Purdue’s offense continues to shine
Purdue’s victory over Iowa last Saturday marked its third win over a ranked team at Ross-Ade Stadium this season. But the reason the Boilers are fighting for bowl-eligibility rather than a BCS berth is because they’ve faltered in September when playing lower-quality opponents.
So it’s unlikely that coach Jeff Brohm will let his team look past Minnesota, even though the Golden Gophers enter the week having lost five of their last six games and having just fired their defensive coordinator.
“The last time we came off a pretty good-sized win (against Ohio State), we went on the road and lost (to Michigan State), so that’s going to be the challenge,” Brohm said. “We’ve got a team that’s going to be very hungry. They didn’t play the way they wanted last week against Illinois, and I know they will come in this game hungry.”
In addition to Minnesota, Purdue will be battling the elements. Temperatures are expected to be below freezing at kickoff.
“We have to make sure we’re practicing outside,” Brohm said. “We’re in the elements. It won’t be as cold here as it’s going to be on Saturday. But I mean, this time of the year, wherever you’re at, you could have some possible cold games. Obviously going to Minnesota in November, it’s going to be cold, and you have to react to it and hopefully our guys can respond.”
Purdue’s depth has been tested this season, and a number of key players are battling injuries. The Boilermakers played without starting tackle Grant Hermanns, out for the season with a knee injury suffered in practice, but the offense continued to roll against the Hawkeyes as Purdue earned a critical win in their battle for position in the Big Ten West.
With two Big Ten losses, the Boilermakers don’t control their own destiny, but they’re not out of the conference title race either. A couple of Northwestern losses and a Purdue winning streak to end the season, and the team could still find itself winning the Big Ten West and playing in the conference championship game.
“It’s always a one-game season but yes, we do want to emphasize that there’s pressure to win the game. If you want to be a contender in the conference, you’ve got to win, and if you don’t, you’re out,” Brohm said. “That kind of happened to us at the end of last year and we kind of had something similar where we knew our backs were against the wall and we had to win to advance.”