Wisconsin Badgers head home to Camp Randall on Saturday afternoon to face off against the upstart Purdue Boilermakers. This team is trying to prove they are no longer a doormat of the Big Ten and college football. New head coach Jeff Brohm has done a fantastic job in his first half year molding this program, and it appears like Purdue is on a fast track of being a team to beat in years to come. Wisconsin should not take this team lightly, and my guess is Jonathan Taylor will be heavily involved yet again.

What does Jonathan Taylor have for an encore? – After Taylor finished with nearly 250 rushing yards last Saturday, the Badgers faithful will be expecting some big things tomorrow afternoon. Purdue can be run on. They’re not as bad as they’ve been in years past, but it’s not like they are world-beaters. Expect to see Wisconsin to continue to pound the football and keep Purdue’s potent offense off the field.

Badgers will have to avoid the big and tricky plays – Brohm’s offense is one that isn’t typical of the Big Ten. They do a ton of fun stuff in the spread and run all sorts of trick plays to their advantage. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Purdue catching Wisconsin napping early on to try and get a quick six on their first drive of the game. Purdue cannot win the game with trick plays, but they can certainly keep them in range of winning.

Wisconsin offense hasn’t been stopped yet – The defense should get a ton of pub especially for their front seven, but their offense has not scored under 30 points this season. Wisconsin is no longer grinding teams out to a victory relying on the defense to stand up. Instead, the offense puts opponents in a crock pot (Much like The Solid Verbal says about Bama), and they slowly beat them to death. All of Wisconsin’s games have been close at halftime only to be near double digits by the final whistle. Expect something similar here.

Prediction
I’m taking Wisconsin in this one, but I do think Purdue shows some fight for the first half at least. I’ve become very impressed with Brohm’s bunch over the last few games. Taylor is too much for these guys. He’s truly special in a way I don’t know if Badgers fans have seen out of a true freshman. Hornibrook will have a nice bounceback game as well. Wisconsin 41 Purdue 21

Charlie.