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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 10 • 22 The Boilermakers had given up nearly 1,000 yards the last two weeks, to Minne- sota and Michigan State. "Our intensity and guys being physical, and we played the scheme pretty good," Hudson said, explaining the reasons Purdue improved. "Our guys did a really good job of trusting their keys and going where they were supposed to. The front was attacking and the linebackers really, really did a good job, and our secondary support was good. And then, we made some plays on the ball. We did some good things." The Boilermakers played the zone-read offense, in which the quarterback can keep or give to a running back, better than past weeks. Hudson says Purdue didn't have a single missed as - signment while de- fending against the offense. "We might have had one time when a linebacker didn't go all the way as far as he was supposed to. But he went in the direction he was supposed to be go- ing," Hudson said. "But our MAs were way down. But it was also the preparation for it, through the two weeks really. We got to really work on some things. Having two guys on the quarterback at all times is a premium." Purdue did have some errors defending the zone running scheme, with Imani Cross going for 66 yards, mainly up the middle. And Purdue will get challenged by a similar zone scheme of Wisconsin on Saturday. "Oh man, they're awesome," Hudson said of the Badgers. "It's one great running team to another. They're really good at it. You're playing against 20 years of tradi - tion of this, it's sort of like the old Nebraska option game. This is 20 years from Coach (Barry) Alvarez on to Coach (Gary) Ander- sen and what they do now. Everyone in the stadium knows how to block for that zone. And the back (Melvin Gordon) is great. Make no bones about it, he's special, and he's sneaky big. He can really, really hit a crease. We've got to gang tackle him." A NO. 1 DEFENSE Shoop's group faces an excellent Wisconsin defense, one that is ranked No. 1 in the country in terms of yardage al- lowed (253.8) and third in scor- ing (14.1). "They play 11-man foot- ball, they really do, and that sounds kind of — I don't know if trite is the word — but what it is is they feed off of one an- other. They pursue to the ball," Shoop said. "There's always another level of defense. They gang tackle. There's no unas- sisted tackles with this outfit. They shed blocks, they fit their gaps, there's no room for error. You're not going to trick these guys. You're not going to have them looking one way while it's going the other. You're going to have to block them and you're going to have to block them again and you're going to have to block them again and sepa- rate from them again. They're fundamentally sound and they play as hard as any team you're going to see on film. "But I think our guys play pretty hard, too. We're getting there. We're not there yet, but we're getting there and our guys are excited to play these guys. We're excited about it." j Tom Campbell Defensive coordinator Greg Hudson knows the challenge that Melvin Gordon and the Badgers present. BOILER UP ™ FOLLETT'S PURDUE BOOKSTORES Purdue West • Black and Gold Mine follettspurdue.com /follettspurduebookstores