DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Wisconsin safety Collin Wilder, who intercepted one pass and ripped the ball out of the arms of a tight end for a forced fumble/fumble recovery, was asked how he would describe what linebacker Leo Chenal brings to the defense. “He is wired differently,” Wilder said. How so?
“He is like a larger Tasmanian Devil,” Wilder said, grinning from ear to ear.
That might be the strangest yet most fitting and most heartfelt compliment anyone has given Chenal.
One week after recording a sack, 21⁄2 tackles for loss and 17 total tackles against Army, he was almost unblockable in UW’s 30-13 victory over Purdue on Saturday.
Chenal led the way in sacks with 31⁄2 and tackles for loss with 51⁄2.
Whatever blocking schemes the Boilermakers drew up to slow Chenal, the junior foiled them.
OFFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME
UW had driven from its 6-yard line after a Purdue punt in the third quarter to the Boilermakers 20 thanks to a 70yard run by Braelon Allen and a 4-yard run by Chez Mellusi.
Facing second and 6 from the 20, Mellusi got the call and was met 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage by safety Cam Allen.
Allen blitzed off the left side of the UW formation and drilled Mellusi perhaps a second after the tailback got the ball from Graham Mertz.
Mellusi spun instinctively and broke Allen’s attempted tackle. He turned up the field and cut inside linebacker Kieren Douglas at the 22.
Mellusi then cut to the outside at the 15.
Wide receiver Danny Davis, blocking downfield, got in the way of safety Marvin Grant near the 15 and Mellusi had a clear path to the end zone.
That helped UW take a 20-13 lead with 6 minutes 6 seconds left.
Purdue defensive end George Karlaftis likely would have gotten a game ball for his 56-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the second quarter, which gave the Boilermakers a 13-10 lead.
UW’s Wilder stole the game ball with a bigger play in the early in the fourth quarter.
Trailing, 20-13, Purdue drove from its 19 to the UW 24 and faced third and 6. A false-start penalty left the Boilermakers facing third and 11 from the 29.
Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard decided to rush three and play coverage.
Linebacker Nick Herbig bull-rushed right tackle Cam Craig into the backfield, got free and forced quarterback Aidan O’Connell to step up into the pocket and eventually to his left.
O’Connell tried to throw back toward the middle of the field while on the run but the ball sailed over the head of tailback King Doerue and into the arms of Wilder.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY OF GAME
Not one play stood above the rest but UW’s maligned special teams, particularly the punt-coverage unit, made a play that helped the Badgers win the battle for field position.
Two of Purdue’s third-quarter drives began at the Boilermakers’ 5 and 19 after punts started drives in the third quarter.
Purdue punted on the first series and turned the ball over (interception) on the second.
Andy Vujnovich averaged 45.4 yards on five punts; Dean Engram downed one punt at the 5 by hustling down the field and catching the ball on the fly, and Collin Larsh pushed his season fieldgoal mark to 9 of 11 by hitting from 23 and 43 yards.
INSIDE THE HUDDLE
UW was down three of its top four tight ends before kickoff Saturday. Jack Eschenbach, who suffered a shoulder/
UW inside linebacker Leo Chenal drops Purdue quarterback Aidan O'Connell for one of his 31⁄2 sacks during the game.
arm injury against Michigan, missed his third consecutive game. Clay Cundiff was out for the second consecutive week. The third tight end out was Hayden Rucci, who had played in each of the first six games. That left starter Jake Ferguson and reserves Jaylan Franklin and Cam Large as the only tight ends on the travel roster. Large left with a leg injury early in the first quarter. Reserve lineman Cormac Sampson got work at jumbo tight end to help bolster the unit.
UW was penalized three times for false starts – two by right guard Jack Nelson and one by tight end Jake Ferguson – on its second possession of the game. Somehow the Badgers overcame those penalties to drive 92 yards for their first touchdown.
UW converted just 1 of 11 third-down chances.
QUOTABLE
“It’s not easy to win in this conference. That is a good football team. Our defense played a heck of a football game against a really good offense… (We) came up with a couple big punts… The (offensive) line did a lot of good things… The backs are running hard and I think they feed off each other…It takes everyone to win these games and a lot of guys contributed.” — Paul Chryst, UW coach
BY THE NUMBERS
7.4 The combined average yards per carry for Chez Mellusi and Braelon Allen
8 Passes attempted by quarterback Graham Mertz, a season-low mark
15 Consecutive victories by UW over Purdue, including nine in a row on the road
206 Offensive yards for Purdue – 216.8 below the team’s average
290 Rushing yards for UW – 173.8 more than Purdue had been allowing
NEXT
UW (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) vs. Iowa (6-1, 3-1), 11 a.m. Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. The Hawkeyes were 6-0. Then came a 24-7 loss to Purdue. UW’s victory over Purdue makes this matchup huge. Who would have thought that a few weeks ago?
STATISTICS