'I think we struggle with an identity': Melvin Gordon thinks Badgers should get back to basics

Former Badgers star running back believes team should get back to focusing on the run.

Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon picks up a first down with this leap in the first half during Wisconsin's 68-17 win over Bowling Green at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014. / Rick Wood / USA TODAY NETWORK

What is the identity of the Wisconsin football team? If you ask former star Badgers running back Melvin Gordon, it should be dominating the run game and controlling the line of scrimmage. That's what they've always done. It's Big Ten football.

And it's identity that Wisconsin lived up to in Saturday's 52-6 blowout victory over Purdue. The Badgers rushed for 228 yards and four touchdowns as a team, led by Tawee Walker's 94 yards on 19 carries and three rushing touchdowns.

But it’s not an identity they’ve always lived up to in recent years. 

“It’s good to see those guys making some plays because that’s what we do,” Gordon said in an appearance on ESPN Radio 100.5-FM on Thursday. “I get the game is evolving and it’s changing, but some things you just don’t mess up. And you have to be able to run the ball, you have to, that's who we are. And I’ve said this before about Wisconsin, I think we struggle with an identity. And we’ve never had that. At the end of the day, if we felt like we didn’t have the skill positions, we knew who we were. We knew we could control the clock, we knew we could control the game being able to run the ball.” 

"It's good to see those guys making some plays... You have to be able to run the ball. That's 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚."@Melvingordon25 on the #Badgers' offensive identity and their rushing performance versus Purdue. #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/BjvghoLWSy

— ESPN Madison (@ESPNMadison) October 10, 2024

This season, the jury is still out on the Badgers run game. It looked great last week, but it currently ranks in the middle of the pack in the FBS. Wisconsin ranks 60th among 133 FBS teams in rushing yards per game at 170.0 per game. That mark is good for seventh in the 18-team Big Ten behind Iowa (No. 14, 223.3 YPG), Ohio State (No. 16, 222.2 YPG), Penn State (No. 19, 217.8 YPG), Rutgers (No. 23, 205.8 YPG), Indiana (No. 28, 200.3 YPG) and Michigan (No. 38, 191.3 YPG).

The Badgers have been effective running the ball this season and that was particularly true on Saturday, even without Chez Mellusi, who's stepped away from the program. But it pales in comparison to the days Gordon, a Kenosha, Wis., native, was in the backfield for the Badgers. Gordon, who played for Wisconsin from 2011-14, rushed for 4,915 yards and 45 touchdowns across his four-year college career. His fourth season was particularly special as Gordon led the FBS in rushing yards (2,587) and touchdown runs (29) while finishing as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

The Badgers may not have a talent like Gordon — who's gone on to rush for 6,543 yards and 56 touchdowns in the NFL — but behind Walker and Co., they've certainly proven they can be effective running the ball. Perhaps after Saturday's dominance, they heed Gordon's advice and get back to focusing on the run game and controlling the clock.