BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Wisconsin’s game plan Saturday against Indiana was simple: Run the ball until the Hoosier defense stops it. The Badgers executed their strategy well, rushing for a Memorial Stadium record-tying 441 yards and seven touchdowns, which tied for the most in a game in school history.

The Badgers knew they could exploit the Hoosier defense, which entered the game ranked eighth in the conference in rushing yards allowed, giving up 146.4 per game.

“We felt during the course of the week that — just based on what we’ve seen on film — we should be able to come in here and run the football,” UW head coach Bret Bielema said.

P.J. Hill got things started for Wisconsin early on the ground Saturday. The junior running back took the ball 11 times on the Badgers’ first two offensive drives for 71 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Hill finished the day with 128 yards on 19 carries and three rushing touchdowns. It was the fourth time in Hill’s career that he scored three touchdowns in a game, and the fourth time this year he has eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground.

“It always starts up front,” Hill said. “The guys up front, I think, did a good job of driving guys off the ball. Every time we came in all week in preparation, it was about running the ball and establishing our run game. … We did a very good job of reading our blocks and getting the ball up field.”

Wide receiver David Gilreath also contributed in the rushing attack. The sophomore wide receiver rushed for 173 yards on eight carries Saturday, finding the end zone twice. The end-around play worked exceptionally well as Gilreath averaged 21 yards per carry.

On the Badgers’ first offensive play of the third quarter, Gilreath took ball from quarterback Dustin Sherer and ran it 90 yards for a touchdown.

“I think it’s a product of the line,” Gilreath said. “The line and the guys in front of me — the tight ends and the fullbacks and everybody — they’re doing a great job of making some big holes for me, and I’m just running through them.”

Gilreath had five rushes for eight yards or more in the first half, including an eight-yard touchdown run, and broke for a big one when he sprinted off a 90-yarder in the third quarter for the second-longest run in modern era school history.

“In the first half, on the same play, … there was a hole there and there was somebody that came through and got me. I was like, ‘Man, if I can just get past him I think I’ll be gone,’” Gilreath said. “I think it was Isaac [Anderson] that came down and got that safety for me, and I cut back through there and there was just one guy to beat.”

With Gilreath having success running the ball outside, Hill and redshirt freshman running back John Clay had a much easier time rushing inside as well.

“It throws the defense off-balance,” Hill said. “It’s good, you know, guys on the perimeter [were] making their blocks and that’s why David [Gilreath] was also able to have success today.”

Clay was the third Wisconsin rusher to top the century mark Saturday, rushing 19 times for 112 yards and a touchdown. Clay started slowly, rushing just three times in the first half for 24 yards, but he picked it up in the second half as the Badgers took control of the game.

“It shows that anybody can take over a game at anytime,” Clay said of having three 100-yard rushers. “There’s not so much pressure on one person to make big plays or get everything we need. We have multiple people who can do that for us.”

Saturday’s game against Indiana was the second time this year the Badgers had at least two rushers with more than 100 yards on the ground. Gilreath also became the first non-running back to rush for more than 100 yards for UW since Brooks Bollinger ran for 112 yards against Penn State in 2001.

With all the emphasis on the ground game, Sherer managed just 143 yards on 10-of-19 attempts in the game against Indiana, but didn’t seem to mind.

“I thought coming in that we could put up a lot of points, and that’s exactly what we did,” Sherer said. “I think we had 440 some yards rushing… that’s pretty impressive. I think the running game was clicking on all cylinders, [and] obviously that helped us all around.”