5th Quarter Consensus: Badgers victorious on Halloween

by Jake Harris on Oct 29, 2009 8:55 PM CDT in Wisconsin Badgers Football

Purdue at Wisconsin

Kickoff: 11 a.m. CT

Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wis.

Weather Forecast: 43F, Partly cloudy, 10% chance of rain

TV: ESPN2

Radio: WIBA-AM 1310, WIBA-FM 101.5 and the Badgers Radio Network

Coverage: A week's worth of coverage at Bucky's 5th Quarter

Opposing Blogs: Boiled Sports and Hammer and Rails

The Consensus

Adam Hoge (6-1, +91): Wisconsin 27, Purdue 21

Jake Harris ( 6-1, +93): Wisconsin 31, Purdue 17

Benjamin Worgull (BadgerNation.com): Wisconsin 38, Purdue 23

The Reasoning

Wisconsin is coming off a bye week and is well-rested and healthy. John Clay and Garrett Graham got hurt during the loss to Iowa but will be back. Mike Taylor's season-ending knee injury is the only noteworthy problem on defense. While the Badgers lost their last two games, Ohio State and Iowa are probably the two best teams in the Big Ten. Purdue has made strides this season, upsetting Ohio State and beating Illinois after starting the season 1-5. New head coach Danny Hope is doing a good job teaching the Boilermakers his system and the team is progressing well. Still, they have not won a road game this season and Camp Randall Stadium is not an easy place to reverse that trend. The Badgers have yet to lose to an inferior team at home under Bret Bielema and Wisconsin is the clear favorite on paper.

Scott Tolzien should rebound nicely after two error-filled performances against tough defenses. John Clay could have a big day running the football against the second-worst rushing defense in the Big Ten. The Badgers' offensive line, which has been banged up since camp, might finally be healthy. Defensively, expect Wisconsin to give up yards to the Boilermakers' talented offense. Fifth-year senior quarterback Joey Elliott has 14 touchdown passes this season and forms a nice tandem with the conference's second-leading rusher, Ralph Bolden. Purdue runs a balanced attack, but Wisconsin's defense played well in its two losses and seems to have gotten better as the season has progressed. The Badgers will have what it takes to walk out of Camp Randall winners of their 23rd straight victory over an unranked team in Madison.

Who has the edge?

Offense: Purdue

Defense: Wisconsin

Special Teams: Purdue

Coaching: Wisconsin

Intangibles: Wisconsin

-Jake Harris

Poll

Who you got Saturday, Wisconsin or Purdue?

Wisconsin by 1-9

15 votes

Wisconsin by 10 or more

19 votes

Purdue by 1-9

13 votes

Purdue by 10 or more

0 votes

47 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 3 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

"Scott Tolzien should rebound nicely"

I don’t follow your logic.

by PurdueMatt on Oct 30, 2009 1:00 PM CDT reply actions

I believe he's saying your defense is not tough.

But it would be nice if you could explain WHY you don’t follow his logic.

Bucky's 5th Quarter. SB Nation's Wisconsin Badgers community.

by Adam Hoge on Oct 30, 2009 1:10 PM CDT up reply actions

Thought it was self-explanatory...

But, here goes:

He’s had two weeks to watch film and fix mistakes.
He just faced the two best defenses in the conference.
He is about to face a pretty bad defense, one that is second-worst in the conference against the run. When Purdue needs to stack the box to have any chance of containing the run game, there will be holes for an air attack.
He is playing at home, where he has played much better than on the road.
The team most likely will not be playing from way behind, the way it was during much of the OSU and Iowa losses, when he had to pass on every down. The defense won’t be able to let the linemen pin their ears back and rush him while the back seven sit back and wait for picks.

These factors might all contribute to Tolzien performing better than he did in the last two games.

-Jake Harris

by Jake Harris on Oct 30, 2009 3:30 PM CDT reply actions

Comments For This Post Are Closed

Badgers Football Schedule

UNLV	Thu 09/01	W 51 - 17
Oregon St. Building The Dam	Sat 09/10	W 35 - 0
@ Northern Illinois Red And Black Attack	Sat 09/17	W 49 - 7
South Dakota Coyotes	Sat 09/24	W 59 - 10
Nebraska Corn Nation	Sat 10/01	W 48 - 17
Indiana The Crimson Quarry	Sat 10/15	W 59 - 7
@ Michigan St. The Only Colors	Sat 10/22	L 31 - 37
@ Ohio St. Along The Olentangy	Sat 10/29	L 29 - 33
Purdue Hammer and Rails	Sat 11/05	W 62 - 17
@ Minnesota The Daily Gopher	Sat 11/12	W 42 - 13
@ Illinois Hail to the Orange	Sat 11/19	W 28 - 17
Penn St. Black Shoe Diaries	Sat 11/26	W 45 - 7
@ Michigan St. The Only Colors	Sat 12/03	W 42 - 39
@ Oregon Addicted To Quack	Mon 01/02	L 38 - 45

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