Most of the time, when a team leads its conference in both total offense and total defense, you would expect it to have a solid season. Yet the Purdue Boilermakers went 7-6 last year and barely became bowl-eligible.

Last year’s team lost its six games by a combined 26 points, including a 10-6 loss to the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes and a 31-28 defeat by the Big Ten co-champion Iowa Hawkeyes. With 18 returning starters, many experts predicted the Boilermakers would win the Big Ten and ranked them as high as No. 16 in the country.

Head coach Joe Tiller’s Boilermakers have been the model of consistency during his six-year tenure at Purdue. He has gone to a bowl game every year since taking the reins for the Boilermakers and became only the second coach at Purdue to win 50 games.

Expectations were high this year.

The season did not start off well for Tiller’s squad. Senior running back Joey Harris, who had rushed for 1,100 yards last season, was ruled academically ineligible and suspended for the season. The team had a heartbreaking 27-26 loss to Bowling Green at home to start off the year.

Since then the Boilermakers have been on a tear, winning five straight games, and will come into Madison ranked No. 13 (5-1, 2-0), their highest ranking since the end of the 2000 season, when they finished 13th.

With wins over Wake Forest, Arizona, Notre Dame, Illinois and Penn State, Purdue is living up to preseason hype. Always known for their spread offense, this year the Boilermakers also rank third in the Big Ten in rushing with 190.3 yards per game. In Harris’ absence, sophomore Jerod Void (385 yards, six touchdowns), redshirt freshman Jerome Brooks (310 yards, two touchdowns) and sophomore Brandon Jones (239 yards and three touchdowns) have done more than expected.

This season the Boilermakers have demonstrated an ability to come out strong, outscoring their opponents in the first quarter 54-3 and scoring on their opening possession in all six games.

Despite solid production from his backs, Tiller has not gotten rid of his famous wide-open offense. Rifle-armed junior quarterback Kyle Orton has the top two returning receivers in the Big Ten to throw to in senior John Standeford and junior Taylor Stubblefield. The sure-handed Standeford, Purdue’s all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards, has a streak of 27 straight games with a reception coming into this week’s game. Stubblefield is currently ranked third in the Big Ten with 38 receptions and has caught a pass in all 28 of the games he has played for the Boilermakers.

Orton’s season has also been impressive, as he has completed 110 of 177 passes for 1,210 yards and 10 touchdowns and has only thrown two interceptions. Purdue’s high-scoring offense ranks third in the Big Ten and has already put up scores of 59 and 43 this season.

Along with a potent offense, Joe Tiller has created a complex defense that creates turnovers.

The group has 15 takeaways this season and is only giving up an average of 13 points and 60.8 yards per game. The Boilermakers’ defense is led by all-Big Ten senior linebacker Niko Koutouvides and senior free safety Stuart Schweigert.

After Purdue beat Wake Forest 16-10, Wake Forest offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke said, “That was one of the most difficult preparations I’ve ever had in coaching. They have so many different fronts, different coverages, man, zone, free safety, cover safety, disguised blitzes, we were shocked.”

In addition to a high-scoring offense and aggressive defense, the Badgers must be prepared to stop senior punt returner Anthony Chambers. Chambers was named Big Ten special-teams player of the week after returning five punts for 149 yards against Penn State. For the season he already has 304 return yards and is closing in on the Purdue record for return yards in a season.

The Boilermakers have not played the Badgers since 2000, when they won 30-24 in Madison. Having played only one road game thus far, Tiller knows this will be a tough game for his boys.

“It’ll take everything we can muster to hang in there and play with them, but we’ll give it a go,” Tiller said.

Senior defensive tackle Craig Terrill, who blocked a Wisconsin kick that led to the game-winning touchdown in 2000, is looking forward to the game Saturday.

“Our guys like teams that can run the ball really well. It will be a good test for us,” Terrill said.

With games coming up against Michigan, Iowa and Ohio State, the Boilermakers have a tough road ahead.