The series history between the Wisconsin Badgers and Purdue Boilermakers:
On Saturday afternoon, the Wisconsin Badgers will face off against the Purdue Boilermakers for the 89th time in the 130-year-old rivalry. The Badgers fell on the road 4-32 in their first matchup against the Boilermakers all the way back in 1892.
Wisconsin has faired better against Purdue in recent years, as the Badgers have won the last 10 games between them. They won their most recent matchup on the road last season, in a 30-13 victory over the Boilermakers. Wisconsin running backs Chez Mellusi and Braelon Allen both had monster a game, combining for 297 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.
Hopefully, the Badgers can continue their winning streak against the Boilermakers this week and serve as a potential spoiler to Purdue’s Big Ten West championship aspirations.
Below are photos from the last 10 matchups between the Wisconsin Badgers and Purdue Boilermakers:
The New York Giants will kick off the 2021 regular-season at home against the Denver Broncos this Sunday and they’re already viewed as underdogs.
Not only did the Giants open the week at +2.5 (Tipico), but those in Denver already appear to be looking ahead to Week 2 and rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
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Former Broncos running back Montee Ball is among those dismissing the Giants, claiming over the weekend that Denver will blow the doors off New York with ease.
“Giants should be a walk. A cakewalk,” Ball told Broncos Breakdown. “We should go into New York and obviously come out with a W there.”
Although Ball sees an easy win against the Giants, he was less certain about Denver upending the Jacksonville Jaguars. That speaks volumes about how Big Blue is currently viewed around the league.
The Giants have entrenched themselves as one of the worst teams in football over the past eight years and they’re now seen as a laughingstock. They’re marked off on calendars as an easy win and that’s something head coach Joe Judge must change.
However, for the time being, it’s easy to understand Ball’s mindset. The Broncos have one of the NFL’s best defenses and should be able to feast on the Giants’ offensive line. And if that expectation becomes the reality this Sunday, then yes, it might be a cakewalk for Denver.
On Wednesday morning, Wisconsin running back Jalen Berger was named to the prestigious Doak Walker Award Watch List. It is awarded to the best running back in college football every season.
Many Badgers fans may be familiar with the Doak Walker Award because Wisconsin running backs have won the award five times. Some notable Wisconsin alumni of the award include two-time winner Jonathan Taylor, Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball and Ron Dayne. Former Wisconsin running back Nakia Watson was also named to the watch list for the award before last season.
After a promising true freshman season where Berger averaged 6.5 yards per carry, it is no surprise to see high expectations for the sophomore running back with a full offseason under his belt.
Although the top 10 in career rushing yards in Big Ten history features five Wisconsin running backs, there are numerous other dominant p…
Over the last few decades, Wisconsin football has built a legacy of excellence at the running back position and has produced some of the best running backs in college football history. Five of these outstanding backs are represented in the 10 in career rushing yards in Big Ten Conference history.
Although the top 10 in career rushing yards in Big Ten history features five Wisconsin running backs, there are numerous other dominant players including legends like Michigan State’s Lorenzo White, Ohio State‘s Archie Griffin and Indiana’s Anthony Thompson.
This list includes several Heisman winners as well as numerous Doak Walker Award winners and represents some of the very best in not only the history of the Big Ten but in college football.
Below are the top 10 in career rushing yards in Big Ten Conference history:
The new RB coach wants to put together a backfield worthy of Wisconsin’s rich history
Former NFL RB coach Gary Brown is the new man in charge at Wisconsin, and the newest member of the Badger coaching staff has taken to Twitter to start his recruiting pitch to RB’s across the country.
