MADISON, WIS. -- Wisconsin's defense will need to contend with first-team All-Big Ten wide receiver David Bell, but the offense will face another all-conference force on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage in defensive lineman George Karlaftis.
Karlaftis may only have three sacks through six games, but he has registered 5.5 tackles for loss and eight quarterback hurries this season as well. Pro Football Focus credits the 6-foot-4, 275-pound junior with 29 total pressures entering Saturday's game against Wisconsin (2 p.m. CT, BTN). The service also grades him as the Boilermakers' top defensive player (86.8).
Starting left tackle Tyler Beach played against Karlaftis two years ago in 2019, starting at the position for the injured Cole Van Lanen in what became a 45-24 victory for Wisconsin. The redshirt senior believes the Boilermaker, who at the time was a true freshman, has improved since that contest.
“He's faster, stronger, smarter," Beach said on Monday. "He works inside guys, he works a long arm to the chest. He’ll slap your hands if you're leaning and then if you're oversetting, he’ll jump inside. He's the type of guy that is on and consistent every play.
"He's not somebody that'll take a play off, and you got to be ready for every single move because he's always got something in his back pocket that he could be using.”
Last week, Karlaftis registered one sack, his lone tackle of the game, but added three quarterback hurries that helped Purdue (4-2 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) upset then-No. 2 Iowa in Iowa City. For his career, the West Lafayette, Ind., product has played in 21 career contests, racking up 80 tackles, 24.5 for loss, along with 12.5 sacks.
Karlaftis burst on to the scene in 2019 as a first-year Boilermaker, registering 54 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks on way to second-team All-Big Ten honors. Last season, he played in only three games and tallied two sacks but still received second-team all-conference accolades.
Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst discussed Karlaftis' impact when asked if he thinks the defensive end has a comparable "effect" that another No. 5, Badgers inside linebacker Leo Chenal, has on offenses he lines up against.
"You do. You watch the game, and they do a nice job," Chryst said on Monday. "They know that he's impactful, and I think they do a nice job of kind of moving him around and having him in little different roles or who's kind of combinations with, but he's got a great motor. I think you see that in guys that you look at it and say, 'Boy, they impact the game,' which he certainly does.
"Leo did the other night, and kind of in comparison, the really good ones do that. Heck, we're talking about [Purdue wide receiver David] Bell earlier [in the press conference]. Those really good players, they find ways to make an impact and impact in different ways. I think that's what's challenging when you go up against them, but I think that's what separates the good from the great."
Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard called out Karlaftis' “physicality, first and foremost," on Monday when describing what he sees out of the junior end and how he brings benefits to the Purdue defense.
"If you're lined up across from him, don't be late off the ball," Leonhard said. "Don't forget to bring your hands, don't take the wrong angle. Said from a pass rush standpoint, it all comes from the power he has, the ability to get off the ball. You see teams adjusting their offense every week to try to slow him down. That's a huge credit to him.
“He’s been a great player from Day One when he stepped in the Big Ten, and you see the leadership, you see how these guys feed off of him. They're able to do a lot of different things around him because of the disruption that he causes.”
Purdue, as a whole, averages two sacks per game heading into its matchup with Wisconsin (3-3, 1-2). The Boilermakers' defense technically lists three assistants as co-defensive coordinators in Ron English (secondary), Brad Lambert (linebackers) and Mark Hagen (defensive line). They rank among the best in the Big Ten in a few categories, including ranking second in points per game (14.0), total defense (294.8 yards per game) and passing defense (178.5 yards per game).
Karlaftis leads a line that also boasts junior defensive tackles Branson Deen and Lawrence Johnson. Deen leads the team in tackles for loss (6.5) and sacks (3.5) while also registering four quarterback hurries. Johnson has 17 tackles, 2.5 for loss, to go with one sack and two quarterback hurries in six games.
“I'd say their whole defensive line is really good," Beach said. "Their interior guys are really good at rushing the quarterback. We've seen them, as big as they are, you've seen them do pretty athletic things that you don't usually see out of a Big Ten d-lineman. So I think as an offensive line we're gonna have to be on with all our stuff this week for that.”
