Wisconsin at Purdue: Sunday Stats Dump

The Badgers had an excellent defensive effort yesterday, giving up most of their yards on the 79-yard touchdown pass from Austin Appleby to Akeem Hunt. As a result, the Purdue rushing offense dipped a bit, but some other players are still among the Big Ten's best. Here are some stat updates:

• He didn't have many yards, but Akeem Hunt now has 1,804 yards rushing for his career, passing Duane Purvis for 14^th all-time at Purdue. If he cracks 2,000 in the final two games he would be the 12^th Purdue player to reach that mark.
• With 4,378 career yards Hunt is also fifth all-time at Purdue in all-purpose yards, trailing Otis Armstrong (4,601), Mike Alstott (4,710), Kory Sheets (4,944) and Dorien Bryant (6,219).
• With 17 career touchdowns Hunt is now tied for 20^th on Purdue's all-time list with Jim Beirne, Wally Jones, and Ralph Bolden.
• Landon Feichter now has 10 career interceptions, tied for 9^th all-time at Purdue. Six players have 11 while Ricardo Allen (13) and Stu Schweigert (17) lead.
• Feichter's five interceptions on the season are good for 8^th on the single-season list. The record is seven.
• With 13 made field goals Paul Griggs is tied for 13^th on the single-season list.
• With 23 made field goals Griggs is 7^th on the career made field goals list. He trailed on Scott Sovereen (27) Chris Summers (31), Jonathan Briggs (36), Ben Jones (43), Carson Wiggs (56), and Travis Dorsch (68) with a year and change left in his career.
• Griggs is 23 of 34 in his career, with his career accuracy ranking 5^th in Purdue history. He has connected on seven straight field goal attempts ranging from 20 to 53 yards. His 53 and 52 yard field goals against Wisconsin were career bests.
• In scoring, Purdue has improved from last in the Big Ten last season to 9^th. At 25.6 points per game the Boilers are above Indiana (25.3) and Northwestern (18.0) going into the final two games.
• After being gashed for over 34 points in each of the last four games Purdue ranks 12^th in scoring defense at 31.9 points per game, ahead of only Indiana and Illinois.
• Purdue's pass defense struggled against one of the worst passing teams in the nation and is now ranked 13^th in the Big Ten at 238.7 yards per game. Indiana is the only worse team at 262.9.
• Indiana's recent passing struggles have moved Purdue to 13^th in passing efficiency. The overall passer rating is 105.3 for Purdue while Indiana has fallen to 104.2 with only six passing TDs in nine games.
• Purdue has the highest punt return average in the Big Ten at 14.4 yards per return. Unfortunately, Danny Anthrop and Frankie Williams, the top two returners, are both injured.
• Purdue has the most interception return yards in the conference with 222.
• The Boilers (and Griggs) are the second most accurate field goal kicking team in the conference. Purdue is 13 of 15, while Maryland is a perfect 14 of 14.
• A big reason Purdue's 3^rd down defense has sucked is its sack rate. Purdue has only 17 sacks, better than only Northwestern's 14.
• Purdue has given up a Big Ten worst 230 first downs.
• In conjunction with that, the Purdue defense gives up a third down conversion 47.7% of the time, a Big Ten worst.
• Purdue continues to be the team that gets the fewest penalties called against its opponents.
• The two turnovers forced against Wisconsin now has Purdue even on turnover margin, sixth in the Big Ten.
• Purdue's red zone defense is surprisingly good, as teams only score 78% of the time when they reach the end zone, good for fourth in the Big Ten. By comparison, Teams are 33 of 34 when they reach the red zone against Indiana, but 39 of 50 against Purdue.
• Unless there is an unlikely huge crowd at the Northwestern game Purdue will have the worst attendance in the Big Ten. Currently they average only 36,127 fans per game.
• In individual stats, Hunt is 9^th in the Big Ten in rushing with 718 yards.
• Raheem Mostert is sixth in the Big Ten with 1,256 all-purpose yards (500 rushing, 107 receiving, 649 kick returns).
• Griggs is third in the Big Ten in made field goals.
• Feichter is fourth in the league in tackles with 87 now. He had a huge day on Saturday.
• Frankie Williams missed the game, but is still 21^st with 60 tackles.
• Ja'Whaun Bentley is 20^th in the Big Ten with 62 tackles, but is the highest rated freshman. In fact, he is the only freshman in the top 50.
• Feichter is now tied for the Big Ten interception lead with five.