There was nothing confusing or controversial about No. 24 Wisconsin’s lopsided 41-10 victory over Purdue Saturday.
The Badgers (1-0 Big Ten, 3-1 overall) quickly moved on from their heartbreaking loss to Arizona State and came out firing on all cylinders against the Boilermakers (0-1, 1-3) to start out conference play.
“I don’t think you ever forget a loss, you learn from it,” said head coach Gary Andersen. “Did I want them to be mad? Yeah I did. That should give them a chip on their shoulders that carries them for the rest of the season.”
Purdue, whose run defense has struggled all year, had no answer for senior running back James White and redshirt sophomore running back Melvin Gordon, as the two tallied 292 yards and four touchdowns on 32 combined carries.
“We have two NFL backs playing for us right now,” Andersen said. “They are just so dynamic, they really make people miss, and they really complement each other with their running styles.”
White added to the highlight reel with an explosive 70-yard touchdown dash that gave the Badgers a 14-0 lead as the first quarter was coming to a close.
Gordon scored his second touchdown of the day a few drives later when he dashed for a 27-yard score, dragging a defender into the end zone on the play.
Gordon also rushed for two more touchdowns from five and 15 yards out.
Even freshman Corey Clement joined in on the action, with a 39-yard run of his own to end the third quarter that brought the Badgers to Purdue’s 5 yard line. From there he punched it in to start out the fourth quarter, endeding his day with 83 total yards.
While the offense was having a field day, the Badgers’ defense prevented the Boilermakers’ offense from doing much at all. Wisconsin tallied 546 total yards of offense, while Purdue managed only 180.
Besides a 22-yard touchdown scramble by Boilermaker senior quarterback Rob Henry, the Badgers kept Purdue in check with a vicious pass rush that brought Henry down four times and hurried him numerous more.
“After last week when Arizona State had a lot of big pass plays against us, so up front we just wanted to get to the quarterback,” senior defensive lineman Beau Allen said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of that today.”
After a subpar performance from the defense last weekend, redshirt senior linebacker Chris Borland said the unit came out with an extra edge today.
“We were frustrated about last week, angry about it, and wanted to take it out on Purdue,” Borland said. “I am proud, but it’s what I expected. We’ve faced difficult thing in the past, I wouldn’t say anything like what happened last week. I had a good idea with how we would respond.”
With the score 14-7 in the third quarter, Purdue senior cornerback Ricardo Allen intercepted an errant pass from redshirt sophomore Joel Stave, and was tackled at the Wisconsin 10-yard line.
With the Boilermakers poised to score and tie the game up at 14, Wisconsin’s defense flipped the momentum by stalling out Purdue’s drive and forcing a field goal.
If there was anything Andersen was not pleased with in this game, it was the inconsistency of the passing game.
“We need to pitch and catch the ball better,” Andersen said. “I don’t care if it’s the long throw, the short throw; we had some drops out there.”
The most notable incompletion was Stave’s first pass play of the game, in which he missed an open redshirt senior wide receiver Jared Abbrederis on third down.
However, besides a few errant throws and his second-quarter interception, Stave pulled through, going 12 for 19 with 158 yards.
Once again Abbrederis was his main target, catching seven passes for 94 yards. Abbrederis also added a 16-yard run off a jet sweep and added three punt returns for 25 yards.
“To be involved in a Big Ten game for the first time, it’s something special out there,” Andersen said. “I’ve never had that opportunity until today. So it’s a memory I’ll cherish for a long time.”
