Opponent View: Purdue at Wisconsin
Seventh-ranked Wisconsin is 5-0, winning its three in the non-conference before beating Northwestern and Nebraska in its first couple Big Ten games.
It's vaulted the Badgers to the clear-cut favorite in the West Division of the conference.
Following is our conversation with John Veldhuis, who covers the Badgers for BadgerBlitz.com.
GoldandBlack.com: Wisconsin has had a number of injuries, from its defense in the preseason to the offensive line now. How has it been able to overcome those?
Veldhuis: "The Badgers have definitely had to deal with the injury bug this season, but they’ve made things work thus far because they have one of their deepest rosters in years. Losing star linebacker Jack Cichy to a torn ACL in fall camp was a tough blow, but the Badgers came in to the season with four players with starting experience at inside linebacker, and they were already planning on getting each of them reps in a rotation. Senior defensive end Chikwe Obasih has also missed several weeks with a knee injury, but the Badgers returned their entire defensive line from last year, and had a few young players step up at the position to keep the unit from taking a step back.
"The offensive line is definitely the biggest concern at the moment, as both their first-team and second-team left guards are listed as ‘questionable’ for this week’s game and didn’t play in the second half against Nebraska. Left tackle Michael Deiter is a little banged up, too — he’s been dealing with an ankle injury for the last few weeks. But the Badgers made it work against Nebraska because of their depth. They’ve had a few young players like Jason Erdmann at guard and Cole Van Lanen at tackle step up over the last few weeks, but the Badgers are going to need to keep their line as healthy as possible this year if they want to stay on track for a division title and more."
GoldandBlack.com: QB Alex Hornibrook has shown tremendous growth from last year to this, to the point where it looks like now, at least statistically, he's a plus for the offense. What is different?
Veldhuis: "I think Hornibrook took a big step forward confidence-wise after playing last year as a redshirt freshman. He held his own in his first season under center, and he and then-senior Bart Houston handled Wisconsin’s quarterback rotation about as well as you could expect them to. But after Houston left and Hornibrook became ‘the guy’ in Madison it was easy to look at him on the practice field in the spring and fall and see a more confident passer. He put in a lot of offseason work becoming more comfortable with Wisconsin’s offense and spent some time with private quarterback coaches, and I think that has all helped Hornibrook in his sophomore season. He still makes a few throws that he shouldn’t — see last weekend’s pick six against Nebraska — but for the most part we’re seeing the accurate passer that the Badgers thought he could be when they recruited him."
GoldandBlack.com: Wisconsin has had a number of incredibly good running backs. Where does the early production from Jonathan Taylor rank?
Veldhuis: "Well, he’s only the second freshman running back in Wisconsin’s history to rush for at least 200 yards in more than one game — Ron Dayne was the only other back to do that. Now, he’s not Ron Dayne yet. But he’s off to a phenomenal start, and is making big plays thanks to his balance, speed and vision in a way that you don’t really expect to see from a freshman running back. Over the last few weeks I’ve been comparing him to James White, who came in to Wisconsin in 2010 and played right away as a true freshman. He finished with 1,052 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns this season, but only averaged 87 yards per game. Taylor is at 767 yards through five games, and is averaging 153 yards per game.
"It’s getting to the point where I’m going to need to find a new running back to compare him to."
GoldandBlack.com: The defense is not only keeping down opponents' yardage, but it's turning them over. What has been most impressive?
Veldhuis: "I think the most impressive thing is that the Badgers have managed to keep their defense ranking as one of the nation’s best despite the turnover at a few positions and in the defensive coordinator’s chair. The Badgers are on their third defensive coordinator in as many seasons, and to keep producing like this is impressive, more so when you remember that the Badgers had to replace their top two pass rushers from last year at outside linebacker in Vince Biegel and T.J. Watt, and have a few new faces in their secondary as well. I think it speaks well of the players the coaching staff has brought in to the program, and it’s a credit to new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard for adding his own spin to the defense without getting away from what’s been working.
"The Badgers could still use a bit of a boost in their pass rush, but for the most part the unit has been able to keep flying around and make plays."
GoldandBlack.com: Who do you think will win and why?
Veldhuis: "I think the Badgers will win by about 35-17, if they can keep some of their banged-up offensive linemen on the field. I’ve definitely been impressed with the steps forward that the Boilermakers have taken over the last few weeks and months, but with the game at Camp Randall I think the Badgers will be in their element.
"It wouldn’t surprise me if the game is close for a while, though. The Badgers have gotten in to a habit of starting games slowly, before roaring back in the second half."
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