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The Wisconsin Badgers (3-3 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) will have another chance on Saturday afternoon to beat a ranked team this season as they travel to play the No. 25 Purdue Boilermakers (4-2 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) at Ross-Ade Stadium. Purdue is coming off of a huge upset over No. 2 Iowa while the Badgers beat Army in a game that can best be described as “having happened.”
Both teams enter this game featuring offenses that are one dimensional, with Purdue airing the ball out and Wisconsin keeping things on the ground. Each team’s defense is the superior unit so this game could be ::inhales sharply:: another cagey, low-scoring affair. If the Badgers can keep WR David Bell from beating them too often, they should have a pretty good chance at notching the victory.
@chenal_leo = Scary
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) October 20, 2021
Man brings a whole new meaning to spooky season pic.twitter.com/q83tbjBac7
You will have surely heard by now that Purdue is 0-14 in their last 14 meetings with Wisconsin and haven’t beaten the Badgers in West Lafayette since the ‘90s. While the prospect of a letdown game is there, considering who Purdue beat last weekend, I would guess that ending this losing streak is something that a lot of Boilermaker players will want to do.
How to watch/listen
TV: BTN, 2:00 p.m. CT, Brandon Gaudin, Matt Millen, Rick Pizzo
Streaming: FOX Sports App
Radio: Badger Sports Network (Varsity Network App), Satellite: Sirius 206, XM 202, Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas, Mark Tauscher, Patrick Herb
Stadium: Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Ind.
Weather: West Lafayette, Ind. (partly sunny!)
DraftKings Sportsbook Line: Wisconsin -3.5 (Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.)
Fun facts (according to the media guides)
- Wisconsin seeks a 15th consecutive win over the Boilermakers and looks to extend a streak of eight straight victories in West Lafayette that dates to 1999. The only longer winning streak in the Big Ten is Ohio State’s 25-game winning streak over Indiana.
- The 14-game winning streak is tied for the Badgers’ longest run of success against a conference opponent all-time (Minnesota, 2004-2017).
- The Badgers lead the all-time series, 50-29-8.
- Wisconsin’s 50 wins over Purdue are the second most by a Boilermakers opponent all-time, trailing only Notre Dame (59).
- Purdue marks the fourth ranked opponent the Badgers have faced in the first seven weeks of the season.
- Including doing so consecutively in wins over Illinois and Army, the Badgers have held three opponents under 100 passing yards this season, matching Georgia for the most such performances on the year.
- The Badgers have limited four of their six opponents to 50 rushing yards or less. Wisconsin ranks third nationally in rushing defense, allowing just 64.3 yards per game.
- Wisconsin has allowed opponents to reach the red zone just 12 times (2.0 per game). Only Georgia (11) and Iowa State (11) have allowed fewer red-zone trips.
It's not just a signal, it's a warning. pic.twitter.com/iAdoI0dybe
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) October 21, 2021
- Through the air, the Badgers have held opponents to just 5.7 yards per passing attempt, seventh-best nationally.
- Opponents are completing just 51.9% of their passing attempts vs. UW, the lowest mark allowed by a Power Five team (and fourth-lowest mark overall in the FBS). Purdue has the second-lowest mark among Power Five squads, with opponents completing 52.3% of their passes vs. the Boilermakers.
- Junior ILB Leo Chenal leads UW with 42 total tackles, despite missing the team’s first two games. His average of 10.5 tackles per game is the second-best of any Power Five player, trailing only LSU LB Damone Clark (11.3).
- The Badgers have produced five 100-yard rushing performances through six games, with junior RB Chez Mellusi (three) and freshman RB Braelon Allen (two) each logging multiple games over the century mark.
- Mellusi needs 30 rushing yards to hit the 1,000-yard mark for his career.
- TE Jake Ferguson has caught at least one pass in each of his 40 career games, breaking the school record for consecutive games with a catch.
Stay the course pic.twitter.com/8lSsgLwCQR
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) October 21, 2021
- Wisconsin redshirt freshman C Joe Tippmann and Purdue CB Hayden Ellinger were prep teammates at Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne, Ind.
- Tippmann is one of three Badgers who hail from Indiana, along with senior OLB Noah Burks (Carmel) and junior RB Isaac Guerendo (Clayton).
- Wisconsin junior OLB C.J. Goetz and Purdue redshirt freshman LB Ben Kreul played for Catholic Memorial in Waukesha.
- Wisconsin sophomore ILB Maema Njongmeta and Purdue senior QB Aidan O’Connell attended Adlai E. Stevenson (Ill.) High School.