WEST LAFAYETTE, IND.—On an absolutely beautiful day for football, the UW defense turned it into an ugly day for the Boilermaker offense. Purdue only accumulated 106 total yards in the first half as the Badgers held Purdue to only three points en route to a 24-3 victory in West Lafayette Saturday.
""That means we're capable of playing anybody,"" sophomore cornerback Allen Langford said.
""We feel like any given week we can go out there and compete,"" sophomore defensive back Jack Ikegwuonu added, ""It's big, especially with the high-powered offense they had. To hold them to three points, it's a really good feeling.""
The Boilermakers lit up the scoreboard first as they drove the ball down the field only to stall as the Badger defense stiffened once Purdue entered field goal range. Purdue's kicker Chris Summers nailed a 47-yarder with the wind at his back to put his team up 3-0.
Meanwhile, the Badger offense had a rough start to the day after a promising opening drive was upended when freshman running back P.J. Hill was called for an illegal motion penalty on a pass play that would have resulted in a big gain for Wisconsin.
In the second quarter, senior quarterback John Stocco (201 passing yards, one INT) marched the offense down the field on an 11 play, 89 yard drive that ended on a one-yard touchdown run by Hill. Purdue followed with a failed fourth down conversion on the Wisconsin 23 yard line. The Badgers increased their lead when Taylor Mehlhaff drilled a 51 yard field goal to make the score 10-3.
Following a Purdue three-and-out, the Badgers advanced the ball into field goal range, but failed to score when Stocco mishandled the snap and fumbled, allowing time to run out on the half.
Purdue looked to trim the Badger lead at the start of the second half as Boilermaker quarterback Curtis Painter led them on a 60-yard drive, but a missed 37-yard field goal ended that scoring threat. UW capitalized on the error, scoring on their next drive. Following a 25-yard catch on third down by junior wideout Paul Hubbard (four receptions for 80 yards), Hill was able to notch his second touchdown of the day from three yards out, capping a 12 play, 80 yard drive that pushed the score to 17-3.
The fourth quarter featured two Purdue drives that ended in Badger territory by failed fourth down conversions, one being intercepted by sophomore linebacker Jonathan Casillas.
""They're a good offense, they're a real good offense that's going to make plays,"" Langford said. ""So when it's time to get off the field, we gotta get off the field.""
P.J. Hill set up the Badgers' final score by rumbling for 45 yards to the Purdue nine. On the next play, freshman running back Lance Smith found the end zone to finalize the score at 24-3.
