Back in Camp Randall for the first time since mid-September, the Wisconsin Badgers crushed Purdue 52-6 on Saturday. The matchup was the best the Badgers have looked all season, scoring their most points in a home game since a 2014 matchup against Nebraska.
The game got off to a slower start with neither team scoring on their opening two drives. But the tide turned in the Badgers’ favor when the Boilermakers had a muff following Wisconsin’s punt return and forced a turnover at the 12-yard line. Ultimately, the Badgers got the ball rolling when sophomore quarterback Braedyn Locke passed the ball off to running back Tawee Walker, who ran it in. The short and sweet five-second drive was exactly what Wisconsin needed to get on the board.
Walker ran in two touchdowns against USC last week and continues to be a dynamic part of this Wisconsin offense.
Wisconsin’s defense shut down the Boilermakers once again before the Badger’s offense responded with a second touchdown. On a scoring drive that lasted only 2 minutes and 42 seconds, Locke found wide receiver Vinnie Anthony for a 52-yard touchdown. The entire drive spanned over 91 yards, demonstrating a quickness to Wisconsin’s game that hadn’t been present in this season’s previous matchups.
“I talked about last week, there was a glimpse of what we could do, the explosiveness that we could present and I think today we put together four quarters of it,” Locke said in a post-game interview. “That’s not to say we didn’t make mistakes. I know I had the two turnovers that I got to get better from and eliminate, but I was really just proud of our team for putting together four quarters of football and never letting off the gas.”
Despite throwing two interceptions, Locke had himself a day. The second-year quarterback threw for a career high 359 yards, placing him seventh among Wisconsin’s quarterbacks for most passing yards recorded in a game.
Wisconsin’s defense did find themselves tested at points but responded well. Purdue forced two turnovers that led to two successful field goals from the Boilermakers. But safety Hunter Woholer and the rest of Wisconsin’s defense did a solid job at stopping Purdue inside the five on both drives.
The final touchdown of the first half came with just nine seconds remaining in the second quarter. With yet another efficient drive, Locke connected with wide receiver CJ Williams on a 19-yard pass. Walker ultimately ran in the final yard for the Badgers. They went into the locker room with a 21-6 lead over the Boilermakers.
Going into the second half, several players were questionable due to injuries in the first half, among them Bryson Greene and Will Pauling, both with lower-body injuries.
Unlike last week’s game against USC, where the Trojans outscored the Badgers 28-0 in the second half, it was Wisconsin who dominated the third and fourth quarters this week.
“There were some really good situations for young guys today that will bode really well for us in the stretch,” Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell said in a press conference after the game.
One of those young guys was redshirt freshman wide receiver Trech Kekahuna, who scored a 69-yard touchdown, the first career touchdown of his career, just minutes into the second half.
Kekahuna scored his second touchdown of the day when he caught Locke’s 25-yard missile in the endzone. Walker received his third set of points, running the ball in 17 yards to make the score 42-6.
Walker is the first Badger since Wisconsin’s former star Braelon Allen to rush three touchdowns in a single game. The final touchdown for the Badger came when running back Cade Yacamelli turned a fourth down play into a 30-yard rushing touchdown.
But that wasn’t the end of scoring for the Badgers. Kicker Nathaniel Vakos wrapped up the dominance with a successful 26-yard field goal after safety Kamo'i Latu forced a fumble from Purdue.
But for Fickell, it wasn’t necessarily just the high-scoring nature of Saturday’s matchup he found impressive.
“It wasn’t just winning and it wasn’t just winning by a score, it was winning in a way that there was still some adversity. There were still some things we had to do in order to have success,” Fickell said during the post-game press conference.
Following the Badger’s dynamic 52-6 win against the Boilermakers, they’ll head to New Jersey to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 11 a.m. on Oct. 12.The Scarlet Knights are coming off of a 7-14 loss against Big Ten foe Nebraska.
