After two games against top-10 opponents, is seemed like a bye week came at a good time for Wisconsin. With most of its injured players back and rested, now comes the challenge of getting back on the winning track.
The Badgers (2-2 Big Ten, 5-2 Overall) hope to end a two-game losing streak when they host the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday. Purdue comes to Camp Randall with a dynamic offense two weeks after shocking the top-10 Ohio State team.
""I think the game will be dictated by our defense or their offense,"" sophomore cornerback Aaron Henry said. ""I think we have to go out there and set an early tone, and we just have to go out there and do what we capable of.""
The Boilermaker attack has been pass-heavy historically, but this season the running game has also been strong. Senior quarterback Joey Elliott is mobile and is joined by sophomore back Ralph Bolden, who currently ranks third in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game.
That balance was on display over the last two weeks as Elliott threw for 281 yards in the OSU upset, and seven days later Purdue had 220 yards on the ground.
Reliance on quick screens and timing routes are several elements of former coach Joe Tiller's offense that have carried over into this season's unit.
""They have really good timing, [Elliott] really doesn't hold onto the ball that much, but he can run around,"" senior defensive end O'Brien Schofield said. ""I'm hoping that he holds on enough for me to get to him.""
The defensive line has been focusing on getting its hands up to break up passes to counter quick throws.
Henry also noted Purdue's screen game is so effective because their receivers and linemen excel at cut blocking; trying to block a defensive player by taking out his legs.
In 2004, Badger defensive end Erasmus James was sidelined by a Purdue cut block during a game between two top-10 teams in West Lafayette, Ind.
The Wisconsin defense will also have to make a significant adjustment as a season-ending injury to freshman linebacker Mike Taylor has left the team without one of its starting outside backers. Stepping into that vacuum are freshman Chris Borland and junior Blake Sorensen.
Borland was splitting time with Taylor before the injury, coming in as a pass rushing substitute. Borland was known for making big plays and pressuring quarterbacks, but after Taylor went down against Iowa, he looked a bit uncomfortable dropping into coverage.
For Sorensen, this is a slight position shift as he has spent most of the year subbing in at middle linebacker. In the preseason, however, he was expected to hold the outside starting spot, before Taylor took it with a strong performance in August. Sorensen is a versatile player (he can now play all three linebacker spots) with a good understanding of the playbook, but is not known as a playmaker.
The team has not yet decided which of the two will start on Saturday.
""I don't know what we're going to do, I think some sort of rotation's going to happen. I'm going to play some inside and some outside, so I don't really know what's going to happen,"" Sorensen said. ""Honestly, I don't even think it matters who starts, the reps will kind of be split up evenly.""
Sorensen expects to rotate at both middle and outside linebacker with Borland and junior Culmer St. Jean.
After only 23 points in the last two games, senior quarterback Scott Tolzien and the UW offense will look to get back on track against a Boilermaker defense that ranks 10th in the league.
