Wisconsin has sent chills down the spines of the Purdue fanbase over the last 20 years, with beatdown after beatdown being handed down by the Badgers against the Boilermakers dating back to 2004.

What has now turned into a near annual tradition of Purdue falling at the hands of Wisconsin has reached a new level after the Boilermakers' 52-6 loss on Saturday afternoon in Madison.

The losing streak reaches 18 straight for Purdue, 15 of which have come by double-digits during that stretch. Saturday's meeting marks the largest defeat in the series, eclipsing when Russell Wilson and Montee Ball had monster outings en route to a 62-17 Badger victory over the then Danny Hope led Boilermakers in 2011.

The most damning part of the latest loss? This Wisconsin team may be the worst Purdue has played during that 18-game stretch.

Despite that, Purdue found itself in an early 14-0 hole after Dillon Thieneman's second muffed punt of the day led to a Tawee Walker touchdown run, followed by a 91-yard Wisconsin drive that was capped off by a 52-yard touchdown catch by Vinny Anthony II.

The Boilermakers had an opportunity to change the momentum of the game when Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke threw interceptions to Kyndrich Breedlove on back-to-back possessions, setting Purdue up with prime field position. New play-caller Jason Simmons and the offense were handed golden opportunities for points twice while the Boilermakers drove inside the Wisconsin five-yard line. Both drives stalled out and Purdue was forced to settle with a pair of Spencer Porath field goals.

The inability to execute in the red zone came back to bite the Boilermakers, who were unable to get closer than eight points from Wisconsin for the remainder of the day.

"Obviously would have liked to get touchdowns when we got inside there, but the way we played in the second half, it wouldn't have mattered. So, we got a lot to fix," head coach Ryan Walters said.

Jason Simmons' debut as Purdue's play-caller left a lot to be desired, despite a drastic shift in personnel and philosophy in the first half. The Boilermakers put themselves in position to put points on the board, but came up short both times. The little success they did have dried up after halftime, however, as they accumulated just 76 yards of offense after the break and did not have a snap in Wisconsin territory.

Purdue was also held under 225 yards of offense for the third time in the last four games and failed to reach the end zone for the first time all year. The dressing was different, but the result remained the same following the dismissal of former offensive coordinator Graham Harrell.

"Obviously got to go back and look at the tape, but you know, 1 of 11 on third downs, you can't win that way. I thought we had chances to make plays downfield. We just didn't make them," Walters said.

Wisconsin parlayed the second third down stop into a scoring drive to close the half, which handed all the momentum back to the home team, who never gave it back. The Badgers then rattled off six straight scoring drives, five of which reached the end zone, to run away with the game.

During the aforementioned 18-game losing streak for Purdue, the Badgers had made it a theme of pounding the rock and running all over the Boilermakers. While 228 rushing yards and four scores on the ground was still a strong performance, it was the Wisconsin passing attack that spelled Purdue's doom on Saturday afternoon, behind sophomore signal caller Braedyn Locke.

Locke had struggled in his previous two appearances this season, but put together the best performance of his young career in Madison. The sophomore quarterback started the game 7/16 before turning things around thanks to a stretch of 12 straight completions. Locke wound up torching Purdue's defense to the tune of career-highs with a 65% completion percentage, 359 yards and three scores, while also throwing two interceptions.

Walters pointed to his defense not getting enough pressure on Locke, mixed with recurring tackling woes, that led to some of the explosive plays through the air.

"Just let them kind of sit back there, I don't know how much pressure we got on the quarterback today. So anytime you sit back there, they're covered through the down and then once the concept was over, they scrambled around and guys got in different zones, and then we couldn't get them down," Walters said.

Purdue came into the Nebraska game with a top ten ranking in the country in passing defense, but the Cornhuskers and Badgers have hung 616 yards and five scores on the Boilermakers' secondary the last two Saturdays. Wisconsin was averaging just north of 180 passing yards per game, which was fifth-worst in the conference coming into the game, but looked like a top passing attack in the Big Ten against the Boilermakers.

The 589 yards of offense surrendered by the Boilermakers set a new season-worst, eclipsing the 578 yards that Notre Dame had in week three, and were the most since LSU had the same number in the lopsided Citrus Bowl two seasons ago.

The majority of that came in the second half, which has turned into a sour trend for the Boilermakers of falling off late in games defensively. Wisconsin put up 31 points after halftime, which brings Purdue's points allowed in the second half up to 97 across the last four games.

When asked whether Purdue's struggles defensively have been a result of the scheme or personnel, Walters alluded to more changes to the system potentially coming moving forward.

"If it's not working right now, we got to do things to tweak it. Because if we're just doing the same thing and it doesn't work, that's crazy, right? So, like I said, I've got a lot of stuff to evaluate," Walters said.

It hasn't been a singular issue here or there for Purdue. It's been a string of problems that have continued to mount, leading to a 1-4 start to the season for Ryan Walters and company. A now four-game losing streak has all but slammed the door on a step forward in year two under Walters, which has now shifted from worst-case scenario to a reality.

Similar to the feeling after the Notre Dame loss, there are no positives to draw from a 46-point conference defeat. Walters was blunt following the 52-6 loss, saying what many believed to be true of the Boilermakers.

"The most disappointing thing is, you know, if I'm being completely honest, like we're a bad football team right now. We're undisciplined when it gets tight, we play with poor technique when it's our turn to make a play, we get sloppy when we have to do things to make up ground," Walters said.

Purdue has reached a new low with the loss, falling to 1-4 on the season and remaining in a tie for last place, alongside UCLA, Maryland and Minnesota through two conference matchups.

It's not just about the losses, but the fashion in which they've played out. None of Purdue's four losses have been competitive, particularly defeats at the hands of Notre Dame and Wisconsin that shouldn't happen for a Power 4 program. Walters and the Boilermakers are in need of a seismic change for the latter half of the year with time running out to save what has become a disastrous 2024 campaign.