Fiery performance against Purdue only needed a spark
November 19, 2016 | Football, Andy Baggot
Watt’s pick-six helps ignite Badgers, who now stare down a rivalry game filled with significance
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — By the time Wisconsin junior outside linebacker T.J. Watt reached the visitor's locker room at Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday afternoon, his phone was laden with text messages.
A couple senders were notable.
As you would expect, older brothers J.J. and Derek were among those who reached out after T.J. starred in an eye-popping, momentum-creating, highlight video-making sequence that spurred the Badgers to a 49-20 Big Ten Conference triumph over Purdue.
Against a cold, dismal backdrop, T.J. brought some much-needed life to an otherwise staid gathering by returning a second-quarter interception for a touchdown.
The spectacular play triggered a 35-point flurry — five TDs in less than 8 minutes — that gave the sixth-ranked Badgers (9-2 overall, 6-2 in the Big Ten) the focus they seemed to lack up to that point.
After UW prevailed for the 11th straight time against the Boilermakers since 2003 and for the seventh time here since 1997, Watt couldn't help but smile at all the happy sentiment.
"Glad to make an impact for my team," he said.
Watt's first career interception came after an opening quarter that was atypical of the Badgers and their top-10 defense.
They allowed Purdue (3-8, 1-7) to take a 3-0 lead and become the first opponent to this season score on its initial possession of the game.
UW committed two offside infractions on that drive — one by Watt — which is odd given it's one of the least penalized clubs in the nation.
Along the way one of the stingiest defenses in the country on third down allowed the Boilermakers to convert three of four.
It was like the Badgers were playing to the conditions. Game-time temperature under gray skies was 37. Raw winds out of the west gusted around 25 mph. The vibe from the announced crowd of 30,465 was almost morgue-like.
Watt changed that on a first-and-10 from the Purdue 25. Quarterback David Blough rolled to his left accompanied by running back Brian Lankford-Johnson. Watt's initial read was it was a running play, but changed his mind when Lankford-Johnson leveraged past him into the flat and Blough loaded up to throw to him.
Watt had other ideas. He accelerated toward Blough, leaped and snagged the pass with his right hand. Watt then stiff-armed Blough and motored to the end zone from 17 yards out.
Just like that, the Badgers were up 14-3 and the rout was on toward their fifth straight victory.
Just like that, T.J. had as many career interceptions at UW as J.J. had as an All-America defensive end from 2009-10.
Just like that, T.J. had as many career TDs at Wisconsin as Derek had as a Swiss Army Knife-like fullback from 2012 to '15.
"It really got us going," said UW sophomore inside linebacker T.J. Edwards of the play, which he described as "unbelievable."
"Once something big like that sparks us, it's hard to slow us down. I think we did a really good job of playing off that."
Edwards especially.
The Badgers were up 21-3 when he tipped a Blough pass at the line of scrimmage and tracked it down in time to make a diving interception.
On the ensuing play, UW senior quarterback Bart Houston executed a perfect play-fake to senior tailback Corey Clement, then lofted a 19-yard TD strike to sophomore fullback Alec Ingold.
"Any time the defense can take the ball away, it's demoralizing to an offense," said Watt, who also added a team-best eighth quarterback sack.
"It gives us a lot more energy and it shows our offense that we got their back and gives them more energy as well."
After a slow start, the Wisconsin offense got its juice from a variety of sources, not the least of which was Clement.
He picked up 112 rushing yards and a TD on 27 carries, putting him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He's the 17th back in program history to reach that plateau, putting him in the same paragraph with the likes of Alan Ameche, Ron Dayne, P.J. Hill, Melvin Gordon and James White.
"A very big deal," Clement said after his sixth 100-yard outing of the season. "It's definitely a milestone I wanted to reach.
"It doesn't come easy. A lot of hard work. Definitely dreamed of the day of it coming."
Clement had considerable help carrying the offensive load. Ingold scored a pair of TDs, as did redshirt freshman tailback Bradrick Shaw.
For the third time this season, and second-consecutive week, Houston and redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook each threw a scoring pass.
The cumulative effect was that Wisconsin won a Big Ten road game for the 14th time in the last 16 and improved to 33-7 (.825) in November games dating back to 2006.
Edwards was asked the area of greatest improvement by the Badgers after 11 games.
"Handling adversity," he said. "This entire year we've battled."
UW began the season unranked, dropped consecutive Big Ten games and lost key personnel on defense for the season, but still have a chance at winning the Big Ten championship.
"We believed in us," Clement said. "The strength is really in the pack. That's what we really pride ourselves on."
The script the played out here Saturday is a familiar one for the Badgers.
"Each and every week we have to find our own energy and we have to make plays to make our energy happen," Watt said.
That dynamic will not have to be manufactured when UW closes out the regular season by hosting Minnesota (8-3, 5-3) on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
The stakes are many and prominent.
The winner reigns in the Big Ten West Division and advances to the conference title game. The winner gets a notch in the oldest rivalry in the Big Ten. The winner owns Paul Bunyan's Axe for at least another year.
"We're very excited for the opportunity to be in another big game," Clement said, mindful of the fact UW has won 12 straight against the Gophers going back to 2004.
"We've put ourselves in a situation where every game's a huge game," Edwards said.
"We know we control our own destiny and we've known that since game one," Watt said. "We're going to try and keep the Axe home."
