Heading into what will surely be one of the biggest games of his first season as the Wisconsin head coach, Gary Andersen is excited to begin preparing for battle at Ohio State under the lights Saturday.

At his weekly press conference Monday, Andersen addressed questions surrounding how he will prepare his team to take on the No. 4 Buckeyes as well as concerns lingering from Wisconsin’s 41-10 victory over Purdue last Saturday. While not underestimating the strength of the upcoming Big Ten foe, Andersen said the preparation is no different than any other conference matchup.

“Our goal is to go play well and [we] want to be right there in the fourth quarter and see what happens in a hectic environment, that’s going to be a great atmosphere,” Andersen said. “I think this game will take on its own personality just like every game does. If you look at it, they play great defense at times. We play great defense at times. They play great offense at times. We play great offense at times.”

One key question surrounding the game is how Wisconsin will prepare for the pair of Buckeye quarterbacks who have played thus far this season. Andersen said he is going to ready his team to face both quarterbacks, senior Kenny Guiton and junior Braxton Miller — who missed the past two games with a knee injury but was cleared to play on Monday — but said he doesn’t see much difference between the two.

“I don’t think it matters, whoever’s in there. One guy might do this a little better than the other. But you don’t look in there and say, okay, here comes this guy or that guy or let’s expect this offense or that offense.”

Andersen had high praise for the Badgers’ running game in the win over Purdue. The dominating performance by redshirt sophomore running back Melvin Gordon Saturday against Purdue — 147 rushing yards and three touchdowns — prompted questions on whether Gordon and redshirt senior running back James White, who rushed for a near equal 145 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown run, would continue to see the similar split in carries moving forward.

“I would say [yes] right now because it works so well, same amount of carries. Melvin’s had a couple of big plays in the fly sweep that have been gigantic plays and big gainers,” Andersen said. “They’re great backs. They both have a part in the offense, and a big part in the offense, and will continue to. It’s a great balance.”

Andersen noted the OSU defense will look to stop the run, prompting questions about the passing games. Quarterback Joel Stave amassed just 158 total passing yards against Purdue, and while Andersen said there were improvements to be made, he was quick to defend the redshirt sophomore.

He said people tend to place blame on the quarterback when something goes wrong with the passing game while ignoring other factors, and the interception Stave threw in the second quarter of Saturday’s game was the result of an improperly run route.

“No one wants to talk about that. They want to talk about how the quarterback threw a pick,” Andersen said. “There’s things that go into it that many times are missed. The offensive line, we want to get better. We want to run better routes, cleaner routes, crisper routes.

“Is the throwing game a concern? Yes. Is it alarming? I would say no, but it’s a concern.”

Andersen denied claims the looming matchup should be viewed as the Leaders Division championship, saying he sees too many good teams remaining within the division to consider Saturday’s game a de-facto championship.

Although Andersen once coached under Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, he also denounced this game as something of a coaching showdown given their past history at the University of Utah. Andersen served as a defensive assistant in 2004 under Meyer in the final season before Meyer took over as head coach at the University of Florida.

Instead, Andersen kept the focus on the players and praised Meyer’s passion for the game of football, saying it was a quality they sometimes share to a fault.

“I think we both have an extreme passion, which is probably one of our nemeses that we both have is we’re maybe a little too passionate at times for what we do. I think we both learned that through the years,” Andersen said. “I think we both care about kids. I think we both — because we do care about kids, and it drives — I know it drives him, and it’s the number one thing that drives me.”