Wisconsin evened its record in Big Ten play at 1-1 with blowout win over Purdue. Next up awaits a Rutgers team that just lost its first game of the season at the hands of Nebraska.

As the Badgers get ready to travel to Piscataway, what questions surround the program as it looks to stack conference victories?

Rutgers poses a massive challenge in the form of its superstar tailback, Kyle Monangai. The former low-three star recruit from Ramsey, New Jersey had just two power conference offers coming out of powerhouse Don Bosco Prep. Four years later, he's developed into one of the best running backs in the Big Ten, and is doing it for his resurgent home-town school.

Last season, however, Wisconsin completely bottled Monangai up. He finished with eight carries for 16 yards, easily his lowest rushing output of the past two seasons. In fact, Rutgers' run game was completely stymied; its leading rusher was quarterback Gavin Wimsatt with 43 yards.

This year, the ball-carrier appears to be on another level. He's better in essentially every category — yards-per-carry, the yardage and touchdown totals he's on pace for, output as a receiver — and has firmly emerged as one of the best running backs in the nation. As it stands, Monangai's 667 rushing yards and six touchdowns are second in the Big Ten behind Iowa's Kaleb Johnson.

"I think he is, I wouldn’t say the heart of the team, but the heart of the offense. Meaning that he's going to get his touches. And as he goes, they go. That doesn't mean they don't make big plays in other ways. [They] obviously take some shots down the field. But I think that's really, truly his ability to kind of create the mojo and what they do," head coach Luke Fickell said.

Monangai runs extremely hard, with a powerful legs and a low center of gravity. He's elusive yet powerful; in many ways, comparable to Wisconsin's own Tawee Walker.

"He's a physical downhill back," Fickell continued. "I was really impressed with his physicality. His ability to, no matter what you did, he continued to grind and grow, and he takes care of the football. I think that's a big part of what it is that they do.”

It's been extremely difficult to contain Monangai this season. Even last week against Nebraska, his worst outing of the fall statistically, he still ran for 78 yards and caught two passes for 18 yards. The Badgers will certainly have their hands full, but if they can limit Monangai's breakaway ability and prevent him from wearing down their defensive front, this game gets a whole lot easier to win.

Wisconsin is in an extremely interesting place right now with its wideout room. For starters, several of its top options are dealing with injuries that've thrown their status for Saturday into doubt. But on top of that, several options further down the depth chart have made a serious case for more playing time that adds a layer of intrigue to the coaching staff's decision about who to play against Rutgers.

First of all, Will Pauling, Bryson Green and Tyrell Henry are all banged up following the win over Purdue. Monday morning, Fickell gave his initial assessment of the situation, which didn't sound overwhelmingly positive.

“It’s still Monday. We'll take it day by day. Hopefully, though, those guys will be able to. But if they're not able to practice, it's really hard to think they're going to perform in a game. And at that position in particular, there's a lot of things that go into a week. So it's early. We'll find out where they are on Tuesday. None of them really did a ton, I think, on Sunday. But who knows?" he said.

On Tuesday, however, Pauling was made available to the media, a sign that he has a solid shot to suit up in New Jersey.

"Feeling a little bit better, got to go out and do a little on the field today, trying to get loosened up," Pauling said. "Just doing a lot of rehab this week, leading up to game day, making sure I'm all good to go."

That sounds like a receiver who's planning on playing. As for Green, Wisconsin's starter on the boundary, and Tyrell Henry, a rotational receiver who caught his first pass of the season against Purdue, the status of both players remains up in the air.

Although he's already listed as a starter, Vinny Anthony should continue to see more and more looks in this offense. He's produced a house call in back-to-back weeks, and is finally emerging as the deep threat with blazing speed he projected to be. What's more, Trech Kekahuna is coming off an outstanding performance with six catches for 134 yards and two scores. Even if Pauling returns against the Scarlet Knights, the coaching staff would be remiss not to get the slot receiver involved.

Saturday was a coming out party of sorts for Wisconsin's signal caller Braedyn Locke. He had a career game in every category major — yards, touchdowns, completion percentage — and looked like a mature decision maker and facilitator, especially in the second half when he had shaken off his interceptions.

"He had 17 plays that he checked on Saturday," offensive coordinator Phil Longo said of Locke. "16 of them he impacted positively. That's 17 plays where my play-call wasn't outstanding...When (the defense) presents problems, he has to be able to fix those pre-snap. And he was 16-1 on those 17 plays. That was a big part of why we were so successful in the second half."

Locke displayed a level of confidence and command within the offense we have yet to see from him in Madison. It led to an offensive explosion against Purdue. Now, the question looms: was that a flash in the pan? Or can Locke build off his career day and continue to take the next steps in his development as a quarterback?

It won't be easy against Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have one of the better passing defenses in the nation. They're allowing 176 yards-per-game through the air, a very respectable 27th in the nation. They're also 14th nationally in passing efficiency defense. Besides Washington's Will Rogers, no quarterback has thrown for more than 140 yards on Rutgers.

One of the biggest reasons why is that Rutgers' starting cornerbacks have played very well in coverage. The Scarlet Knights' top three cover corners have been targeted a combined 45 times and allowed just 24 receptions, per Pro Football Focus.

Locke displayed some legitimate development in a laugher against Purdue. Can he double down against an exponentially better defense?

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