Ten observations: Wisconsin 30, No. 25 Purdue 13

Here is what has us talking after Purdue's 30-13 loss to Wisconsin.

1- Offensive struggles

The unit had issues all day. Where to begin?

The line struggled to protect the quarterback, as Wisconsin had six sacks. Purdue also had five turnovers. The run game was non-existent, as the Boilermakers had -13 yards on 24 carries. The long run? Nine yards. The Boilers converted just 3 of 12 third downs. On and on it went all day vs. a very good Badger defense, as Wisconsin overwhelmed Purdue's offense. Final yardage: 206. The Boilers didn't score a point in the second half.

The offense scored just one touchdown on the day. And this was the fourth time in the last five games that Purdue scored 13 points exactly.

"A disappointing day for us, and I'll take full responsibility," said Jeff Brohm. "Obviously didn't call a good game, and didn't have our guys ready to play. And then for our guys to understand what it takes to really win at a high level in this conference, especially against good teams."

No. 25 Purdue is now 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, and will fall from the AP Top 25 after entering it last week for the first time since 2007.

2 - George Karlaftis' big moment

Some good news: Karlaftis had a signature moment. He has done a lot on the season, notching countless pressures. But he had just 3.0 sacks and 5.5 TFLs. entering the day. But, today, the junior had his big moment with a 56-yard scoop-and-score in the second quarter that ignited the sellout crowd. The West Lafayette High grad showed good speed in sprinting to pay dirt.

He's special.

3- Muted Bell

A week after earning Big Ten offensive player of the week honors with 11 catches for 240 yards and a TD in a 24-7 win at No. 2 Iowa, Bell had just 6 receptions for 33 yards. Credit Wisconsin, which did a good job blanketing Bell, as Purdue lost a 15th time in a row to Wisconsin--ninth time in succession in Ross-Ade.

"I thought they got up in his face and they challenged him," said Brohm. "Probably wasn't one of his better days. We tried to throw it to him at times and whether he was not getting open or whether the protection was not lasting long enough or whether we weren't finding him. So, it's a combination of a lot of things. We had quite a bit of targets to him (10). They just did a good job guarding him."

4 -Payne's day

While David Bell was largely quiet, tight end Payne Durham enjoyed a big game in his second contest back after suffering a concussion earlier this season. Durham finished with a team-high 9 catches for 112 yards and a TD.

"I think they were paying a lot of attention to our outside receivers ... ," said Brohm. "When we hit some shots to Payne, it was because they were blitzing up the middle and busted out to our receivers making our tight ends beat them."

5- Defense gashed

Hard to be too critical of the defense, as time and again it was thrown onto the field in tough situations after Purdue turnovers. Still, the defense got gashed in the run game. The Badgers pushed around the Boilermakers, running 51 time for 290 yards. It was too easy--especially in the second half, when Wisconsin blew open a 13-13 game by outscoring Purdue 17-0.

"Obviously, didn't come down off the high from last week," said Brohm. "And so, you know, we got a lot of work to do. I did think when you look at the game, we got exposed on both sides of the ball other then George (Karlaftis). They pushed us back quite a bit on defense, especially in the second half."

Purdue needed to make Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz beat it. Didn't happen. Mertz threw just 8 passes and hit 5 for 52 yards. He didn't need to throw much with how well Wisconsin was running. Chez Mellusi had 149 yards rushing; Braelon Allen had 140.

6- Three QB system provides no spark

We saw Jeff Brohm shuffle in Aidan O'Connell, Jack Plummer and Austin Burton. On one third quarter play, all three were on the field together.

But--unlike last week at Iowa--the unique system didn't provide an impact in sparking the offense. The offense struggled all day to get on track, as Purdue finished with just 219 yards passing and had sacked six times and three interceptions.

Credit the Wisconsin defense, arguably the best the Boilermakers have seen in 2021. Still, Purdue needs to show more of a spark, as points have been hard to come by most of the season. Remember, the defense scored one of the TDs today.

"Our quarterback has to play better, I have to do a better job, we got to block better, offensive line has to play better," said Brohm. "Football's a lot of things."

7- AOC's tough day

Aidan O'Connell was white hot entering the game, hitting 69 percent of his pass for 732 yards with 3 TDs and 1 interception in his other two starts of 2021.

But AOC struggled on this day. He hit just 24-of-32 passes for 200 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions.O'Connell was sacked four times, as the protection was often overwhelmed. Who will be the quarterback moving forward?

"We'll always reevaluate everything during the week," said Brohm. "I think Aidan has done some really good things. Overall, this was not a good day for him."

8 - Takeaways are coming

Purdue entered the Iowa game last week last in the nation with just two takeaways. But it had four vs. the Hawkeyes ... and two more today. It looks like the turnover worm has turned. But it didn't lead to a win today vs. the Badgers, as Purdue had five turnovers of their own.

9 - Special teams hiccups

Purdue continues to have some issues on special teams. There was a botched kickoff return that resulted in the ball being put at the 5-yard line. Kicker Mitchell Fineran also missed his first PAT of the season.

10- Nebraska is next

Purdue heads to Nebraska next week. The Huskers were off this Saturday. And they are a bit desperate with a 3-5 mark. Nebraska is 3-1 at home, but Purdue won the last time in Lincoln, back in 2018. Can the Boilers rebound after this disappointing loss?

"Bad day, disappointing," said Brohm. "Just like every win and loss, counts as one. So, we got to get back to work. We understand the last half of the schedule is going to be challenging and difficult and we're going to have to improve and get better if we want to have a chance to win. It starts next week on the road against a really good team."

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