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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; The Badger's Melvin Gordon (25) currently leads the nation with 624 rushing yards. (Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On the day Wisconsin introduced Gary Andersen as its football coach last December, he was anything but vague about the type of offense he envisioned for the Badgers. \u201CWe will be a power-run team,\u201D he told reporters. \u201CI believe we'll be a football team that will be run-first, and our goal and our mindset and our want-to will be to wear you down as the game goes on, and to out-tough you and out-physical you.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Andersen came from stints at Utah State and Utah, which both employed spread-option attacks behind mobile quarterbacks. But starting from day one, Andersen has nodded to the great Wisconsin teams of the past, for whom talented tailbacks defined the offenses in Madison.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Melvin Gordon remembers Andersen\u2019s press-conference declaration well. Then a redshirt freshman, Gordon also recalls the coach addressing his new players that week for the first time, and assuring them that the status quo would not change. What had made the Badgers a dominant program was their power running game, and though the team was losing one of the most prolific rushers in NCAA history in departing senior Montee Ball, there would be no drastic change in philosophy. \u201CHe kept his word,\u201D Gordon said of Andersen, \u201Cand things didn\u2019t change.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;No one has benefited more from Andersen's commitment to tradition than Gordon. Gordon had limited carries behind Ball in 2011 and \u201812, but he has become a catalyst this fall, and Wisconsin\u2019s ground game is as potent as any in the country. Through four weeks, the Badgers\u2019 rushing attack ranks third nationally with an average of 349.8 yards per game. Along with senior James White and freshman Corey Clement, Gordon spearheads a run game that accounts for 63.9 percent of Wisconsin\u2019s total offense and is a driving force behind the team\u2019s 3-1 start.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MANDEL: Reassessing the BCS title landscape; more Mailbag&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clement, Gordon and White all surpassed the 100-yard mark in both of the Badgers\u2019 first two wins, against UMass and Tennessee Tech. All three backs have carried the ball at least 44 times, and none has fewer than 334 yards or a 7.2 yards-per-carry average. \u201CIt\u2019s a good feeling,\u201D Gordon said. \u201CWe worked pretty hard in fall camp and in workouts. Me and James will even get our group together and run stadium steps and do a little extra as a group. It\u2019s a wonderful sight to see, but we just want to keep it going.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Still, it\u2019s been Gordon whose production has garnered early Heisman chatter. He leads the country with 624 rushing yards through four games, and his ability to keep plays alive has helped him maintain an 11.8 yards-per-carry average, tops in college football. That efficiency shouldn\u2019t be surprising; Gordon averages 9.9 yards per carry for his career, the highest mark of any player with at least 100 carries in the BCS era.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gordon\u2019s durability dates back to his days at Bradford High in Kenosha, Wis., a two-hour drive east from Madison on I-94. Gordon started his prep career as a measly 5-foot-11, 125-pound back, according to former Bradford coach Jed Kennedy. \u201CBut he probably gained more than 60 or 70 pounds over the next two years, and he played his senior year at around 195 pounds,\u201D said Kennedy, who now coaches at Edgewater High in Orlando. Yet even before Gordon, who now weighs 207 pounds, hit the weight room, Kennedy recognized the back\u2019s natural talent. \u201CWhen I first met Melvin, I told his dad, \u2018He\u2019s not going to have to pay for college,\u2019\u201D Kennedy said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Badgers saw shades of Gordon\u2019s ability last season. After surpassing the 100-yard mark just once in his career -- a 112-yard outing against UTEP on Sept. 22, 2012 -- Gordon exploded in the Big Ten championship against Nebraska, gaining a career-high 216 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries. That game served as a de facto passing of the torch from Ball to Gordon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gordon\u2019s almost never came to Wisconsin. He originally committed to Iowa during his senior year at Bradford, but a recruiting trip to Madison for the Badgers\u2019 meeting with No. 1 Ohio State on Oct. 16, 2010, changed his mind. Thanks in part to two touchdowns from another star Wisconsin running back, John Clay, the then-No. 18 Badgers stunned the top-ranked Buckeyes 31-18 at Camp Randall Stadium. \u201CI just fell in love with the atmosphere,\u201D Gordon said. Coupled with the opportunity to be closer to his family, Gordon flipped his commitment to Wisconsin in December.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;THAMEL: Behind the scenes at Ohio State: 10 lessons from the Buckeyes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Badgers continue to squeeze the most out of a player who was only the 24th-ranked running back in the class of 2010, according to Rivals.com. Thomas Hammock, Wisconsin's running backs and associate head coach, says that what separates Gordon from other runners is his ability to read defenses.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHe has a good understanding of how defenses are stopping him,\u201D Hammock said, \u201Cand where we can get that one-on-one matchup.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Speed is obviously a primary part of his game, but Gordon is also adept at making the most of what defenses give him. It\u2019s a trait that has impressed Andersen, whose previous Utah State team was one of only four programs to boast a 1,500-yard rusher in each of the last two seasons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CMelvin\u2019s right up there with the best I\u2019ve ever been around,\u201D Andersen said. \u201CWhat makes him so dynamic and special is, he\u2019s developed some patience within the tackles, and he has great speed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHe\u2019s turned into a speed back and a power back, and that\u2019s a pretty vicious combination.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gordon could potentially stay two more years in Madison, which would give him plenty of time to cement his status as the next great Wisconsin back. The Badgers\u2019 matchup with No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday could go a long way toward building his legacy. The Buckeyes have allowed only 79.8 yards on the ground so far, albeit against inferior competition. In recent years, the rivalry between the two schools has also helped to determine out the top contender in the Big Ten. Since 1993, Ohio State and Wisconsin are first and second, respectively, in wins among the conference's teams.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gordon can\u2019t help but recognize the parallels between Saturday\u2019s game and the one in 2010, the upset at Camp Randall that ultimately prompted him to sign with the Badgers. That night, Gordon became convinced he could be a star at Wisconsin. This weekend, he\u2019ll have a chance to continue fulfilling that dream.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI expect it to be tough and physical,\u201D he said. \u201CWe\u2019re in conference right now, and that\u2019s when it gets real, when things really matter. Ohio State is a big-time powerhouse. It\u2019s going to be tough. We just need to come out here, practice hard and play confident football.\u201D\n[si_video id=\"video_90E0FCCC-648A-D382-1040-55F5357C0978\"]&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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