UW-Purdue Replay: Awards, inside the huddle, by the numbers
Jeff Potrykus reviews Wisconsin’s 47-44 victory over Purdue in three overtimes on Saturday.
AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE GAME
What more can be written or said about Wisconsin tailback Jonathan Taylor?
The sophomore flashed his speed, vision and power against Purdue’s defense Saturday and the Boilermakers had no answers.
Taylor carried 33 times for a college-high 321 yards, the No. 3 mark in program history for a single game.
Taylor is now lined up behind two special backs. Melvin Gordon has the program record with 408 yards on 25 carries in a 59-24 victory over Nebraska in 2014. Ron Dayne is No. 2 with 339 yards on 36 carries in a 59-10 victory at Hawaii in 1996.
Taylor scored on runs of 80, 12 and 17 yards.
He rushed 12 times for 74 yards in the opening half, an average of 6.2 yards per carry. He rushed 21 times for 247 yards, an average of 11.8 yards per carry, the rest of the way.
RELATED: Jonathan Taylor lifts UW over Purdue in three overtimes
BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 47, Purdue 44
With 3,846, yards at UW, Taylor has broken fellow Dayne’s FBS record for combined rushing yards as a freshman and sophomore.
Taylor, Dayne (3,566 yards, 1996-'97) and Georgia’s Herschel Walker (3,507, 1980-'81) are the only FBS players to rush for at least 3,500 yards in their first two seasons.
OFFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME
Only one play is worthy of this honor this week: Taylor’s winning touchdown run.
UW faced second and 2 in the third overtime but quarterback Jack Coan lined up in the shotgun, with Taylor to his left and three receivers to the right, tight end Jake Ferguson and wide receivers Danny Davis and A.J. Taylor.
Jonathan Taylor took the handoff from Coan and started to his right.
He got blocks from Ferguson, right tackle Logan Bruss and right guard Beau Benzschawel and cut inside between the Bruss and Benzschawel at the 15.
Taylor ran through one defender at the 13, another at the 4 and bounced off a third defender at the goal line.
He spun the ball to the turf, extended his arms toward the sky and was bear-hugged by Davis.
They were soon joined by the rest of the team.
Across the field, Purdue coach Jeff Brohm turned away in disgust after seeing his team falter.
DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME
No matter the circumstances or opponent, UW linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel does not stop hustling.
He showed that desire by tracking down wide receiver Isaac Zico at the end of a 20-yard reception and forced a fumble that resulted in a touchback in the opening quarter.
Later came his best play of the game.
Purdue held a 24-13 lead in the fourth quarter and had first and goal at the UW 10.
Tailback Markell Jones took a handoff and got around right end. He appeared to be on his way to the end zone but Van Ginkel pursued from behind and brought him down at the 1.
How big was that play?
Jones got nothing on second and goal and lost a yard on third and goal and the Boilermakers settled for a field goal and a 27-13 lead with 9 minutes 57 seconds left.
UW wiped out that deficit with two touchdown drives but the game might not have gone into overtime if the Boilermakers had pushed the lead to 31-13.
Linebacker T.J. Edwards joked to UWbadgers.com that he had a simple message for Van Ginkel.
“I said it’s about time you showed up,” he said on the field after the victory. “He is a really good football player. He showed up and made a lot of plays today.
“That’s something he is capable of and I’m just happy for him.”
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY OF THE GAME
UW trailed, 24-13, early in the fourth quarter when Jack Dunn lined up deep to field a punt after the defense had stymied Purdue’s offense after surrendering back-to-back touchdown drives.
Joe Schopper’s punt carried only 33 yards.
Dunn signaled to his blockers the ball was short and to be on alert.
Cornerback Caesar Williams didn’t appear to see the signal, however, and the ball bounced off his leg.
Purdue recovered at the UW 28 with 12:16 left and drove for a field goal and a 14-point lead.
INSIDE THE HUDDLE
Had UW lost this game in regulation or in an earlier overtime, penalties might have been the reason. UW was penalized 13 times for 125 yards.
UW protected quarterback Jack Coan well. Purdue came in averaging 2.2 sacks per game but got to Coan just one time. Coan, making his third start, could have avoided the sack by throwing the ball away.
UW put consistent pressure on Purdue quarterback David Blough. The Badgers recorded three sacks and six tackles for loss overall.
QUOTABLE
“We came together. We’re a very resilient team. We’ve been fighting through so much this season so I took it upon myself to give everything I had for these seniors. They have put so much into this program that I just wanted to let them know that I appreciate what they have done. I’m going to try to continue the same footsteps that they set in front of me.” – Jonathan Taylor, UW tailback
BY THE NUMBERS
10 Solo tackles by Andrew Van Ginkel
13 Consecutive victories by UW over Purdue
52 Consecutive starts for Michael Deiter, a UW record
160 Passing yards for UW’s Jack Coan
321 Rushing yards for UW’s Jonathan Taylor
NEXT
UW (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten) vs. Minnesota (5-6m 2-6), 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Minnesota needs to end its 14-game losing streak in this rivalry to become bowl-eligible. One week after handing Purdue a 41-10 loss, the Gophers suffered a 24-14 home loss to Northwestern.