Three burning questions heading into Week 4: Purdue

Madison — The Badgers gear up for their second road test this week, a Friday night showdown under the lights against Purdue in West Lafayette. With its sights still set on Indianapolis, Wisconsin will look to start 1-0 in conference play.

As the Badgers look to beat Purdue for the 17th straight time, what are the hottest questions surrounding the football program?

The old saying is that defense travels, but for the Badgers, the more pertinent question is whether or not the run game will travel to West Lafayette.

Don't underestimate the environment Wisconsin will walk into Friday night. Besides Ohio State coming to Ross-Ade Stadium in mid-October, the Badgers are Purdue's biggest home game of the year. On a Friday night with the whole nation watching, against a team they haven't beaten since 2003, it'll be personal for the Boilermakers.

Thus, all the more reason why Wisconsin will need to be able to rely on its running game. In its first road test of the season, a highly hostile environment in Pullman, the Badgers ran for just 91 yards on 3.1 yards-per-carry. It's a big reason they started slow on offense, and ultimately a big reason why they lost the game.

On the road, it's imperative to be able to run the football. Establishing a ground game allows you to manufacture long, methodical drives that wear down the opposing defense and stabilize the game. What's more, nothing takes the wind out of a rowdy home crowd like a surgical, steady rushing attack.

Wisconsin looks like a better team than Purdue, but only when its running game is fully operational. If the Boilermakers manage to stymie the Badgers' tailbacks, Wisconsin will once again be in serious trouble in an unforgiving atmosphere.

This question is multi-faceted in that the answer is dependent on both injuries and coaching decisions.

Center Jake Renfro, who missed Wisconsin's first three games with a foot sprain, is a question mark for this week. Luke Fickell didn't exactly exude confidence when discussing the probability that Renfro will play, but it sounds like there is a slight chance he sees the field.

"I would hope maybe this week. If not this week, I would definitely expect after the bye, unless something else happens that would be a definite time (he) should be back in there," the head coach said.

If Renfro can go, which again seems rather unlikely, how do the Badgers use him? Do they plug him in right away at center? If so, where does Tanor Bortolini play? Which guard loses their starting spot? Whenever Renfro returns to the lineup, it will cause a sizable shakeup along the offensive front.

The next dimension of this question has to do with coaching decisions. Last week, backup lineman Trey Wedig played the most snaps he had all season, logging time at both guard spots. Could he push Michael Furtney and/or Joe Huber for a starting guard spot? Wedig was one of the biggest pleasant surprises for Wisconsin's offense last season. Will the staff continue to tinker with the offensive line this week and deploy Wedig for a considerable amount of snaps once again?

"He's a guy we see as a starter, and he's earned that right," Fickell said of Wedig.

That might be a little harsh. Still, Wisconsin's defensive secondary absolutely must play better in pass coverage to inspire confidence about this unit moving forward.

Purdue's passing offense, led by ex-Texas signal caller Hudson Card, hasn't been especially dynamic. But for what it's worth, it's been more productive than Wisconsin's.

Card has tossed for 825 yards, three touchdowns and one interception this season. Those are all better numbers than Tanner Mordecai, albeit with a worse completion percentage. It's also true that the Boilermakers don't have a ground game of Wisconsin's caliber to lean on when the going gets tough through the air. Still, this is a competent passing game that has the weapons to make the Badgers pay if they're sloppy in coverage once again.

Purdue's main threat to worry about is speedy wideout Deion Burks. The sophomore is their leading receiver with nine catches for 221 yards and three scores at a breakneck 24.6 yards-per-catch. He's fast, twitchy and has shown an ability to make contested catches despite his 5-foot-11 frame.

"The first thing that jumps out is his speed. The ability to run, but also the ability to track the football and make some of those big plays," Fickell said of Burks. "He's definitely a guy that they move around and put into positions where they wanna take some shots with him. He's a guy that's on the punt block unit. When you see those kinds of things, you know that it's a guy that they're trying to find more opportunities for."

If you're an offensive coordinator preparing to face Wisconsin right now, the tape will tell you to try to get as many one-on-one matchups as possible and attack the secondary. The Badgers' corners undoubtably know this; it'll be fascinating to see how they perform in their first conference game.

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