Graham Mertz threw three touchdown passes and Braelon Allen rushed for 129 yards as 21st-ranked Wisconsin easily extended its winning streak to five games with a 52-3 rout of host Rutgers on Saturday in Piscataway, N.J.

The Badgers (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) moved into a tie with first-place Minnesota in the West Division. They began the day in a three-way tie for second with Iowa and Purdue and have outscored opponents 153-37 during their streak.

Wisconsin became bowl-eligible for the 20th straight season and scored its most points in a conference game since a 59-24 win over Nebraska on Nov. 15, 2014. The Badgers' defense produced four turnovers on Saturday.

Mertz completed 11 of 16 passes for 240 yards and threw TD passes to John Chenal, Kendric Pryor and Danny Davis III.

Wisconsin scored three times in the final 5:18 of the first half to take a 31-3 lead. Mertz's TD pass to Davis was a 72-yarder with 6:44 left in the third quarter, and it gave the Badgers a 45-3 lead.

Mertz was lifted late in the third for Chase Wolf, who directed a drive that ended with Jackson Acker's 18-yard TD run for a 52-3 lead with 1:59 left in the third.

Allen averaged 8.6 yards on 15 carries and posted his fifth straight 100-yard game. Chez Mellusi ran 15 times for 75 yards as the Badgers gained 305 yards on the ground and 579 yards of total offense.

Rutgers (4-5, 1-5) lost for the fifth time in six games since a season-opening, three-game winning streak and has yet to exceed 20 points in any conference game.

Scarlet Knights quarterback Noah Vedral was 8 of 16 for 81 yards. He was intercepted twice and sacked twice as Rutgers was held to 95 rushing yards.

Rutgers suffered its most lopsided loss of the season and scored its only points on a 24-yard field goal by Valentino Ambrosio with 4:34 remaining in the first quarter.

--Field Level Media