What type of RB room is Brown trying to build at Wisconsin? His ceiling is one of the best RB rooms ever assembled in college football that we saw at RBU in Madison. Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball, and James White teamed up in 2012 to make up the best backfield in the nation:
Putting together a Running Back room like this is what Wisconsin Football is all about!!! THE TRADITION WILL CONTINUE!!!! pic.twitter.com/g06PUhqOZa
Brown also wanted to show love to the fullback’s, another position Wisconsin has always had a rich history with:
Don’t worry….all you Fullbacks out there…Running Back U ALWAYS show love to the Fullbacks!!!! Alec Ingold and Derek Watt both earned a Masters in Fullback Etiquette with an emphasis on Knocking your Block Off!!! pic.twitter.com/R0DuCLl3P8
The former Badger is ready to help the future of Wisconsin’s run game
There is a classic saying that anybody who has grown up around Wisconsin, attended the university, or rooted for the Badgers knows: once a Badger, always a Badger.
This morning, we saw an example of that statement in action. Legendary Wisconsin RB Montee Ball took to Twitter to publicly offer his help to freshman RB Jalen Berger, who excelled near the end of the season. Ball, who was the 2012 Doak Walker Award winner at Wisconsin while rushing for over 5,100 career yards as a Badger, wants to be around the RB room this season.
He mentioned this morning that there was a specific workout that took him from an average back to a Doak Walker Award winner for best RB in the nation. The former Badger is ready to help the next RB in line with that workout:
I think I’ll go to a good amount of training camp practices next year. Gotta get that running back room going! @JalenBerger This off-season I can run you through my workout regiment that took me from an average back to a heisman finalist. Let’s get it. #OnWisconsinhttps://t.co/bGDs3dNg6H
After starting his true freshman season fourth on Wisconsin’s RB depth chart, Berger climbed his way to the top after a few solid performances. He finished his first year in Madison with 301 rushing yards on 60 carries (5.1 ypc) to go along with a pair of touchdowns.
Having one of the greatest rushers to ever wear the Wisconsin red helping him improve could be the key to Berger exploding in 2021.
On October 13th, 2012, former Wisconsin running back Montee Ball broke the Big Ten record for career rushing touchdowns with his 72nd car…
On October 13th, 2012, former Wisconsin running back Montee Ball broke the Big Ten record for career rushing touchdowns with his 72nd career rushing touchdown against the Purdue Boilermakers. Big Ten Network Wisconsin’s Twitter properly commemorated the eighth anniversary of the record-breaking touchdown with a video of the run itself.
Ball ran for more than just Big Ten records during with time with the Badgers, in fact, he finished his collegiate career holding the FBS record for career rushing touchdowns with 77 as well as the FBS record for total career touchdowns with 83. Although these FBS records have since been broken, the legacy that Ball has left at Wisconsin will always be remembered by Wisconsin fans.
Montee Ball may not have had the best professional career, but Badger fans will forever be grateful for his time at Wisconsin. I am reminded of Wisconsin’s dominance of the Big Ten in the early 2010s from this video and am excited to see how Wisconsin will fare this season.
Many Wisconsin fans, including myself, are looking for any way to consume some Badger Football content, and today at 4:30 p.m. CT the Big…
Many Wisconsin fans, including myself, are looking for any way to consume some Badger Football content, and today at 4:30 p.m. CT the Big Ten Championship Game from 2012 between Nebraska and Wisconsin will be re-airing on Big Ten Network.
This game was a special one for the Badgers because they decimated the Cornhuskers 70-31. This game also included some very memorable performances from former Badgers like Montee Ball, James White, and Melvin Gordon.
Rewatching this blowout will bring back a lot of nostalgia for many fans, including myself, and is a good way to spend one of the last few Sunday nights without NFL football.
Over the years, @BadgerFootball has run wild on so many Saturdays.
Relive its ridiculous 539-yard performance in the 2012 B1G title game at 4:30 p.m. CT today on BTN. pic.twitter.com/n5fFwTlMRK
On Saturday afternoon, Fox College Football tweeted out the rushing leaders of every season from the last decade and an interesting trend emerged.
Wisconsin had three rushing leaders in the last ten years starting with Montee Ball with 1,923 rushing yards in 2011, Melvin Gordon with 2,587 rushing yards in 2014, and lastly Jonathan Taylor with 2,194 rushing yards in 2018.
