Montee Ball scored three rushing touchdowns, including a 67 yard touchdown, to help lift the Wisconsin Badgers (5-2) over the
Purdue Boilermakers (3-3) 38-14.
This win moves the Badgers back above the .500 mark in Big Ten play at 2-1, while the Boilermakers fall to 0-2 in conference play. It also puts the Badgers in the driver’s seat in the Big Ten Leaders Division to get to the Big Ten title game. Wisconsin has a 2-game lead on Purdue and both Ohio State and Penn State are ineligible to play in the title game.
Badger quarterback Joel Stave completed 12 of his 21 passes, with a touchdown and an interception but the hero on this day was Montee Ball.
Ball rushed for 247 yards on 29 carries with three touchdowns. It’s the 4th 100 yard game of the season for Ball and the 20th of his career at Wisconsin. Ball also scored his 72nd touchdown, which sets the all-time Wisconsin and Big Ten record for career rushing touchdowns. Ball passed Ron Dayne (71 td’s) to take over the top spot.
The Badgers as a team rushed for more than 400 yards in a game for the 16th time in school history. The 467 yards rushing is the 5th best in school history.
The Badger offense rolled up 645 total yards, which is the second highest total in school history. The top single game total is 705 yards against Indiana on Oct. 16, 1999.
Head coach Bret Bielema also earned his 65th career victory at Wisconsin, tying him with Phil King for second place on the all-time victory list at Wisconsin. Barry Alvarez has 118 career victories.
The Badgers next face the rival Minnesota Golden Gophers with Paul Bunyan’s Axe on the line, this coming Saturday at Camp Randall.