The quarterback battle between Notre Dane and Wisconsin has to be one of the most anticipated in college football this season. Not long ago, Jack Coan was starting for these Badgers, and he has not missed a beat with the Irish. He has the advantage in almost everything with this matchup, albeit with the Irish having played one more game. Even if these teams had played an even number of games to this point, this comparison probably wouldn’t look much different.
The Badgers are in their second season with Graham Mertz as their starting quarterback, and he kind of has been underwhelming. You would expect a Football Bowl Subdivision quarterback on a ranked team to have at least one touchdown pass through two games, but that’s not the case with Mertz. He won’t score on the ground, either, because he and Coan are equally incapable of running the ball themselves. He will have to outperform Coan to give the Badgers a real chance in this one.