Wisconsin Football: 3 takeaways from big win over Purdue in Week 13

1. Jonathan Taylor earned himself a trip to the Heisman ceremony

On a day when Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard was held to only 106 rushing yards by West Virginia, Jonathan Taylor came out and closed the gap between himself and the nation’s leading rusher with a masterstroke performance against the Boilermakers. Posting his third consecutive 200-yard rushing game against Purdue, Wisconsin’s feature back earned himself a trip to the Downtown Athletic Club on December 14 for the Heisman Trophy presentation.

Yes, a quarterback named Burrows or Hurts is probably going to walk away with the stiffarm trophy this season. But Taylor has posted one huge game after another to keep Wisconsin in the Big Ten discussion and among the dozen best teams in the country.

Against Purdue, Taylor toted the rock 28 times for 222 yards and a touchdown. He did not catch a pass out of the backfield in this game, but he didn’t need to show off his hands to make a major impact. In the end, Taylor finished with more rushing yards than quarterback Jack Coan was able to generate through the air.

In the end, Taylor is the catalyst for one of the nation’s top rushing attacks and the reason why Wisconsin is 9-2 instead of hovering around six or seven wins this year. His performance against Purdue was critical to ensure the Badgers secured victory number nine, and he will be a critical part of whether or not Wisconsin takes down Minnesota next weekend on the road.