconsin came back into the game by scoring on its final two first-half possessions. With seven seconds remaining in the first half, Mertz connected with Dike on a 36-yard pass and an 18-yard touchdown on successive plays to trim Michigan’s advantage to 13-10.

The Badgers never threatened again after Mertz was killed.

With inputs from the Associated Press