Boilermakers Control Own Destiny
Fresh off its bye week, Purdue heads into its final four games of the regular season knowing if it wins out, it will be in the Big Ten Championship Game in December in Indianapolis, having won the Big Ten West Division.
To say the least the back third of the schedule looks very manageable for the 5-3 Boilermakers.
Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern and Indiana are a combined 15-17 overall, 8-12 in the Big Ten. Excluding No. 14 and once beaten Illinois, three of Purdue’s final four opponents are just 8-16 on the season and those three have won a total of just four Big Ten games.
Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm, however, isn’t thinking of ‘what if’ scenarios. His entire focus is recovering from the 35-24 loss Oct. 22 loss at Wisconsin and taking care of business against Iowa Saturday before another sellout crowd in Ross-Ade Stadium.
“We can’t concern ourselves with what’s at the end of the tunnel,” said Brohm today at his weekly teleconference. “We can’t get caught looking down the road.
“There’s a reason why we use the one-game mantra. Fans and everyone else can talk about all the other stuff. We have a lot of work to do. It’s hard to win. We have to do a lot of things correctly. It just doesn’t happen.
“The only thing on our minds is to try and win this game against Iowa,” added Brohm, who has a 4-1 record against the Hawkeyes.
A win over 4-4 Iowa, would make Purdue bowl eligible for the fourth time in Brohm’s six seasons in West Lafayette.
The aforementioned would be quite an accomplishment for Brohm when you consider only Joe Tiller has led Purdue to more than three bowl appearances in Boilermaker coaching annals.
So lets take a look at Purdue’s four remaining opponents …
Iowa (4-4 overall, 2-3 in Big Ten): The Hawkeyes have a good defense, but their offense is awful. Iowa fans are very disgruntled at Kirk Ferentz and his staff. They’ve been beyond stubborn making a change at QB, sticking with Spencer Petras through thick and thin. Perhaps the Iowa offense is just what Purdue’s defense needs to get its confidence back because it has been giving up chunk yardage plays one after another.
One of the interesting storylines in this one will be Purdue receivers Charles Jones and Tyrone Tracy both played at Iowa last year. You think the Hawkeye offense could’ve used them? Jones isn’t 100 percent, but you know he would love to have a career day against his former squad.
Illinois (7-1, 4-1): The Illini are rolling. Ranked 14th in the country, it’s hard to believe their lone loss was a Sept. 2 setback at IU. The Illini schedule has not been overly difficult to say the least as the only ranked team they will have played this season will be Michigan and that’s not for a few more weeks.
Without question, Illinois is cause for concern for Purdue. The Boilermakers will have to find a way to contain Chase Brown, one of the best running backs in the country. Plus, Purdue must match Illinois’ physical style of play and somehow move the ball against one of the best defenses in the country. Will ESPN College Gameday be on hand for the first time ever in Champaign?
Northwestern (1-7, 1-4): This will be Purdue’s easiest remaining opponent and will turn out to be its most lopsided Big Ten win of ‘22. I know the ‘Cats almost beat Maryland, but simply stated they’re God awful. They’ve lost seven straight games and haven’t scored more than 24 points in any of those losses. In addition, Northwestern’s allowed Iowa’s anemic offense to score 33 points. Need I say any more?
Indiana (3-5, 1-4): Brohm’s Boilermakers have lost once in five games to the Hoosiers and that was in overtime against what was considered one of IU’s greatest teams ever. The Hoosiers have lost five straight and that number could very well be eight in a row by the time Purdue invades Bloomington.
Still, it is a rivalry game and sometimes these can take an unexpected turn. With that said, Memorial Stadium could resemble Ross-Ade Stadium South especially if a Big Ten title game is at stake for the visitors. I can’t imagine many Cream and Crimson fans attending with it being Thanksgiving weekend and since they’ll believe their team has little to no chance at winning. Plus, the end of November means only one thing in B-town … basketball season.
Purdue has never played in the Big Ten Championship Game and after what transpired in Madison looks to be a long shot to say the least this year, but you never know. No one thought this Purdue team was capable of winning back-to-back road games against Minnesota and Maryland after barely beating Florida Atlantic.
Like I said before, everything is in the Boilermakers’ control. Win one of the next four and their going bowling. Win three of the next four and they’re probably playing in a Florida bowl. Win out and it’s Indy here come the Boilermakers.
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