There's a pretty impressive winning streak on the line when Northwestern takes on Purdue on Saturday. And it's Northwestern's, believe it or not.

The team that has lost nine games in a row this season owns a five-game winning streak at Ross-Ade Stadium. The Wildcats haven't lost a road game to the Boilermakers since Oct. 27, 2007, when C.J. Bacher and Curtis Painter were the starting quarterbacks.

Will the reeling Wildcats somehow manage to play a complete game in all three phases and continue their mastery over the Boilers in West Lafayette, Ind.? Or will Purdue, a 20-point favorite fighting for the Big Ten West title and a trip to Indianapolis, defend their home field with a vengeance?

Our staff weighs in with their takes.

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My take: Purdue is going to take care of business in this one. The Boilermakers are locked in a tie for the lead of the Big Ten West and are hungry for their first Big Ten Championship game. That means they won't be overlooking Northwestern, even though the Wildcats have lost nine straight games. Purdue's offense doesn't light up the scoreboard; they are staunchly in the middle of the pack in scoring average. But they still have several weapons that can hurt Northwestern and propel the Boilermakers to their seventh win of the season. The latest in the line of Purdue receivers is sophomore Charlie Jones, one of six Division I receivers to already reach 1,000 yards this season. Running back Devin Mockobee will prevent Northwestern from focusing entirely on limiting O'Connell and Jones, and Purdue's offense will be able to dictate terms to Northwestern's defense all day long.

Northwestern has scored 23 points over its last three games combined. Admittedly, those were against three incredibly stingy defenses in Iowa, Ohio State and Minnesota, but there is little evidence that a breakthrough is on the horizon. The Wildcats will continue to try to get its younger players some quality reps, protect sophomore quarterback Brendan Sullivan, and try to salvage something from this season.

Fearless forecast: Purdue 34 Northwestern 14

My take: The NU game notes offer fewer rings of optimism, with less spin each week. Such is life as the Cats stare down a 10th consecutive loss.

It appears that any team with some semblance of a passing game has been able to put up points effectively against the Boilermakers. The closest "key" to the game I can concoct is: cross your fingers that Evan Hull has a Kaleb Johnson-esque (Iowa) performance vs. Purdue, the run scheme and blocking are on point, and Northwestern completes enough passes to complement its running backs. NU doesn't have the most secure situation at quarterback, though, so this is a moot point. Brendan Sullivan and Ryan Hilinski have both taken somes shots in the last three games.

You'd hope this would be a breakout game for a healthy (fingers crossed) Sullivan, as the sophomore has shown occasional flashes of brilliance. However, he hasn't strung a complete, 60-minute game together at the college level. It's unfair to expect him to do so with just two of these slogs to go.

Fearless forecast: Purdue 38 Northwestern 6

My take: Despite the fact that Purdue is favored by 20 points and Northwestern hasn't won a game in almost three months, there are a couple things to like about this matchup.

For one, after facing three straight Top 10 defenses, Purdue's will be a welcome change. The Boilers are solid but not spectacular defensively. So the Cats may score more than once. And while Northwestern's Achilles heel defensively is the running game, the Boilers, as usual, like to air it out.

Now the bad news. Purdue has the No. 1 passer (Aidan O'Connell) and No. 1 receiver (Charlie Jones) in the Big Ten. Their offense isn't prolific, but it's efficient. Northwestern's offense, on the other hand, is ranked 128th in the nation in scoring out of 131 teams. How bad have they been? They have scored more than 14 points once in their last seven games.

With a shot at the West title in their sights, there's no chance that the Boilers are going to take the Cats lightly. I think Purdue is going to lay down the tracks and choo-choo its locomotive right over the Wildcats.

Fearless forecast: Purdue 33 Northwestern 10