The Wisconsin Badgers began the 2012 season with a narrow 21-16 win over Northern Iowa on Saturday.
 
Here are news and notes from the game, courtesy UW-Athletics:

Wisconsin has now won 15 consecutive season openers.

The Badgers extended their home winning streak to 17 games, the second-longest streak in school history.

UW has now won 33 consecutive regular-season non-conference games.

In the first half, Wisconsin held a time of possession average of 23:25-6:35. The Badgers ran 42 plays compared to just 15 for Northern Iowa. The Panthers managed just 47 yards of total offense.

Northern Iowa's 15 plays in the first half were the fewest run by a Badgers opponent in a half during the Bret Bielema era (2006-present).

Wisconsin held UNI to just 41 yards rushing on 20 carries (2.0 avg.), marking the lowest total for a UW opponent since Oregon State ran for just 23 yards on 24 carries on Sept. 10, 2011.

Individual Notes

Senior RB Montee Ball has scored at least one touchdown in each of his last 21 games (NCAA record is 27).

Ball accounted for 151 yards of total offense, rushing for 121 yards and adding 31 receiving yards.

Ball has now rushed for 100 or more yards in seven consecutive games and 17 times in his career.

Ball's touchdown was the 62nd of his career overall and the 55th rushing TD of his career, moving him into a tie with Michigan's Anthony Thomas for fourth all-time on the Big Ten career list. Ohio State's Pete Johnson is third on the list with 56 rushing touchdowns.

Junior QB Danny O'Brien, in his first start as a Badger, went 19-of-23 for 219 yards and 2 TDs. He is the third straight QB to lead the Badgers to a victory in his first career start for UW.

O'Brien's pass efficiency of 191.29 is the second-best mark of a Badgers quarterback in his UW debut (minimum five completions), trailing only the mark of 292.46 by Russell Wilson in his Wisconsin debut in 2011.

WR Jared Abbrederis scored the Badgers' first touchdown of 2012 on a 10-yard pass from O'Brien. O'Brien and Abbrederis later hooked up on a 53-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter. It was Abbrederis' second career two-TD game. He now has 13 career receiving TDs, putting him in 10th place all-time in UW history. He has caught a TD pass in four straight games, dating back to last season.

Sophomore K Kyle French had the first multiple field goal game if his career, connecting from 32 and 35 yards out. He now has five career made field goals.

Junior LB Chris Borland forced a fumble on Northern Iowa's first possession. That extends his school record to 11 forced fumbles in his career. Erasmus James is second all-time in UW history with seven.

Senior LB Mike Taylor, the Big Ten's leading tackler last year, recorded a team-high 13 tackles. It was his eighth career double-digit tackle game.

In his first career action, freshman Drew Meyer punted four times for an a