SnoTap Badger Preview: Purdue vs. Wisconsin

The Solid Verbal, one of my favorite podcasts, talks about games being a 'Trap' and play an Adrimal Akbar sound drop for it.  Yes, Wisconsin is favored by three touchdowns and a field goal, yet at the same point, this is the team sandwiched in-between road games against Arizona State and Ohio State. Purdue is coming off what some might call a moral victory against Notre Dame last Saturday night. But the Badgers have a vice grip over Purdue in the last 10 years, and they look to tighten the screws for another year.

The biggest thing for Wisconsin on Saturday is to have a good first quarter. They had an awful way to finish a game on Saturday and while we can debate all day whose at the truest fault for the finish, it still ended in the worst way possible.  It is important to have a solid first quarter as a response to the disaster at Arizona State.  They come out and play Badger football, it should be smooth sailing although the first quarter ends with 0-0 after one quarter, things might get a little tight and everyone could start tensing up.

One of the other big things to watch this Saturday is the running back situation. Everyone and their mother believes Melvin Gordon should be the number one running back. He is dominating the college football world in the first three weeks of the season. As we talked about, Gordon's game-breaking abilities, few have in the Big Ten. Not to say James White is having a bad year, Gordon has just been that much better.

Andy Ludwig knows the offense more so than I do, but it seems like the logical move would be to have Gordon and White in the backfield at the same time as much as possible. I realize the Badgers focus more on an I-formation featuring a fullback and a running back, but it seems like a two running back system could be absolutely lethal for the competition.

Purdue comes into the B1G season with a 1-2 record. Cincinnati wiped the floor with them at home to open the year then they barely snuck by Indiana State the following week and had Notre Dame beat for the first three quarters.  There is no real leader on this team offensively and there might lie the problem with this team. The Boilermakers have yet to figure the run game out as Akeem Hunt has only rushed for 125 yards in the first three games. Rob Henry is putting up adequate numbers at the quarterback position, but nothing to make you think he is one of the better B1G quarterbacks. It looks like another rebuilding year for the men in West Lafayette.

The Badgers have won seven straight against Purdue. In the last four meetings between these two B1G squads, Wisconsin's lowest point total has been 34 with their highest being 62. Purdue did some fight last week, but I feel like Camp Randall with a motivated team and crowd will issue a rout on Saturday. Wisconsin 42  Purdue 17