BadgerBlitz.com brings back its All-Out Blitz weekly series, where you can find everything you need to know about Wisconsin's next opponent. We look at UW's fourth opponent, and first conference foe in Purdue, which the Badgers will face Friday night in West Lafayette (6:30 p.m. CT, FS1).

QUICK PROGRAM FACTS

Head Coach: Ryan Walters (2-1 at Purdue)

Purdue All Time Record: 637-590-48 (.518)

2022 Record: 2-1

Rankings: N/A

Series vs. Wisconsin: 29-52-8 (.325)

The Boilermakers offense is led by redshirt junior Hudson Card, who transferred from Texas this past offseason after never becoming a consistent starter in Austin. He opened the season with two decent performances against Fresno State and Virginia Tech. Card then threw for a career-high 323 yards but fumbled the ball four times last week against Syracuse.

He’ll try to correct some of these turnover issues against a defense that just learned how to get turnovers. After not getting a single takeaway in the first two games of the season, the Badgers exploded for six against Georgia Southern. Many came as a result of poor passes, which can be attributed to a Wisconsin defensive front that is improving by the week. They didn’t get a single sack in the season opener, then recorded two against Washington State, leading to a stellar five-sack performance last week. The star edge rusher has been Darryl Peterson, who leads the team in pressures (12) and hurries (nine). Close behind him in pressures is Maema Njongmeta and James Thompson Jr., who both have 10.

The front may also have to keep an eye on running back Devin Mockobee, their leading rusher from last year who currently leads all Purdue backs with 186 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He’s coming off of a poor 31-yard, 2.6 yards-per-carry performance against Syracuse, but also rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown against Virginia Tech the week prior. Mockobee’s inconsistency issues keep him from being a total threat, but they’ll still try to incorporate him to keep the pressure off of Card.

The Badgers will face a unique challenge this week in the form of a receiver with elite talent. Wide out Deion Burks broke out in the season opener with 152 receiving yards and two touchdowns on only four receptions. Defenses have begun to take notice of his athleticism and explosiveness, keying in on him in recent weeks, but he’s still become a favorite target for Card. Opposite Burks is Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen, a junior who entered last week with 231 career receiving yards but ended up catching 10 balls for 114 yards against Syracuse. He may be a new threat for Card.

The duo will face a Wisconsin secondary led by star safety Hunter Wohler. The junior is coming off of a performance where he finished with 10 total tackles, a sack and two interceptions. That effort won him the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award. Last week was simply more of the excellence we’ve seen from him this season. Wohler's 34 total tackles rank second in the Big Ten, while he’s tied for the lead in solo tackles with 26. He’s quickly become Wisconsin’s best player on defense and perhaps of the entire team. Yet, apart from Wohler, this secondary doesn’t inspire too much confidence. They had no idea how to stop Cameron Ward two weeks ago, then let Davis Brin throw for 383 yards last week.

After a week in which Braelon Allen finished with just 12 carries, he will likely be a major emphasis of their early game plan. He’s gone from Wisconsin’s offensive centerpiece in recent years to now trailing Chez Mellusi in carries and rushing yards. However, part of this is due to injury. Allen spent time in the medical tent in the first half against Georgia Southern, which factored into his low carry count. He eventually exploded in the second half and looked anything but injured and hasn’t expressed any health concern since Saturday. Expect Phil Longo to feed him early.

The running back duo will face off against a Purdue defensive line with new faces, including transfers Malik Langham, Isaiah Nichols and Jeffrey M’Ba. They were brought in by new head coach Ryan Walters, the ex-defensive coordinator from Illinois, who’s attempting to revamp Purdue’s defense to fit his 5-2-4 defensive system.

Badger quarterback Tanner Mordecai had somewhat of a breakout in their loss to Washington State, when the running game disappeared and he single handedly kept Wisconsin in the game. He wasn’t as good last week against Georgia Southern, but he did lead four consecutive touchdown drives and also ran two touchdowns in. His mobility will be key against a Boilermakers defense that just allowed Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader to rush for 195 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries.

Mordecai will have to face a Purdue pass rush that got off to a hot start this season, as outside linebackers Nic Scourton and Kydran Jenkins have combined for 8.5 tackles for loss and five sacks so far. Jenkins’ three sacks lead the Big Ten so far this season, but he went down against Syracuse and his status for Friday isn’t confirmed.

Perhaps the player Mordecai will have to keep his eye on most is freshman free safety Dillon Thieneman, who has 31 total tackles and two interceptions through three games. His 26 solo tackles tie Wohler for the conference lead. Thieneman is just one of multiple new starters in the Boilermakers secondary, alongside transfer corners Marquis Wilson and Markevius Brown. The rest of the defensive backs haven’t adjusted as easily as Thieneman, but they’re due to improve under an ex-secondary coach like Walters.

They’ll defend a Wisconsin receiving core that has yet to find a singular leader. Three Badgers receivers have at least 100 receiving yards, led by Chimere Dike with 161. The next two top targets are both slot receivers. Will Pauling is the listed starter, and was an early favorite of Mordecai’s, but was overtaken by Skyler Bell last week against Georgia Southern. Regardless of where the slot rotation stands, it's become perhaps the only consistent point of emphasis in Longo’s offense.

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