The obvious and primary point of significance for the Wisconsin Badgers in this Saturday’s game against the Purdue Boilermakers is that UW can stay in the Big Ten West race, setting up a super showdown against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Nov. 30. Everyone knows that. Yet, beneath the surface, this game against Purdue is important for another powerful reason. Wanna guess what it is?
Giving the seniors a win in their final home game? True, but not quite what I was looking for. Cleaning up bad habits or tendencies on defense before the Minnesota game? Well, that is accurate enough as well, but also not the response I had in mind.
Here is the larger reason why Wisconsin-Purdue is so important to the Badgers: They can go unbeaten at home this year. That’s a very big deal.
In 2015, 2016 and 2018, Wisconsin lost at Camp Randall Stadium. The 2017 season was a triumphant victory march for the Badgers, their best non-Rose Bowl-winning season in program history. (They won the Orange Bowl instead.) That team went unbeaten at home.
The 2019 Badgers can restore what the 2017 team established and the 2018 team failed to sustain. This matters as a point of pride — no visitors win in our house! — but the value of protecting Camp Randall is greater than that. As tough as the Big Ten is, being able to maintain an airtight fortress in Madison matters. Creating an expectation that no visitor will win in Camp Randall will enable this 2019 team to pass the baton to the 2020 team and give this program a chance to take a great home-field culture and make it even better.
No home-field loss from 2018 stung more than Minnesota coming into Madison and beating the Badgers. Wisconsin needs to plant its flag against the Gophers in 2020, and going unbeaten at home in 2019 is one small but real part of building back a heavyweight identity against P.J. Fleck. Minnesota has clearly announced itself as a threat to Wisconsin’s Big Ten West supremacy, so in a larger context which transcends individual seasons, the Badgers need to tell the Gophers, “No visitors celebrate here” in Madison.
Beating Purdue and sealing a perfect 2019 record in Camp Randall Stadium won’t make this year a complete success. Beating Minnesota on Nov. 30 will do that. Nevertheless, after the wobbles and struggles of 2018, achieving a perfect home record will represent one tangible and resonant way in which Wisconsin restored order this season.