Five takeaways from Wisconsin's win vs. Purdue

MADISON -- Inside Camp Randall Stadium, the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers fought through offensive and defensive mistakes to eventually overwhelm the Purdue Boilermakers in a 45-24 win.

BadgerBlitz.com breaks down five observations from Senior Day.

It was the third-straight week for Wisconsin (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) where the offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage and its skill position players took advantage. UW rolled to 403 yards on 55 carries for a 7.3 yards per carry average. According to StatBroadcast, the Badgers ran 13 plays of 10 or more yards, which included six runs of 21 yards or more.

We'll talk more about Jonathan Taylor in a bit, but the wide receivers again made a big impact in this part of the scheme. Aron Cruickshank's 27-yard touchdown run on the opening drive came out of a Wildcat formation with Taylor and Garrett Groshek in the backfield. Kendric Pryor took a handoff and sprinted 49 yards off the right edge.

To cap the scoring, even fullback Mason Stokke crossed the goal line in the fourth quarter off a sweep-like play.

Wisconsin showed more looks on Saturday offensively that teams will now have to prepare for. Heading across state lines next week, we will see just what it can do against the Gophers' defense with Indianapolis on the line.

Purdue was one-dimensional most of the game, but it still picked up big-time yardage. According to StatBroadcast, the Boilermaker hung seven plays of 15 or more yards through the air on the Badgers.

To be fair, Boilermakers head coach Jeff Brohm threw the kitchen sink at Jim Leonhard's defense. That included some trickery, like a wide receiver pass that saw Milton Wright deliver a 37-yard touchdown to tight end Brycen Hopkins.

"They had a lot of trick plays," safety Eric Burrell said. "I don't think we were disciplined enough, so that's the word I'm sticking with today. But second half, we adjusted well. We were very disciplined with our executions and stuff like that.

"It was great play calls, but the players we had execute what we needed to do. Speaking for the safety part of it -- the eyes, the eye situation -- so the split second can really change a play. I think we adjusted well in the second half. Obviously we limited those opportunities in the second half."

Purdue was the third consecutive team to come off a bye and face Wisconsin. Maybe the past three teams had more time to prepare for the Badgers, but Minnesota has weapons in the run and pass games that could give UW a long afternoon next weekend.

Taylor registered his third-straight 200-yard performance, and on top of that, it was the third time that he went over that benchmark against Purdue in his career as well. He finished the game with 222 yards on 28 carries with a 51-yard touchdown to his name.

Looking at UW's postgame notes, it is littered with nearly a third of a page's worth of statistics about Taylor's day, his season and his career. He hit the 100-yard mark or higher for the 31st time in less than three complete seasons, trailing Ron Dayne's 33 for the top spot in school history. He has hit or gone over the 200-yard threshold 12 times in 38 games.

Late in the fourth quarter, Wisconsin called a timeout. With redshirt senior Bradrick Shaw replacing him, Taylor trotted to the sidelines and waved to the Wisconsin faithful still inside Camp Randall Stadium for an apparent curtain call. After the game, he went around about a quarter of the stadium greeting fans before heading back to the locker room.

Did he feel like it was his last time playing inside Camp Randall Stadium?

"Not sure," Taylor said after the game. "Not sure, and I think that's why I was so appreciative of what happened at the end during the timeout just because I didn't know what was happening. That's why I really appreciated the coaches for that."

The redshirt senior, in his final home game at Camp Randall Stadium, drilled a 62-yard field that just squeaked inside the left upright. That not only set a school record but gave the Badgers a seven-point lead heading into the locker room at the half.

"I mean it was surreal. I can't explain in words at that moment how that felt," Hintze said. "It was a lot of chaos. A lot of people jumping on me. It was insane."

As noted by UW in the post-game notes, the field goal is the second successful attempt from 60 or more yards in program history. He joined former fellow strong-legged kicker John Hall in that category. For what it's worth, the Wisconsin athletic department also notes Pat O'Dea converting on two drop-kick field goals of 62 and 60 back in 1898 and 1899, respectively, in the "Pre-Modern Era" (pre-1946, that according to UW's record book).

Hintze also booted six of seven kickoffs for touchbacks.

Two fourth-quarter turnovers doomed Wisconsin's undefeated season back on Oct. 19 against Illinois. A month and four days later against Purdue, the offense committed four -- all of which came in Boilermaker territory. That could have dampened the Senior Day festivities in Madison, and though it did not, UW will need to play near mistake-free football against a dangerous Minnesota team next Saturday.

Wisconsin fumbled five times on Saturday afternoon, losing three of them. Two came in the second quarter, one came in the third. Taylor mentioned after the game the offense needs to clean up the Wildcat package in terms of securing the handoff.

The other turnover came from a Jack Coan interception, which was perhaps his only truly errant throw of the afternoon. Though completing 15-of-19 passes for 203 yards with two touchdowns, he failed to hit wide receiver Quintez Cephus on a deep pass early in the fourth quarter. It wound up in the hands of Purdue cornerback Dedrick Mackey.

"It looked like [Cephus] was over the top of the defense, so I kind of underthrew him a little bit," Coan said. "The corner dropped down and made a great play on the ball."