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Opponent Preview Game 4: Wisconsin 3:30 p.m. ET • Camp Randall Stadium (Madison, Wis.) • TV: ABC/ESPN2 badger running game will test purdue, as always BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com doesn't seem to matter all Itthatthemuchto who historically Wisconsin gives ball in its prolific running game. From Michael Bennett to Anthony Davis to Ron Dayne to Montee Ball, the Badgers' ground game has churned out star after star. Now it's Melvin Gordon, James White and Corey Clement, three of the Big Ten's top eight rushers through three games. And they're the three Purdue will have to focus its defensive attention on Saturday in Madison when the Boilermakers seek a measure of revenge for the many one-sided defeats they've eaten at the hands of Wisconsin in recent years. The Badgers have won the past four meetings with Purdue by an average of 31.8 points, some of those games not even Wisconsin's averaged 307 rushing yards, including 831 total the past two games en route to totaling more than 1,200 yards of total offense. That's obscene. "It all starts with the running game. Up front, we personally have to take pride in handling that," defensive end Ryan Russell said. "They've been able to get ridiculous amounts of yards on the ground. "As a defensive Wisconsin lineman, I don't Melvin Gordon has been a stud for the Badgers through the first three games, and he's not even Wisconsin's starter. want that to happen and I want to be one feeling that close. of the main reasons that doesn't The running game's been at happen. So just stopping the the heart of it. run, fortifying the front, taking In those past four games, care of our gaps and just being with Wisconsin's style from his days facing the Badgers as an assistant coach at Ohio State. "They get those big bodies on people, they cover them up and they get good movement. If you can get some movement off the line of scrimmage, then you have a chance to make yards. They're so consistent with it and they're patient with it. I mean, they'll lose a yard and come right back to the same play and able to get knock-back and penetration throughout the front is a big key to this game." Easier said than done, though: Wisconsin's running game hasn't just been about its star-studded lineage of running backs, but more about its culture of cultivating mammoth offensive lines trained to consume would-be tacklers and clear gaping paths. That way of doing things was passed down from Barry Alvarez to Bret Bielema and now on to new coach Gary Andersen, who has stuck with what works after being more of a spread-oriented coach at Utah State. "I think they get great double teams," Wisconsin said Purdue coach DarDarrell Hazell says Chris Borland might be the best linerell Hazell, still familiar backer Purdue faces all season. GoldanDBlack express • volume 24, express 4 • 9