Wisconsin seeks its first Big Ten win as it hosts Purdue, a team it hasn't lost to in 20 years. As kickoff inches closer, let's analyze the Boilermakers' roster by breaking it down, position-by-position, ahead of the Badgers' Saturday morning clash.

Purdue is in year two of the Hudson Card era, a transfer from Texas who started 11 games for the Boilermakers last season. He was just fine in 2023, tossing for 2,387 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 58 percent of his passes. He also added five scores on the ground. This year, he's off to a rough start in an offense that's already fired its coordinator.

Card was almost perfect in the opener against FCS Indiana State, completing 24-of-25 passes and tossing four touchdowns. In the three games since — against Power Four competition — he's thrown three touchdowns to four interceptions while completing just 54 percent of his passes and averaging just 5.4 yards-per-attempt. He's also averaging just 118 yards passing since the opener. He's regressed in year two, which is a worst-case scenario considering Purdue's offensive pieces also got noticeably worse around him.

Ryan Browne, a redshirt freshman, is the backup. He played in the blowout over Indiana State but hadn't seen the field since. He was ranked as a low three-star quarterback in the class of 2023.

Whatever strength there is to be had in this Purdue offense, it likely lies with its tailback tandem of Devin Mockobee and Reggie Love III. Mockobee, the junior who's been Purdue's top running back since he stepped on campus, is having an excellent season. He's only scored one touchdown, but he's averaging a healthy 6.5 yards-per-carry on 317 yards while Love's presence allows the Boilermakers to keep him fresher.

Love, meanwhile, is a transfer from Illinois. He's got some mileage on him, as the fewest carries he's had in a season was 44 in his true freshman year in Champaign. Like Mockobee, he's having his most efficient campaign, averaging 5.4 yards-per-carry. These two are essentially the only two ball-carriers that get touches in West Lafayette, and it's been a pretty even split between the duo. Mockobee has taken 57 percent of the two backs' carries, while Love handles 43 percent.

Backups Jaheim Merriweather and Elijah Jackson have combined for seven rushes, with the only notable production between the two being Jackson's 69-yard scamper against Illinois State.

Purdue's receivers, a unit that suffered significant attrition via the transfer portal this offseason, have unsurprisingly struggled to produce. Its most productive wideout has been Jaron Tibbs, a versatile player who splits his time between the boundary and the slot. He's been Purdue's most-targeted receiver. Still, the fact that he leads the receiver room with 10 catches for 79 yards and a touchdown through four games is an indictment on this group.

Jahmal Edrine, an outside receiver, is the Boilermakers' next-leading receiver with five grabs for 77 yards. However, he's not listed on the depth chart this week and although he reportedly practiced Wednesday, he figures to sit out the game in Madison.

The other two starters listed for Purdue are Shamar Rigby and De'Nylon Morrissette. They've combined for 10 grabs for 77 yards. Morrissette is primarily a slot receiver, while Rigby lines up on the outside. Overall, this is a baby-faced group, as all three starters are underclassmen.

Other notable receivers include the 6-foot-4 sophomore Leland Smith (five catches, 57 yards, two touchdowns) and UCLA transfer Kam Brown (two catches, 68 yards). Overall, this is one of the weakest receiver corps in the conference.

The Boilermakers' leading pass-catcher is by far and away their tight end Max Klare. He's garnered at least five targets a game and leads all Purdue players in that category with 22. The tight end has parlayed that into 13 catches for 193 yards and two scores. The sophomore was hardly looked at by power conference schools coming out of high school, but he's come into his own this fall.

His backup Drew Bieber also finds himself in an expanded role this season, as he's tallied six catches for 45 yards. He spends slightly more time as a blocker, but has still garnered more targets than all but two of Purdue's wide receivers.

Purdue's offensive line is relatively pieced together, and they're playing like it. The most experienced player is center Gus Hartwig. He's logged 36 starts for the Boilermakers, the most by any offensive player on the team. He's the only starting offensive linemen that hasn't allowed a sack, per Pro Football Focus.

Two juniors man the starting guard spots: DJ Wingfield and Mahamane Moussa. Wingfield played for New Mexico in 2023, starting nine games. He's certainly had his struggles in West Lafayette, allowing five pressures and two sacks thus far. Moussa, meanwhile, has started 22 games over the past three years including this season. He's tied for the team high in pressures allowed with eight, and has also given up a sack.

