11/19/2019 football Edit

Opponent view: Wisconsin

Tom Dienhart • BoilerUpload

GoldandBlack.com, Associate Editor

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Purdue has a formidable task ahead as it preps to play at Wisconsin on Saturday. To get the low-down on the Badgers--who have won 13 in a row vs. the Boilermakers--GoldandBlack.com talked to BadgerBlitz.com football writer Jake Kokorowski.

GoldandBlack.com: Let’s start with the offense. Everything centers around the starting running back in Jonathan Taylor, right?

Kocorowski: Right. We have four solid wide receivers and a great tight end in Jake Ferguson. The running game is still the bread and butter of the Wisconsin offense. Again, in the past couple of weeks, this team has rushed for over 300 yards since that second bye week: 300 against Iowa, 320 against Nebraska, and Jonathan Taylor had over 200 yards in both games. You’ve seen the past two seasons speed, vision, strength, patience. And even with rebuilding the line, where Wisconsin lost four starters from a year ago, he is still obviously one of the most dynamic backs in college football. And you’ve seen that the past two weeks for sure, but he’s also thrown a little bit of a wrinkle where he can catch out of the backfield. It was more prevalent earlier in the year, especially against South Florida in the season opener, but now teams have to see not just what he does in the run game but also as a receiver.

GoldandBlack.com: Talk about the Badger defense.

Kocorowski: They’ve rebounded ... from last season. It’s really been a pretty solid season since when Gary Andersen first came, it’s really thrived. That’s because Paul Chryst kept Dave Aranda and then Justin Wilcox is at Cal, and now Jim Leonhard is in his third season as defensive coordinator. This team has had some rougher patches. All three of them, Illinois, Ohio State, and Nebraska. This past weekend, Nebraska ran for 273 yards, almost gained 500 yards total. Wisconsin seems to have a hint of trouble sometimes tackling in space and we saw that Saturday against the Huskers. But also against Illinois, for that matter, in Champaign in that upset loss just about a month ago. But, really, this team has gotten back to what it’s done previously in 2017 with Jim Leonhard, and that’s get after the quarterback. You have one player, Chris Orr, he already has 10 sacks for the year. He’s a redshirt senior and inside linebacker who plays with another fifth-year senior in Zack Baun, who has 9.5 sacks and that includes two against Nebraska. So, they’re increasing that pressure that they have right now with 37 sacks on the year. In all of 2018, they only had 19. This team is really stepping up in terms of pressure. The secondary has gotten a lot better. Last year was a lot of growing pains where a lot of youth, a lot of inexperience, had to have a baptism-by-fire-type season and as come back to be mostly good, for that matter. I think safety is one of the strengths of the defense with Eric Burrell and Reggie Pearson. You’ve seen a couple of blips and most notably I think some tackling issues have come up here and there, and you’ve seen that with teams who need to get players and space. But overall, they are a top-10 type defense in the nation and it should be interesting to see how they do against Purdue this weekend.

GoldandBlack.com: Is there anything noteworthy as far as special teams go?

Kocorowski: This past week against Nebraska, Aron Cruickshank took an 89-yard kickoff for a touchdown. He is I believe one of the top returners in the nation right now. He averages 20.4 yards per kickoff return. It’s been one of those things with that unit where you’ve seen the gradual progression and development over the season and they hit their stride. They had a key moment last week in the first quarter after Nebraska scored and had all of the momentum. Cruickshank essentially silenced the crowd in the stadium briefly. In terms of field-goal kicking, for us we’re looking at Collin Larsh right now. He has made 10-of-15 field goals this season. Right now, he’s 6-of-6 between 20 and 29 yards, but he has hit 4-of-9 from 30 yards or longer. It’s one thing to watch. Punting has improved from last year. Anthony Lotti averages 40 yards, but we’re seeing more consistency out of him from what was seen last year. Overall, I believe it is an improved unit from 2018, but I think, especially with punting and field goals, we could see what they do more and if they can continue to improve these final two weeks of the regular season.

GoldandBlack.com: What are one or two keys for Wisconsin to leave with a victory on Saturday?

Kocorowski: I think it goes back to the rushing attack and Jonathan Taylor. Last week, Jonathan Taylor rushed for 200 yards. A Badger has rushed for over 200 yards three times against an opponent. Against Purdue, he’s done it twice, so depending on what happens and how Purdue schemes Wisconsin, he’ll have the opportunity to rush for 200 yards three times against the Boilermakers like he did against the Huskers, which is a pretty impressive resume builder there. Wisconsin is always getting that run game going. I also think that Jack Coan, even with an off game against Nebraska, is still completing 72 percent of his passes. I think the passing game, at times, can help open up the run game for Wisconsin this season. They have plenty of targets. Stretching the field vertically is one of the main keys. On defense, they’re doing their responsibilities, not beating themselves up whether it’s penalties, being out of place. I think that would be key for Wisconsin. And not letting any type of distraction get to them. I think those are some of the keys to the game when Wisconsin takes on Purdue.

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