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In The Opposite Corner Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly Following the Irish's 31-24 win "It was a cat and mouse game, you saw that's kind of how the game unfolded. They did not let us run the ball on first down; they wanted to get us off schedule on first down. We saw every look imaginable on first down. They didn't want us to get into a manageable downand-distance situation. "We knew they were going to play this well, we were alerted to the fact that whatever we saw on film, we knew, we told our kids, that's not the team that's going to play here tonight. We've already experienced it, we experienced it last year. Purdue always plays us very well against us." Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen On the Boilermakers "(Darrell Hazell's) a good guy, seems to be very family oriented, and I respect what he did where he was before he came. So we've had a little bit of a relationship and talked as we've gone through it, but he seems like a quality person, down to earth, Kickoff Improvement Much of Purdue's special teams have been a plus, especially its punting, punt coverage and kickoff units. One, however, has not: The Boilermakers' kickoff coverage unit is suffering, ranking last in the Big Ten in net kickoff yardage, at 36.9. Thomas Meadows has only kind of my kind of guy. "Offensively, Purdue is more of a pro-style offense, No. 1, which they were more of a spread, from what I understand, a year ago. It looks like the offensive linemen have handled the transition well. They have some tight ends that are very good players. "There's a lot of moving pieces to the offense for a pro style offense. There's a lot of fly sweep and the speed motions and stuff coming across, which forces you, whether you're in man coverage or zone coverage, to roll the coverage or slide the coverage, and that comes with a lot of practice reps. It's a good scheme. "I like both running backs (in Akeem Hunt and Dalyn Dawkins). They get back there and hit the holes and are fast kids. They have a couple wide receivers out there that make some plays and make you miss. The quarterback has been solid. "They were right in there from a physicality standpoint against Notre Dame, which is impressive on both sides of the football." two touchbacks of his 12 kickoffs this season. "That's where the issue starts," Hazell said. "The issue starts with the average hang time right now is about 3.5 (seconds) on the kick, and the ball is only getting to the 10-yard line. "You'd like for your coverage team, by the time (the opponent) catches the ball, to be at the 25. Right now, our coverage team is at the 35. So it's not necessarily the coverage team. It's the kick hang time, it's the kick distance that's putting stress on the coverage guys." Purdue's coverage hasn't been spotless, either. Against Notre Dame, the Boilermakers missed a tackle inside the 20 on one return, allowing the Irish to get out to near the 40-yard line. "We can't miss tackles," Hazell said. West a pest for UW Recently, Wisconsin has not fared well when returning home from a cross-country trip to play the next week. In 2012 following a trip to Oregon State in which they suffered a 10-7 loss, the Badgers nearly lost at home to Utah State (and Gary Andersen). Despite being a 14-point favorite, they had to hold on for a 16-14 win over the Aggies. Two years earlier, the Badgers rolled UNLV out West, but the following week beat San Jose State only 27-14 despite being a 39-point favorite. In 2008, following a hardfought 13-10 win at Fresno State, the Badgers were upset 27-25 by Michigan despite being a fivepoint favorite. Over the past five-plus seasons (2008-present), Big Ten teams are 6-8 against the spread following cross-country trips. That excludes FCS opponents, which teams often schedule to ease their return home games. Only twice in that time has a team traveled a great distance then played a conference game the next week: Wisconsin in 2008 and Nebraska in 2011, when it was a 10-point underdog to the Badgers. Both times, the team not only didn't cover but lost straight up. The research is courtesy of Scott Frazier, who posts a weekly "Tale of the Tape" as "CalBoiler" (aka Scott Frazier) on GoldandBlack.com's Knucklehead Central premium message board. Smart Tickets Purdue fans can now get their tickets delivered directly to their smartphones. In mobile ticket delivery, your tickets will be emailed directly to you after your purchase, in two possible formats, either a mobile PDF or an iPhone passbook ticket. Mobile tickets are individually barcoded, allowing one scan per entry, so any attempts to duplicate, alter or sell any copies of the mobile ticket may result in admittance being refused to the event. Post-ND Notes R Notre Dame was a 23-point favorite. R Purdue has held consecutive opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing for the first time since the end of 2010, when it held Indiana and Michigan State to few- GoldanDBlack express • volume 24, express 4 • 31