At right tackle, Marcus Mbow has been a problem, and not the good kind. He's allowed eight pressures and two sacks while committing two penalties. Left tackle is held down by Corey Stewart, a Ball State transfer coming off a First Team All-MAC season in 2023. Through three games (he missed the opener with an injury), Stewart has allowed four pressures and one sack.

Jalen Grant, Joshua Sales and Bakyne Coly are the other linemen Purdue has rotated in, albeit sparingly. However, with this unit as a whole struggling and the offense under new direction with interim OC Justin Simmons, shuffling along the Boilermakers' offensive front wouldn't come as a big surprise.

Similar to the Badgers, Purdue's defensive line has been a black hole in terms of production. The Boilermakers' five starters (including co-starters with an "or" designation) have combined for 40 tackles and zero sacks.

Jeffery M'Ba easily plays the most in the defensive trenches. The former JUCO and Auburn product has been disappointing in terms of production, but should be on the way to a career year in 2024.

Cole Brevard and Mo Omonode are the next most-utilized linemen. They've combined for 12 tackles and three tackles-for-loss.

Joe Anderson and Damarjhe Lewis round out the main defensive line rotation, but again, there's little production to speak of here. They've combined for 16 tackles.

The Boilermakers' defensive front is notably devoid of playmakers, a big reason why Purdue is almost dead last in the nation in terms of rushing yards allowed per-game at 242.

This includes Purdue's pass-rushers and inside linebackers. The two players to watch here are Kydran Jenkins and Will Heldt.

Jenkins has been Purdue's best pass-rusher, leading the team in pressures (10) and sacks (3.5). That's especially impressive considering he's an inside linebacker and spends the majority of his time in the box as opposed to being lined up off the edge. Still, he has a nose for the backfield and is the Boilermakers' most disruptive player on the front seven.

Heldt, meanwhile, lines up exclusively on the edge. The rangy 6-foot-6 sophomore has tallied four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, although the majority of that production came in the opener against FCS Indiana State. Still, you can see the young pass-rusher's potential with his frame and athletic ability; there's a reason why he's tied for the lead in defensive snaps for Purdue.

Yanni Karlaftis and Shitta Sillah are the other starters at linebacker. Karlaftis is tied for 5th on the team in tackles with 18, while Sillah has 11 and a sack.

CJ Madden, an edge rusher, and Winston Berglund, an inside backer, are the other two players who've seen meaningful time at linebacker. Madden, a Georgia transfer, has seven tackles, while Berglund has six and a sack.

Purdue's starters on the outside consist of senior Markevious Brown and Junior Nyland Green. Green, another Georgia transfer, missed the first three games with an injury but retuned last week against Nebraska. Those two figure to hold down the outside spots against Wisconsin, although given the injury to Green, Tarrion Grant and Botros Alisandro have both played a healthy amount as well.

Brown has been solid, swatting three passes and allowing a 61.5 reception percentage, a slightly skewed number considering he's been the most-targeted corner in the Boilermakers' secondary. Alisandro has been the best cornerback coverage-wise, as he's been targeted seven times and allowed just three catches.

The nickel corner spot is held down by Kyndrich Breedlove, a former Ole Miss Rebel and Colorado Buffalo. He's Purdue's primary slot defender, although Brown will sometimes slide inside depending on the receiver he's shadowing.

Starting free safety Dillon Thienemen is likely the best pound-for-pound player on Purdue's roster. A preseason All-American, Thieneman was a freshman phenom last fall and has continued that play over into his sophomore campaign. He's the Boilermakers' leading tackler with 34, and he's also recored a sack and a pass breakup. The safety plays mostly in the back end, but he'll rotate down into the box as well, and occasionally man the slot.

The other safety spot is something of a committee between Antonio Stephens and Joseph Jefferson II. The latter is coming off his first career official start, but he's played almost an identical number of snaps to this week's listed starter Stephens. Jefferson moves around more, while Stephens plays closer to the line of scrimmage as a true strong safety. Jefferson is the third-leading tackler on Purdue with 20, while Stephens has 18. Between those two and Thieneman, that's the vast majority of snaps at safety for the Boilermakers.

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