The Wisconsin Badgers earned a commanding 42-7 victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday, building on the momentum from last weekend when they defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 52-6.

Similar to last week, the Badgers experienced some adversity in the first half, suffering two turnovers and an injury to Will Pauling, but grew stronger as the game went on, scoring 28 points in the second half for their second straight game with at least 40 points.

Quarterback Braedyn Locke took a ton of downfield completions, completing 20/28 passes for 240 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while Tawee Walker was ballistic on the ground with 198 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.

Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin's 42-7 win over Rutgers.

Tawee Walker takes over

There were some big changes for the Badgers last week when running back Chez Mellusi decided to opt out of the program to rehab his injuries, which led to Tawee Walker taking over as the true No. 1 back.

Against USC, the rotation seemed to be headed that way anyway when Walker beat Mellusi 29-15, but the results didn't show until last Saturday against Purdue, when the senior rushed for 94 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.

Well, Walker found a way to elevate his performance as he was tasked with setting the tone for the Badgers here in Week 7 as Wisconsin leaned to the ground to get off to a fast start.

Walker answered the bell, managing 18 carries, 93 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone, while finishing the game with a whopping 198 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.

The senior had seen 15, 11, 12 and 19 carries in his first four games this year, but was able to nearly reach that level in Saturday's first half alone, constantly moving around the floor while making a number of chunk- Also completed plays.

The chunk plays were particularly nice to watch because Wisconsin didn't execute them at a high rate despite gaining more than four yards per carry. That wasn't the case on Saturday as the Badgers showed high efficiency and a number of big plays in a big win.

Walker has taken on an important role in Wisconsin's backfield, providing leadership since head coach Luke Fickell said he wanted to reduce the rotation, and his ability to hit the hole and move was evident Saturday, resulting in a strong result led a stormy attack.

Working behind a strong offensive line, Walker set the tone for Wisconsin and was the main reason for their success on that side of the ball.

The defense holds (again)

After a slow start to the season, Mike Tressel's team has really picked up steam in the last two weeks.

Wisconsin was dominant in its 52-6 win over Purdue last week, limiting the Boilermakers both in the air and on the ground while also getting off the field at a high rate (1/11 on third downs).

That carried over to this week when Wisconsin completely shut down the passing attack and Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis threw for just 103 yards on 12/32 passing.

Additionally, the Badgers had good run defense against strong defender Kyle Monangai, who limited the star to just 39 yards on his first 15 carries. Monangai had a drive where he got going and eventually scored a touchdown, but the Badgers were able to effectively slow down Rutgers' rushing attack, resulting in longer second and third downs.

That's where Wisconsin thrived, allowing Rutgers to convert just 5/17 of their third downs, with the Scarlet Knights averaging six yards in front of them.

Additionally, Wisconsin also found a way to create turnovers, intercepting Kaliakmanis once on a poor decision while also fending off a number of other passes.

The pass rush hasn't necessarily materialized, but the secondary has been doing very well lately, allowing Wisconsin to get going on the defensive side of the ball.

It also helped that the “bend, don't break” mentality continued, as Wisconsin stopped a big fourth-and-goal inside the red zone while also blocking another field goal inside the 20 yards.

The Badgers will look to carry that momentum into next weekend against Northwestern, but it was another strong performance on the road this weekend.

Explosive games

Early in the season, the Badgers struggled to generate explosive plays, resulting in a questionable offense that had potential but failed to get going in the first few weeks.

Well, in the last three games, Wisconsin has started to take off as they had a strong first half against USC before putting together complete games against Purdue and Rutgers.

After a 52-point performance against Purdue last weekend, the Badgers scored 42 points against the Scarlet Knights on Saturday, and the explosive play factor was a big help.

The running game was the bread and butter of the offense, with Wisconsin rushing for a total of 312 yards (not counting sacks), but Braedyn Locke was again able to hit a pair of downfield throws that helped lead the Badgers' scoring efforts.

Wisconsin had six runs of 10 yards on the day, including runs of 33 and 55 yards by Tawee Walker and a 45-yard run by Cade Yacamelli.

In the air, Locke made some big throws early on, eventually completing six plays of more than 15 yards in the air, including a 34-yard deep ball to Vinny Anthony, a 16-yard touchdown to Will Pauling and a 47-yard strike Post to Anthony.

There were definitely some plays the Badgers wanted back, as Locke missed a few open throws that would have led to big gains while also throwing an ugly interception while trying to force one deep into double coverage.

But the increase in explosive plays is a big sign for the Badgers' offense as they look to continue to expand their identity on that side of the ball.

That continued in a big way Saturday as Wisconsin took advantage of 1-on-1 opportunities while also creating a number of blocking plays on the ground.