Final Score: Wisconsin 45, UMass 0

The first game of 2013 is in the books, and it went largely as expected. UMass could not stop Wisconsin in any respect, and some early first-half sluggishness was relegated to "Well, yeah, they should probably clean that up by Arizona State" status.

Nick will follow with an in-depth recap from the press box, but here's all you need to know about the Badgers' season-opening beatdown.

Numbers:

Passing:

-- Joel Stave: 10-of-18, 205 yards (11.4 per pass), 2 TD/1 INT

-- Bart Houston: Made an appearance in fourth quarter, did not attempt a pass completed his only pass for eight yards. Interestingly enough, Curt Phillips did not take the field.

Rushing:

-- James White: 13 carries, 144 yards (11.1 per carry), 1 TD, 70 long

-- Melvin Gordon: 11 carries, 143 yards (13.0 per carry), 1 TD, 51 long

-- Corey Clement: 16 carries, 101 yards (6.3 per carry), 1 TD, 23 long

-- Joel Stave: 3 carries, 5 yards (1.7 per carry), 1 TD

-- Jeff Lewis: 1 carry, 0 yards

Receiving:

-- Jared Abbrederis: 2 receptions, 122 yards (61 yards per), 2 TD, 65 long

-- Jordan Fredrick: 1 reception, 19 yards

-- Sam Arneson: 2 receptions, 17 yards (8.5 yards per)

-- Jacob Pedersen: 2 receptions, 15 yards (7.5 yards per)

-- Derek Watt: 1 reception, 12 yards

-- James White, 1 reception, 11 yards

-- Jeff Duckworth: 1 reception, 9 yards

News, notes and observations:

-- Stave was very sluggish early on, tossing the interception on a way-airmailed throw and nearly killing Abbrederis with a high throw that left Abbrederis unprotected on what should've been an otherwise easy inside route.

-- Stave settled down, though, and looked great in two specific areas: off play-action and with the deep ball. Abbrederis' stat line especially reinforces the latter.

-- Again, no Phillips was puzzling -- especially since we saw both Houston and McEvoy, though the latter was at receiver, as we expected. I don't think we should go crazy analyzing this one -- when you're pitching a shutout on a first-year FBS program, you might as well try some fun packages out.

-- Freshmen who played, according to my eyes (please add any I missed in the comments, as this definitely isn't everyone): Clement, tight end TJ Watt, cornerback Jakarrie Washington (largely on special teams), cornerback Sojourn Shelton.

-- Speaking of Shelton, he had a sweet, leaping grab to haul in his first career interception. Again, we need greater competition to honestly make some of these conclusions, but it's going to be exciting seeing Shelton develop.

Box score, drive chart and play-by-play:

Courtesy of Wisconsin Athletic Communications

Post-game updates:

Clarification on why Phillips never came in:

GA says Curt Phillips passed on game reps so Bart Houston could get valuable experience. Calls it a defining moment. #Badgers

— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) August 31, 2013

Curt Phillips for president, guys.

Post-game notes from UW:

TEAM NOTES

Head coach Gary Andersen made his Badgers coaching debut today.

Wisconsin has now won 16 consecutive season openers. That is tied with USC for the third-longest active streak in the country behind only Nebraska (27 entering today) and Florida (23 entering today).

UW has now won 17-straight home openers, dating back to 1996.

The Badgers have won 27 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents. Entering today's action, UW was tied with Boise State for the second-longest home non-conference win streak in the country, trailing only LSU (37 entering today).

Wisconsin is now 56-6 (.903) at Camp Randall Stadium since the start of the 2004 season. That is the third-best home record in the country.

This is the eighth time since 2004 that Wisconsin has scored at least 34 points in its season opener.

Today was the first shutout for UW since blanking Oregon State, 35-0, on Sept. 10, 2011. It was also UW's most lop-sided shutout since a 65-0 win over Temple on Sept. 10, 2005.

The last time Wisconsin rushed for at least 300 yards and threw for at least 200 yards was in a 62-17 win over Purdue on Nov. 5, 2011. The Badgers ran for 393 yards and threw for 205 yards today.

The Badgers scored on four plays of more than 50 yards today.

Wisconsin converted 8 of 11 third downs (72.7%), its highest single-game conversion percentage since converting 11-of-15 third downs (73.3%) against Washington State on Sept. 1, 2007.

The Badgers allowed just 212 yards of total offense, their fewest since limiting Minnesota to 156 total yards in a 42-13 win on Nov. 12, 2011.

Individual notes here