Following a thorough 37-0 bashing of Rutgers last week, Wisconsin will take on Big Ten West opponent Purdue Saturday in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The No. 25 Badgers (3-1 Big Ten, 6-2 overall) have progressed on both sides of the ball throughout their current three-game winning streak dating back to Oct. 11. Over the course of the run, UW has scored at least 37 points in each contest and has allowed just over 200 yards per game.
This balance of success on both offense and defense has allowed Wisconsin to completely dictate the tempo of its last few games. Opponents’ drives have ended in a three-and-out 37.9 percent of the time, a country-leading figure that has given the Badgers’ offense ample room to maneuver downfield and rack up points.
“When the defense is playing the way they are we just have got to make sure that we’re basically paying them back with good offensive production and scoring points,” said redshirt junior quarterback Joel Stave.
“They’re getting stops and three-and-outs and getting us the ball back at around midfield time and time again, and when they’re doing that we’ve got to reward them with points and just sustain drives to keep them off the field so they can be rested and ready to go,” Stave said.
The Badgers have the fifth-best time of possession in the FBS, as they have held on to the ball for an average of just over 34 minutes per game. This is largely due to the two-headed rushing attack of redshirt junior Melvin Gordon and sophomore Corey Clement, who have a combined 1,993 rushing yards on the season, the highest total of any two teammates in the FBS.
While Gordon and Clement have provided the offensive fireworks, Wisconsin’s defense has quickly established itself as one of the best units in the nation.
UW has allowed the fewest yards per game (253.8) and the second-fewest points per game (14.1) in the country.
Redshirt senior nose guard Warren Herring felt that the defense can build on the recent successes that have surfaced at the top of the stat sheet.
“You definitely have to take pride in that as a defense,” Herring said. “That’s a goal from day one. You come in and [defensive coordinator Dave Aranda] asks us ‘What’s our identity, who do we want to be?’ and the main goal is to be the number one defense in the country and that’s what we pride ourselves in and we want to work at that every day to make sure that people know that we are the number one defense in the country.”
Although its record may not indicate it, Purdue (1-4, 3-6) has experienced an offensive resurgence over the past few weeks and will pose a test for UW.
After starting the season 2-3, quarterback Danny Etling was pulled in favor of sophomore Austin Appleby. Appleby instantly sparked the offense, throwing for 202 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 76 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Boilermakers to a 38-27 win at Illinois in his first start Oct. 4.
Head coach Darell Hazell’s decision to go with Appleby has paid dividends, as his dual-threat capabilities fit better in Purdue’s triple-option offense than Etling’s pocket-passer playing style.
Under Etling, the Boilermakers averaged 312 yards and 23.8 points per game. Comparatively, Purdue has averaged a little more than 420 yards of total offense and 30.3 points per game in Appleby’s four starts.
Aranda identified Appleby’s insertion at quarterback as a turning point for Purdue. He stressed that Appleby’s athleticism, along with the speed of senior running backs Akeem Hunt and Raheem Mostert, can put a lot of points on the board in a hurry.
“There’s a run, a dive, the quarterback keeps it, and there’s an outlet pass, so there’s three options on every play,” Aranda said. “Like I said the dive has been [used] heavily—those backs are not very big, but they’re very fast, a lot of big plays. A guy’s out of a gap and he’s gone, no one’s catching him, both of them, [Hunt] and [Mostert]. So that’s been stressed, the pass has been stressed to the receiver or the fullback or the tight ends in the flats.”
The revamped offense’s success has been squandered by the Boilermakers’ defense, which has allowed an average of 36.5 points and nearly 450 yards per game during Appleby’s tenure as starter.
Purdue held powerhouse Nebraska to 297 yards of total offense last week in Lincoln, Nebraska, but the Cornhuskers were able to put up 35 points even without star running back Ameer Abdullah, who left the game in the first quarter with a knee injury.
While Wisconsin’s offense should have little issue moving the ball Saturday, the key to the game will be how the Badgers respond to Purdue’s fresh offensive attack.
Kickoff at Ross-Ade Stadium is scheduled for 11 a.m.
