Who can blame Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz for being a little excited on Wednesday after his team defeated Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl?
Mertz throws for 130 yards and no interception in the 42-28 victory, but while celebrating after the game inside the Badgers’ locker room, he is caught on a video dropping the team’s soccer-shaped crystal trophy and it’s on the floor splashed.
“We just wanted everyone to have a piece of the trophy,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst joked after Mertz’s whisper after the game.
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The Wisconsin players were originally tight-lipped about who broke it, including Jack Sanborn, named the most valuable player in the game, exclaiming ‘no remark’. But videos soon appeared online.
“There’s a video evidence out there that broke the trophy, and I will say nothing else about it,” Nogers Burggreep Noah Burks, who intercepted Wake Forest full-back Sam Hartman, added late in the third quarter. “Even though we did not know the trophy was coming.”
Mertz later admitted to breaking the trophy during a virtual news conference.
“I dropped it. It’s on me,” he said.
“My mother would call it a boo-boo, but it’s okay, we’ll jump back,” he continues. “This will be the last trophy I ever drop, I guarantee you.”
Players tried to save their prize by sticking a real pot of Duke’s Real Mayonnaise on the base of the trophy – an unforeseen victory for the sponsor of the bowling game, which was played in Charlotte, NC.
Despite the crash, Mertz hit three touchdowns and Wisconsin converted four interceptions from the second half – all by different players – into 21 points to turn a close game in a nearby direction of the Demon Deacons. Five players scored the Badgers for the Badgers.
The game was tied 21-21 late in the third quarter, until Burks intercepted Hartman and returned the ball 41 yards to set up a 14-yard touchdown from Mertz to fullback Mason Stokke, giving the Badgers their first gave an advantage.
Hartman was selected on the next three possessions despite throwing one interception all season.
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“It felt like one was leading the other,” Sanborn said, adding that the Badgers tackled some of Hartman’s tendencies.
“Throughout the game, similar concepts come into play,” Sanborn continued. “We knew exactly where he wanted to throw the ball. He threw early in the game. But we got an idea of where he wanted to go with the ball. ‘
Wisconsin players lift the trophy to victory over Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl NCAA college football game at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC, Wednesday, December 30, 2020. (Associated Press)
After the game, users on Twitter took note of an earlier message from the Duke’s Mayo Bowl Twitter account that did not age well.
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“A quick reminder that we have the best trophy in football,” the report wrote.
Associated Press contributed to this report