Boilermakers look to build on Boston College upset
A desperate Purdue team took advantage of an opponent that didn’t look particularly focused or ready to play last weekend and knocked off No. 23 Boston College at home.
This week, the challenge for coach Jeff Brohm is to make sure his team isn’t on the other end of that equation on Saturday.
Purdue heads to Nebraska for its first road game of the year, against an 0-3 Cornhusker squad that just got thumped by Michigan.
“There are always concerns (going on the road), and with us, we have a young football team at certain positions. You want them to respond and act in the right way,” Brohm said. “It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be a little more hostile. You’re going to not be able to communicate as well with the noise and there’s a lot of factors that factor into it, and you can’t let it throw you off your game.”
Nebraska coach Scott Frost made a comment that the Cornhuskers schedule was getting easier following the loss to the Wolverines, a quote that wasn’t lost on Brohm or the Boilermakers. While a 1-3 Purdue team can’t be too offended at being taken more lightly than a traditional powerhouse, it proved to be a useful motivational tool heading into the weekend.
“I think that obviously he was talking after a loss that he didn’t like very much. So, I get it,” Brohm said. “Our team needs to respond and understand that we’ve got to show up ready to play and this team will be licking their chops trying to get us.”
For the Boilermakers to turn last week’s upset into a winning streak, one area that will have to be cleaned up is special teams. Kickoff coverage wasn’t great against Boston College, in part because kicker Spencer Evans didn’t get the ball as high or deep as he typically does. He and backup J.D. Dellinger will both be under increased scrutiny in practice this week.
“To be quite honest, our kickoff cover team, we would like to have some bigger bodies. Normally that’s what we had running down the field. We’re probably a little thin at those positions, so we have to maybe try to move some things around and beef it up, but we have to get better at what we’re doing,” Brohm said. “We’re going to put more pressure on the kickers this week in practice. We’re going to make sure that they feel the heat a little bit and that they understand every kick we take is a pressure situation.”