GoldandBlack.com - Boilermakers falter in Madison

October 31, 2009

Kyle Charters

Danny Hope Audio

MADISON, Wis. - On Halloween at Wisconsin, Purdue's performance was downright terrifying.

The Boilermakers' modest two-game winning streak came to a crashing stop against the Badgers Saturday, as they were soundly defeated in Camp Randall Stadium. The 37-0 loss was Purdue's worst in more than a dozen years, since it was beaten by 38 to open the Big Ten season against Michigan State in 1996. The Boilers finished 3-8 then, the last season before Joe Tiller took over.

"It doesn't matter if it was 30-something-to-nothing or a one-point difference," first-year coach Danny Hope said. "A loss is a loss."

But this one, the Boilers' 11th consecutive road defeat, was particularly ugly. Purdue (3-6 overall, 2-3 in the Big Ten) had only 141 yards of total offense, committed three turnovers and converted only two of its 16 third downs. The Boiler offense was so anemic that it suffered three-and-outs on 11 of its 15 drives.

The defense, meanwhile, allowed the Badgers (6-2, 3-2) to rack up 381 total yards, its worst outing in more than a month, including 266 on the ground. Two Badgers totaled more than 90 yards on the ground, including a tight end.

Plus, Wisconsin blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown to turn Purdue's seemingly surmountable 17-0 deficit into a 24-point halftime malaise.

"We just flat got beat in every facet of the game, offense, defense and special teams," defensive end Ryan Kerrigan said.

Indeed.

After allowing an opening drive comprised of only rushes - 11 of them for 80 yards, capped by a John Clay one-yard dive, that spanned more than five minutes - and a field goal, Purdue trailed only 10-0 midway through the second quarter. But the Badgers soon broke the game open.

After quarterback Joey Elliott was sacked on first down from deep inside his own territory, he threw late toward Aaron Valentin on the right sideline two plays later. But cornerback Devin Smith jumped the route, picking Elliott off and giving UW the ball at the entrance to the red zone.

"Normally that corner is going to play soft man and 10 out of 10 times I'm going to take Aaron vs. that guy," said Elliott, who completed only 5-of-23 passes for 59 yards, with the pick, before being pulled in the third quarter. "He made a great break on it."

Four plays later, Clay capped a short Wisconsin drive with another one-yard rush, giving the hosts a 17-0 lead with 5:01 left in the first half. But it was seven points larger only 31 second later, when punter Chris Summers saw his shield break down in front of him after a three-and-out.

In what appeared to be both a great individual effort, and a botched block by Purdue's trio of protectors, David Gilbert leaped high in the air (and was lifted further by a Boiler) to block the punt at Purdue's 30. It was scooped up by Aaron Henry who raced the final nine yards for the score.

"I think they just got penetration and you have to credit their punt return team," said Summers, who punted nine other times, a season-high. "We saw on film that they have the ability to do that, they had earlier in the season and obviously did again."

The route was on.

On the second play of Wisconsin's next possession, Clay went over a hundred yards rushing for the game, and a half-plus still remained. The Wisconsin sophomore finished with 123 yards rushing, on 24 carries, with three touchdowns.

But many of his yards came on the first drive. After Purdue won the coin toss and deferred, Wisconsin marched 80 yards downfield, without even thinking to pass. Of their 11 rushes, four were for 10 yards or better, as the Badgers simply gashed the Boilermaker defense for big chucks.

"They definitely threw the first punch," Kerrigan said, "and we clearly never recovered from that."

The Badgers also tossed in a wrinkle that the Boilermakers admitted they hadn't seen much on film previously. Twice on the opening drive, and a couple times afterward, Wisconsin ran an end-around with its tight end. It was successful, to say the least, as Lance Kendricks, the beneficiary of the play, picked up for 91 yards on four carries. His 54-yarder on the Badgers' first play of the second half, which followed a Purdue three-and-out, gave them a first-and-goal, which Clay turned into a touchdown on the next snap.

"It was definitely a wrinkle that they put in and ran very well," Kerrigan said of the end-around. "(Kendricks) is a very good athlete and he was able to wreak some havoc with that tight end reverse."

Wisconsin's dominance on the ground meant Badger quarterback Scott Tolzien had to do little through the air. Purdue had hoped to force the QB into passing downs, much like it had done in wins the previous two weeks, but the game plan never materialized. Tolzien, who had been plagued by turnovers recently, threw for 87 yards on only 13 attempts before giving way to his backup; the Badgers, who added two late field goals to round out their scoring, had only 115 total passing yards.

But that was 34 more than the Boilers' production (of 81 yards), in 14 fewer attempts, as Purdue could get next to nothing going in its passing game. The Boilers were victimized badly by drops, at least six of them, which stifled the little amount of offensive momentum they could muster.

The receiving duo of Keith Smith and Valentin, which had been touted as the Big Ten's best by the local morning paper, were held to only three catches; Smith, the conference's leader in yardage, had just one for eight yards.

"I had some bad reads and made some mistakes today also," Elliott said of the drops and Purdue's struggles through the air. "It's not all on them trying to get open. I could maybe get it to them a split second faster."

Backup quarterback Caleb TerBush, who saw the first action of his career, didn't fare much better. The redshirt freshman completed four of his 10 attempts, for 22 yards, and was sacked once, one of three sacks allowed by the Boilers.

The Boilermaker defense had three sacks as well, with Kerrigan having another nice individual effort. The junior had a team-high nine tackles, including 2.5 for loss and one-and-a-half sacks. Cornerback Brandon King had an interception, his third of the season, but it came against backup QB Curt Phillips and was of little consequence.

Purdue must now find a way to regroup, needing victories in each of its last three games to salvage post-season hopes, which had seemed so much brighter after the previous wins over then-No. 7 Ohio State and Illinois.

After what all had said was a solid week of practices leading to the trip to Madison, the Boilers left feeling tricked on Halloween.

"We did not see it coming," Hope said. "We anticipated coming in Camp Randall, playing well and winning."

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