Here we are in week three of what I'll call the "real season" a.k.a. Big Ten conference play and we're talking about a make or break game? O.k., some are and some aren't convinced until they look back at the end of the season and see it.
Either way you want to slice it, if Wisconsin or Purdue want to win the Leaders division rights to the Big Ten Championship game they have to win on Saturday. With that said, what will be looking for on Saturday?
Let's dig right in to our weekly "5 Things" feature, shall we?
1) Going Streaking: If there's one thing we all know about streaks it's that they are meant to be broken and with Wisconsin on a seven game winning streak over the Boilermakers the Badgers need to be on their game. When streaks are broken it's usually in some spectacular fashion. If Wisconsin can jump on the Boilermakers early like Michigan did the streak could well be on it's way to 8, but if not this could be a tricky one for Bucky.
2) Kyle French: He won special teams MVP last week and I have a sneaky suspicion that he'll be needed in a big way to help the Badgers win in West Lafayette. French hasn't had the most consistent season, but his 47 yard field goal last weekend really helped along the way to victory. If he shows he is beginning to round into form and say, oh I don't know, hit 2 out of 3 field goal attempts this week it'll be a huge help to the effort.
3) Go Long My Friend: It's almost becoming as commonplace as hearing Ron Dayne up the middle for another touchdown, but I'm not getting sick of hearing "Stave's back to pass, he's going deep and he has Abbrederis for a Badgers touchdown" at all. Wisconsin could find a way to win on the ground, but I think it's hugely important that they come out looking for the deep ball to show they too can score on the big play. It's also been Purdue's biggest weakness on defense – they are susceptible to at least one or two a game. Hitting Abbrederis or even someone like Jordan Fredrick deep would be a huge boost early on. I'm watching for them to take that shot within the first two series of the game.
4) Linebacker U: Wisconsin fans may be taking the play of Mike Taylor, Chris Borland, and Ethan Armstrong a bit lightly. These guys have come up huge over the past few weeks. As individuals they had 12,11, and 10 tackles a piece last week in the win over the Illini. Another performance against what is a pretty good rushing attack and they could make this Boilermaker offense look pedestrian by having to throw the ball. Add in the fact that they've been pretty assignment sure as a unit and that helps against what I'm sure will be multiple looks from different QB's too.
5) 3 Headed Monster: The final thing we'll be watching for is how Matt Canada and the rest of the offensive staff devise a plan to incorporate three of their four best offensive players – running backs Montee Ball, James White, and Melvin Gordon. All three bring great and diverse talent the the game. If they can all see the ball at least 15 times a piece that should be your key that they've found success on the offensive side of the football. I'm especially looking towards Ball to continue where he left off in the 4th quarter last week. It's a tall task against Kawann Short and Co., but it's time to show as a unit they are ready to play some big boy football so to speak.
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