1. Badger defense
Looked upon all season as a question mark in clutch situations, the Badger defense stepped up in convincing fashion against Ohio State. A key interception by junior defensive back Jim Leonhard and tough run defense had Buckeye senior quarterback Craig Krenzel searching for options all night.
Against a potent offense like Purdue, UW must shut down the talented receivers, including senior John Standeford. Standeford has 448 yards this season and is junior quarterback Kyle Orton's favorite target. Controlling Standeford in the same manner that UW did with Buckeye senior receiver Michael Jenkins will be a major key to limiting Purdue's high-powered offense.
2. Overconfidence?
After UW's upset of Ohio State last Saturday, the Badgers moved up 10 spots in the ESPN/Coaches Poll to No. 12 and up nine spots to No. 14 in the AP Poll. Purdue and Wisconsin are two of three Big Ten teams without a conference loss; Michigan State is the other.
A win against Purdue would put Wisconsin in a great position to control its own destiny in the Big Ten. With four of the next five games against ranked teams, UW needs to ride its momentum from this past week's game, yet not be too overconfident against one of the nation's underrated teams.
3. Jonathan Orr
Going into this season, sophomore receiver Orr was expected to be an integral part of the Wisconsin offense after a record-breaking freshman campaign. In 2002, Orr caught 47 passes for 842 yards and eight touchdowns, but this season has been different.
In seven games Orr has only five receptions for 92 yards. Orr is yet to have either a multi-catch game or a touchdown this season. As teams begin to focus more on receivers sophomore Brandon Williams and senior Lee Evans, Orr may become a secret weapon and regain his playmaking form of a year ago.
