Dan Moore had a sack for a 13-yard loss among his three tackles in the University of Wisconsin football team's 37-0 thumping of Purdue on Saturday, and Madison.com caught up with the senior defensive tackle afterward.

Q: What are your thoughts on the shutout, UW's first in Big Ten play since 1999?

Moore: That's something that we take a lot of pride in. It (was) our first shutout of the year and it's (was) something amazing.

Q: Did you guys finally put it all together on defense today?

Moore: I think we did. The scoreboard shows that. We finished the game and didn't let those guys in. We got a goal line stand when it came down to the end in the fourth quarter. That's something that our coaches have been talking about and this team has been talking about, just finishing. That was also one of our season goals and today, we finished.

Q: What was the key to shutting down a Purdue offense that had been pretty productive in recent weeks?

Moore: It's just hard work. It's something that we go through in practice, and it's our coaches putting together a great game plan. All the guys (are buying) in and just having great focus and intensity for four quarters.

Q: How important is cornerback play to this defense?

Moore: It's very important. Our corners went out there today and did a great. Coach "Cooksie" (Kerry Cooks) does a great job of coaching those guys. We hadn't lost faith in them, we haven't at all. (We) just keep faith in those guys, and they did their thing today.

Q: Did you teach David Gilbert the leaping maneuver that he used to block that punt in the second quarter?

Moore: (Laughing) No, I'm a little too big to jump in the air like that. It's his birthday today -- he just turned 18 -- so he gave himself a little birthday present.

Q: How tough was it to wait during that bye week to get back on the field?

Moore: It was very tough because after those last two games we just wanted to go out there and just show everybody what we're about and redeem ourselves. It was a long wait, and it's a great feeling to go back there and go out and play the way we did. It's amazing.

Q: How helpful is it to have all that depth on your defensive line?

Moore: It's very helpful. At the beginning of the year, Coach (Charlie) Partridge just talked about getting an eight-man rotation. Today with there being a lot of passing, just having a lot of guys coming in, it leaves you fresher for the fourth quarter.

Q; How did getting the sack today feel?

Moore: It felt amazing to go out there and to be able to make a big play and get into the backfield. As a defensive tackle, you don't get a lot of sacks or a lot of opportunities to make play so when you get that opportunity you have to make the most of it.

Related

• Running away with things: Wisconsin 37, Purdue 0

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