There are feel-good wins, and then there is the win the Wisconsin Badgers experienced on Saturday.
In obliterating the lowly Purdue Boilermakers 52-6 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium, the Wisconsin Badgers got exactly what they needed. With an old-fashioned Wisconsin beatdown, head coach Luke Fickell and the Badgers can breathe a bit easier after a turbulent few weeks.
Coming off back-to-back losses to Alabama and the University of Southern California, Wisconsin’s program came under levels of scrutiny not yet seen in the Fickell era. But after a dominating showing Saturday, Wisconsin should be able to silence some noise — for now.
“This does feel a lot better,” Fickell said after the game. “This is what things want to look like for us.”
After losing to Alabama and USC by a combined 49 points, Purdue’s name on the schedule was a beacon of hope to turn the season around. If there was ever a game to get back on track, here it was.
But on the other side, if Wisconsin were to squander this opportunity and lose a clearly winnable game, the pressure on the program would have mounted to a peak. If losing to top-15 ranked teams was an indicator of a program in decline, imagine falling at home to one of the worst teams in the conference.
Fortunately, Wisconsin avoided that fate Saturday, showing they can’t be completely counted out of relevance in this year’s Big Ten.
The best and most relieving sign out of Saturday was the offensive onslaught quarterback Braedyn Locke and the Badgers exhibited.
Wisconsin scored just 10 points against Alabama, and after an impressive first half at USC, went scoreless in the second half. Offensive coordinator Phil Longo needed a convincing display to silence the questions surrounding his thus-far inconsistent Air Raid offense, and in scoring 52 points through a variety of avenues against Purdue, his group did just that.
Longo consistently preaches a balanced attack offense between the running and passing games that creates opportunities for one another through the other’s success. But in stripping the Badgers of their running-first identity, Longo has faced plenty of criticism as the lofty expectations he set hadn’t been met.
But on Saturday, Longo got a full-game sample of how the offense can perform at its best.
Against Purdue, Locke played his best game as a Badger, completing 20 of 31 passes for a career-high 359 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Though he threw interceptions on consecutive drives in the second quarter, Locke recovered and received the confidence boost he’ll need the rest of the season.
“I was just really proud of our team for putting together four full quarters of football and never letting off the gas,” Locke said after the game. “I don’t know if it was one particular thing, I think it was just 11 guys pulling from the same side of the rope.”
Wisconsin’s offense had been scrutinized for its lack of explosive plays, but it found six plays of over 20 yards on Saturday, including a 52-yard touchdown reception for Vinny Anthony and 25 and 69-yard touchdown receptions for Trech Kekahuna.
On the ground, in their first game without lead running back Chez Mellusi, Wisconsin’s running backs amassed 228 yards and four touchdowns. Tawee Walker led the way, scoring three touchdowns on 94 yards. But Wisconsin received contributions down the line, with five running backs receiving multiple carries.
“You love when you have guys that have different abilities,” Fickell said of his running backs on Monday. “They all have the ability to run the football. They all have the ability to catch the ball. But I think it's unique when you've got some guys that are a little bit different.”
Freshmen running backs Dilin Jones and Darrion Dupree received the most playing time they’ve seen this season, and both impressed. Jones rushed seven times for 65 yards and rattled off a 47-yard carry, while Dupree picked up 24 yards on seven carries and caught two passes for 23 yards. Junior Cade Yacamelli scored his first touchdown of the season on a 30-yard carry in the fourth quarter.
At a time when they needed it most, Saturday was the best Wisconsin’s offense has looked in the Fickell era. Their 52 points were the most in Longo’s tenure as offensive coordinator, and by playing complementary offensive football, Wisconsin’s offense finally materialized his vision of a balanced Air Raid offense.
Pair the offense’s triumphant afternoon with a vintage Wisconsin defensive masterclass and you have the type of game everyone in the program has been searching for since Fickell’s hiring.
Too often in the last two years, Wisconsin has played down to lower competition. Last season they fell to low-quality Indiana and Northwestern teams and barely got by Illinois. A Big Ten blowout was not something Fickell had accomplished.
But on Saturday, not only did the Badgers get back on track, they did so in a dominating, satisfying fashion. For now, the pressure gauge has tempered in Madison.
