For the last time, seniors on the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers will play inside Camp Randall Stadium as student-athletes Saturday when they face the Purdue Boilermakers.
BadgerBlitz's "3-2-1" series breaks down three more things we learned after this weekend, two questions we have and one prediction heading into Purdue week.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEKEND
1. Game on in the Big Ten West between Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Winner takes all (of the division). No holds barred. Paul Bunyan's Axe and a Big Ten West championship on the line.
That could be the set up on Nov. 30 inside TCF Stadium when the Badgers and Gophers tussle in its annual rivalry, all because the latter fell in Iowa City on Saturday.
However, Wisconsin -- with two losses to Minnesota's one -- needs to take care of business against Purdue this weekend to keep that flame alive. P.J. Fleck's program travels to Evanston to take on a 2-8 Northwestern squad that has not won a conference game yet in 2018.
Big stakes between the big rivals with potential New Year's Six bowl implications? Quite the way to end the final two weeks of the regular season.
The game is set for 2:30 PM CT on ABC.
2. Wisconsin has a prolific pair of pass rushers in Chris Orr and Zack Baun.
Yes, the Badgers' defense gave up nearly 500 yards of offense to the Huskers. However, a couple of positives from the unit came not just from its three key fourth-down stops. UW got to quarterback Adrian Martinez four times inside Memorial Stadium, and three of the four came from two redshirt seniors.
Inside linebacker Chris Orr recorded his 10th sack, while outside linebacker Zack Baun got to Martinez twice in the backfield to put his 2019 total at 9.5. After a season prior where UW only registered 19 in 13 games, the team now has 37 through 10 contests -- 19.5 by the duo.
3. Despite rushing numbers, wide receivers step up in a number of big ways.
Wisconsin threw for just 162 yards on Saturday, but its receivers made some huge plays against the Huskers.
In the second quarter and Wisconsin down 14-10, quarterback Jack Coan found senior wide out A.J. Taylor across the middle. He then utilized a spin move, eluded tacklers and found his way to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown.
Ted Gilmore's position group not only came down with 10 of the team's 13 receptions on the game, but the wide outs also made plays on the ground with six carries for 67 yards. Though he did not catch a pass, junior Danny Davis ran the ball three times for 48 yards -- including a 29-yard run on a 3rd-and-3 late in the fourth quarter to ice the game.
TWO QUESTIONS WE HAVE ENTERING PURDUE WEEK
1. Can Jonathan Taylor continue his dominating ways against Purdue?
The junior running back dominated Nebraska's defense to the tune of 204 yards and two scores on Saturday. And, according to UW, became the first Badger player to ever gain 200 yards or more on the ground three times against an opponent.
Facing Purdue next week, Taylor has an opportunity to do the same. In 2017 and 2018, the New Jersey native ran for 219 and 321 yards, respectively.
Coming off of their bye, the Boilermakers have allowed 172.2 yards on the ground per contest in 2019. With logic dictating that Taylor declares early for the NFL Draft after this season, can he and the run game averaging 235.1 through 10 outings overwhelm Purdue one last time?
2. Can Wisconsin fix some issues with tackling before Minnesota?
With the above clip of Taylor's long touchdown serving as a microcosm, both teams showed the ability to miss making stops. HuskerOnline.com's Sean Callahan called out exactly how many a few hours later.
Against Illinois, Baun mentioned Wisconsin did not tackle up to the program standard. Facing these spread-like schemes, the Badgers will have to find ways to wrap up more consistently in space.
Even before looking ahead to Minnesota's offense that features two NFL-capable receivers, a highly efficient quarterback and a solid run game, Wisconsin defenders will need to keep their "1/11th" responsibilities against a Jeff Brohm scheme this week with its gadget-like plays.
For what it's worth, it will also be the third straight week UW will face a program coming off of a bye week.
ONE BOLD PREDICTION: WISCONSIN ENDS UP IN INDY
Full disclosure, folks: I believe Minnesota has the offensive firepower to win by double digits, perhaps two or three scores against Wisconsin in two weeks. However, it's the end of the season -- and like I did with my South Florida week prediction -- I'm going big or going home.
Penn State shot itself in the foot at the worst moments two weekends ago, including during two goal line situations and three interceptions. Though Iowa did not run the ball well overall, true freshman Tyler Goodson ran for 94 yards on 13 carries (the Nittany Lions also ran for 178 on 6.1 yards per rush the weekend prior).
Despite being on the road, Wisconsin's 2019 offense is better than last season's -- and I think the Badgers can run on this Gophers' defense while keeping them honest with shots down the field.
This game will likely not be pretty. There will be some momentum changes and perhaps some missed opportunities on both sides. However, with yearning to bring the Axe back to Madison and a chance to go to the Big Ten Championship game, I think Wisconsin avenges last year's loss.
