BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — The last time Wisconsin lost a Big Ten Conference football game at Purdue was 1997, which spans seven trips to Ross-Ade Stadium. The Badgers will try to nudge their road winning streak in the series to eight games when the schools meet Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Speaking of streaks, Wisconsin (6-4 overall, 4-3 in the Big Ten) will look to knock off the Boilermakers (5-5, 4-3) for the 13th consecutive time dating back to 2004.
Here are five more things to know:
JT vs. the Heisman
Wisconsin tailback Jonathan Taylor may not win the Heisman Trophy, but there's compelling evidence that suggests he should be prominently in the mix. He's run for at least 1,500 yards in his freshman and sophomore seasons — 1,977 a year ago and 1,548 so far this season — something only one Heisman-winning running back has achieved. Herschel Walker, the Heisman recipient in 1982, amassed 1,616 in 1980 and 1,881 in '81. What about prominent non-Heisman winners like Adrian Peterson, Marshall Faulk or LaDainian Tomlinson? They didn't open their college careers with consecutive 1,500-yard rushing seasons, either.
JT vs. the Record Book
Taylor currently leads the nation in rushing and carries, averaging 154.8 yards and 22.8 attempts a game after 10 outings. He's vying to become the seventh running back since 1970 — when the per-game metric was introduced — to lead the country in rushing as a sophomore. The only other one with matching 1,500-yard seasons his first two years was LaMichael James of Oregon, who finished third in the Heisman balloting and won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back in 2010.
JT vs. the Chains
Taylor has rushed for 1,013 yards on first down alone this season, a total that would rank second in the Big Ten and 15th nationally. He's averaging 7.2 yards per carry on first down thanks in part to 25 runs of 10 yards or more.
JT vs. History
Taylor is the fourth Wisconsin tailback to compile back-to-back 1,500-yard rushing seasons, but the first to do it in his freshman and sophomore years. Ron Dayne did it as a junior and senior in 1998 and '99. Montee Ball also did it as a junior and senior in 2011 and '12. Melvin Gordon did it as a sophomore and junior in 2013 and '14. All three of Taylor's predecessors won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back.
50 Shades of T.J.
Senior inside linebacker and co-captain T.J. Edwards is in line to become the fifth player in Wisconsin history to start 50 games when he takes the field at Purdue. He would join classmate, fellow co-captain and left guard Michael Deiter, cornerback Sojourn Shelton, guard Bill Ferrario and left tackle Chris McIntosh.
