Wisconsin at Purdue

Written by Steve Janus

The Wisconsin Badgers will look to avoid a major upset this Saturday when they go on the road to take on the Purdue Boilermakers. The Badgers come into the game off their bye week, and it was exactly what this team needed after playing and beating both Ohio State and Iowa. After winning four of five, the Boilermakers have lost two in a row by a combined score of 93-10. Wisconsin had no trouble beating Purdue last season, taking home a 37-0 win. If you are thinking about betting on the game this weekend, the current college football odds have the Badgers favored by 20-points at over Boilermakers on the road.

Wisconsin (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten): Trailing 30-24 and facing a forth and four from their own 26, the Badgers faked a punt and ran 17 yards for a first down. Wisconsin then went for it on fourth and five later in the drive for another first down, and Montee Ball capped off the game winning drive with an eight yard run that barely found the endzone.

Behind one of the best offensive lines in the country, the Badgers ran for 142 yards and three touchdowns on the day. John Clay led the way with 91 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. Quarterback Scott Tolzien completed 20 of 26 passes for 205 and a touchdown, but did throw an interception that nearly cost the Badgers the game, but luckily Iowa was only able to turn it into a field goal.

Defensively the Badgers struggled against the Iowa offense, but they did enough to get the job done, and figure to have a much easier time against a Purdue offense that is really struggling to put up points.

Purdue (4-4, 2-2 Big Ten): After not scoring a single point against Ohio State, the Boilermakers managed just 10 points against the Fighting Illini last week. During those two games the Boilermakers managed just 323 yards of total offense combined. Last week Purdue put up a 153 on the ground, but managed just 52 yards on the ground.

A big reason for the Boilermakers struggle on offense has been the loss of starting quarterback Robert Marve. Backup Sean Robinson will make the start this week, and it hasn’t been pretty for the freshman so far. Robinson has completed just 13 of 30 attempts for 82 yards.

With the offense unable to move the ball, the defense has really took a hit, allowing at least 44 points in each of the last two games. In the first six games of the season, the Badgers only allowed more than 21 points once.

Looking at the Odds: Winning by 20 points on the road is never an easy task, and that is why I think the Boilermakers are the right play in this one. The Badgers know they don’t have to do much to win this game, and it is going to be hard for them to get that same intensity level that they had for both Ohio State and Iowa. Playing at home should give the Boilermakers a little extra life and I think they keep it close enough to cover. My final score prediction is Wisconsin 38, Purdue 23.

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