After consecutive blowout losses vs. ranked opponents, Wisconsin hopes to bounce back against visiting Purdue on Saturday in a matchup of Big Ten teams looking to get their season back on track in Madison, Wis.
Wisconsin (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) is coming off a 38-21 loss in their conference opener at 11th-ranked USC — a game in which the Badgers were outscored 28-0 in a disastrous second half.
Purdue (1-3, 0-1) lost its third straight game on Saturday, 28-10 at home against Nebraska. The next day, offensive coordinator Graham Harrell was fired. Offensive analyst Jason Simmons will take over play-calling duties, coach Ryan Walters said Monday.
“I believe that we have a better team than we have been showing the last three weeks,” Walters said. “There is a lot of football still to be played. We’ve played a quarter of the games, and I felt like if I didn’t do anything right now, it would be kind of like waving a white flag on the season.”
Purdue opened with a 49-0 rout of Indiana State, then was hammered 66-7 by No. 14 Notre Dame and lost at Oregon State, 38-21. After a scoreless first half against Nebraska, Purdue went up 3-0, only to see the Cornhuskers respond with 28 straight points.
For its part, Wisconsin opened with unimpressive victories over Western Michigan and South Dakota, then was trounced at home by now top-ranked Alabama 42-10.
Against USC, the Badgers opened the second-half floodgates with a muffed punt that set up a touchdown. The Trojans punctuated the comeback with a pick-six off Braedyn Locke.
Wisconsin’s defense couldn’t get off the field against the Trojans, who were 11 of 17 on third-down conversions and dominated time of possession, 40:07 to 19:53.
Locke, a redshirt sophomore, has taken over for Tyler Van Dyke, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Alabama. Locke, who started three games last season in place of injured Tanner Mordecai, completed 13 of 26 passes for 180 yards against USC with one touchdown and one interception.
Chez Mellusi leads the ground game with 232 yards at 4.1 per carry with three touchdowns.
“We’re just not to the point right now where if we’re not playing well defensively, well, that’s OK because our offense is going outscore them,” Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said Monday. “And if we’re not playing well offensively, our defense will go out there and we’ll shut them out. We’re just not to that point.”
The Boilermakers have averaged just 12.7 points over their last three games. Hudson Card has completed 65.9 percent of his passes at 156.8 yards per game with seven touchdowns and four interceptions on the season.
Devin Mockobee is Purdue’s leading rusher with 317 yards on 49 carries. Purdue managed just 50 yards on the ground vs. Nebraska, averaging a paltry 1.6 per carry.
Wisconsin has won 17 straight vs. the Boilermakers. Purdue’s last win was at Camp Randall in Madison, a 26-23 victory in 2003. The Badgers won last season at Purdue, 38-17.
