Sophomore running back Montee Ball knew he would play a bigger role than usual because of the injury of true freshman running back James White, but he probably never guessed he would be as big of a factor as he was Saturday in Wisconsin’s 34-13 victory over Purdue.
The 5-foot-11, 236-pound back rushed for a career-high 127 yards on 21 attempts, good for an average of six yards per carry. Ball was asked to step up in the second half while star John Clay was roughed up and saw only 12 carries throughout the game. White sat out because of complications from his knee injury suffered in the Badgers’ previous game at Iowa.
The fact that the Badgers were down 10-6 at halftime and that they only managed to rack up 126 total yards on offense in the first half added even more pressure to the running game. Ball ignored this pressure–118 of his rushing yards came in the decisive second half–and turned in one of the best games of his career. Scott Tolzien’s stellar play, except for the interception thrown on the team’s first possession, also helped the Badgers take control. The uncharacteristic interception from Tolzien was the lone Wisconsin turnover in the game.
Nick Toon led the way for the Badgers’ receiving corps, catching 5 passes for 62 yards. Jared Abbrederis caught the lone touchdown pass from Tolzien to jump-start the offense at the beginning of the second half. Antonio Fenelus picked off one of three interceptions thrown by true freshman Purdue quarterback Sean Robinson and returned it for a touchdown to top off the scoring in the game. Ball’s two touchdown runs were for 31 and 15 yards, respectively.
Sure, the Boilermakers aren’t what you would call a top-notch football team this year in the Big Ten, but the Badgers’ coaches and players still learned some important things in the victory:
The Badgers have a three-headed monster in their backfield
Ball’s performance over the last two games certainly surprised many Badger fans. His touchdown in the closing minutes of the one-point victory over the Hawkeyes showed his true toughness and his ability to deliver in the clutch. His performance Saturday in the second half was no different. The Badgers knew someone needed to step up and improve from their poor outing in the first half. Ball finally got his chance, and his dominant second half showed how much depth Wisconsin really has in their strong backfield.
The Badgers’ D is a bit underrated
Yes, Wisconsin was going up against a true freshman quarterback in his first career start, but J.J. Watt’s second-half play was exceptional and allowed Wisconsin’s offense to quickly come back. Watt recorded two tackles for loss and also had a sack, giving him a tackle for loss in every game this season except one.
The Badgers also forced three-and-outs on three consecutive drives over a stretch in the second half. You can’t forget the other stellar defensive games for the Badgers, including their crucial role in the upset of then-No. 1 Ohio State, when the Badgers held the Buckeyes to just 18 points. Wisconsin’s defense has an even better shot at showing how underrated it is on the defensive side of the ball in two weeks when it travels to Michigan, a team that scored 67 points Saturday and is led by Heisman candidate Denard Robinson. A strong performance on defense in Ann Arbor would really boost Wisconsin’s confidence come bowl time.
Wisconsin needs to stay focused during the final stretch and take it one game at a time
The Badgers cannot take any of their games lightly for the remainder of the season. The bye week the Badgers had last week may have contributed to the rustiness in the first half of the Purdue game, but if the Badgers come into one of their remaining games as sloppy as they did Saturday, they could let a game slip and eliminate any chance of Wisconsin appearing in a BCS bowl game. The next two games, against Indiana and Michigan, have “trap game” written all over them. Northwestern could fall into this category too, as the Badger’s proneness to choking late in the season showed in a loss to the Wildcats last season.
The Badgers take on visiting Indiana this Saturday for another chance at boosting their BCS profile. In the most recent polls, the Badgers were ranked fifth and sixth in the AP and USA Today respectively, while the BCS rankings had the Badgers at seven, the highest of the Big Ten teams.
