by Wisconsin smothered Purdue 52-6 on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium in a battle between second-year coaching staffs that were both desperate for a win this weekend.
The Badgers entered the weekend with a 2-2 record after suffering a blowout loss to Alabama two weeks ago — a game that cost them starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke for the rest of the season — before losing in the second half lost a lead to USC losing by 17 last week.
The atmosphere wasn’t high, and a loss to a Purdue team that was so terrible to start the season that it fired its offensive coordinator after just four games wouldn’t have helped matters much. Instead, the Badgers picked up a much-needed win to start a stretch of what should be winnable games if this program wants to reach a bowl game in its second season under Luke Fickell.
What makes the win even better is the way the Badgers got the win. Wisconsin’s offense entered the weekend ranked last nationally with an explosive 6.3% play percentage. That number improved significantly when Wisconsin threw two long touchdown passes, one for 52 yards to Vinny Anthony and another for 69 yards to Trech Kekahuna. Those two passes matched Wisconsin’s season total for passes of more than 50 yards. And they weren’t the only big plays the Badgers made.
Wisconsin completed five passes for at least 20 yards and had three rushes of more than 15 yards, including gains of 30 and 47 yards.
Braedyn Locke finished with 359 yards passing and three touchdowns, with Trech Kekahuna (six catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns) as his favorite target. The Badgers have done it on the ground, too; Tawee Walker rushed for 94 yards and three touchdowns of his own. Ultimately, the Badgers finished with 589 yards of offense and an average of 8.1 yards per play, though it wasn’t a perfect afternoon. Locke threw two interceptions.
Still, this was an extremely important result for offensive coordinator Phil Longo. I speculated earlier this week that Purdue’s Graham Harrell was the first offensive coordinator to lose his job in the Big Ten, but he was hardly the only one feeling the heat. That Longo’s offense has created so many big plays with a backup quarterback gives this offense some hope for the remainder of the season.
As for the staff on the other sideline, Harrell’s firing may not be the only upheaval in West Lafayette, Indiana. After winning their season opener against Indiana State 49-0, the Boilermakers were outscored 184-44 in four games against FBS opponents. They’ve only managed to score more than 10 points in one of those games (a 38-21 loss to Oregon State) and have allowed at least 28 in all of them. This is a team that lost its best players on offense and defense (WR Deion Burks and DE Nic Scourton) to the transfer portal during the offseason and announced earlier this week that starting cornerback Markevious Brown would leave for the remainder of the season.
Five of Purdue’s last seven games are against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25. It’s already been a long season and chances are it’s only going to get longer.