On Saturday afternoon, Fox College Football tweeted out the rushing leaders of every season from the last decade and an interesting trend emerged.
Wisconsin had three rushing leaders in the last ten years starting with Montee Ball with 1,923 rushing yards in 2011, Melvin Gordon with 2,587 rushing yards in 2014, and lastly Jonathan Taylor with 2,194 rushing yards in 2018.
As impressive as this is, I have to wonder what this list would look like if it was only power five schools that were included in the rankings. Although the rushing feat from Rashaad Penny of 2,248 yards in 2017 was impressive at San Diego State, it’s hard to justify those numbers against the not so tough competition of the Mountain West Conference versus what Jonathan Taylor did against Big Ten opponents. Taylor only had 1,977 yards in 2017, but those yards are a lot harder to earn against teams like Ohio State than Colorado State.
Jonathan Tayor was close to another rushing title in 2019 as well, finishing only 91 yards behind Chuba Hubbard of Oklahoma State. In short, Wisconsin has been pretty close to having five rushing leaders in the last ten years.
Despite actually having three rushing titles, Wisconsin still leads the nation in rushing leaders from the last decade, which shows the program’s commitment to running the ball and finding great running backs. It will be interesting to see who Wisconsin can find to replace Jonathan Taylor this season, but I have no doubt that they can.
😤⚡️ @BadgerFootball had more rushing leaders in the past decade than any other team
The NFL draft has come and gone and college football’s summer offseason programs have yet to receive a date for when they can…
The NFL draft has come and gone and college football’s summer offseason programs have yet to receive a date for when they can get underway, leaving us with not a lot of news relating to Wisconsin football.
So today, in prime offseason and no sports form, we’re outlining the best Wisconsin football teams since 2000.
As a disclaimer, this is only a ranking of the best teams, not necessarily the seasons we’ve watched with the most accomplishments.
5. 2016
Wisconsin Badgers running back Corey Clement (6) is tackled by Penn State Nittany Lions safety Malik Golden (6) during the Big Ten Championship college football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports
The 5-3 range on this list simply came down to ranking the Big Ten Championship-losing teams from the last four years.
Though the 2016 squad fell 38-31 to then-No. 8 Penn State in the conference championship game, this Badger team was better than many remember it to be and was an easy selection for this list.
On offense the team was led by a young Alex Hornibrook, current Philadelphia Eagle running back Corey Clement and Troy Fumagalli and Jazz Peavy on the outside.
The defensive unit was led by T.J. Watt, T.J. Edwards, Leo Musso, Jack Cichy, D’Cota Dixon, Sojourn Shelton and Derrick Tindal and was a squad that ranked No. 4 in the nation in opponent points-per-game.
Highlights of the season came Week 1 when they defeated No. 5 LSU at Lambeau Field, Week 4 when they upset No. 8 Michigan State 30-6, a 23-17 win against No. 7 Nebraska and their 24-16 Cotton Bowl victory against No. 12 Western Michigan.
Simple Rating System is a statistic used by Sports-Reference.com that analyzes teams based on a combination of their strength of schedule and average point differential.
Paul Chryst‘s 2016 unit received a 15.30, with zero being the average, which is good for No. 3 among Badger teams since 2000.
So why isn’t this team higher on the list, as they were in the AP Top 10 every week from Week 2 to the end of the season and their three losses all came against other top-10 teams?
Two reasons, the first of which being offensive efficiency and quarterback play.
The offense finished the year ranked No. 67 in the nation in points-per-game and were led at quarterback by Hornibrook who finished the season with a 9-7 touchdown-interception ratio and had an adjusted-yards-per-attempt of only 6.2.
The second is the fact that they were unable to beat the Nittany Lions in the conference championship despite being the higher-ranked team and winners of their last six games.
History will still look upon this team finely, though it was hard to rank them above other recent teams given their lack of adequate quarterback play and overall offensive efficiency.
