How ‘Bout Them Boilermakers?
Admit it, after losing two straight games you didn’t see Purdue going to Champaign and knocking off top-25 Illinois, in a game that had significant ramifications for the Big Ten West Division title race.
Who did?
However, the Boilermakers stunned the 21st-ranked Fighting Illini with a 31-24 upset victory and as a result are in position to make their first-ever Big Ten Championship Game next month in Indianapolis.
Of course to play for a conference crown, Purdue must win its final two regular-season games at home against Northwestern Saturday and Nov. 26 at Indiana. The Wildcats and Hoosiers have a combined record of 4-16 overall, 2-12 in the Big Ten so Purdue will be favored in both, and is an 18 1/2-point favorite against Pat Fitzgerald’s bunch.
Beating Northwestern and Indiana won’t be enough though. The Boilermakers need Iowa to lose one of its remaining two tilts (at Minnesota Saturday or at home Friday Nov. 25 versus Nebraska).
Currently four teams are tied for the lead in the Big Ten West – Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. Since the Boilermakers beat the Gophers and Illini, they hold the tiebreaker over those two teams.
There are some other scenarios that could unfold where Purdue could wind up playing in Indy, but one thing is certain … it cannot tie with Iowa and go since it lost to the Hawkeyes. It also cannot tie with Wisconsin since it lost in Madison.
With all that said, to be honest do any of the West teams really want a shot at top-five Ohio State or Michigan in Lucas Oil Stadium. To say that would be a scary matchup is an understatement. Whoever plays the Buckeyes or Wolverines will be a three- to four-touchdown underdog.
Back to Purdue’s win at Illinois for a moment … I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. When you are ready to count Jeff Brohm’s Boilermakers out, boom they pick themselves up off the canvas and deliver an unexpected performance.
Remember earlier this season Purdue was 1-2 and improved to .500 with just a two-point victory over Florida Atlantic in Ross-Ade Stadium. Now, in fairness senior quarterback Aidan O’Connell didn’t play in that game. Nonetheless no one saw back-to-back Big Ten road wins in consecutive weeks coming for the Boilermakers just like no one saw the two-game losing streak that followed (at Wisconsin and to Iowa).
Speaking of O’Connell he threw for 237 yards and three scores, two to tight end Payne Durham, on a cold, windy day in Champaign.
“We know we’re bowl eligible,” O’Connell said. “We know we are still in the hunt (for the Big Ten’s West Division).
“I think the one game at a time thing is more so for us to stay focused, for energy and to realize it means nothing if you don’t win the next game.”
So O’Connell’s Boilermakers stand at 6-4 overall, 4-3 in the Big Ten heading into the Northwestern game (which can be seen at 12 p.m. Saturday on FS1).
O’Connell hopes his team can finish the season strong just like it did a year ago.
Last year 4-3 Purdue won four of its last five regular-season contests and beat Tennessee in the Music City Bowl to end the year with an impressive 9-4 mark.
In 2018, the Boilermakers started 0-3 and then won four in a row. They entered the Bucket Game at 5-6 and had to win it to go bowling. Purdue beat the Hoosiers before falling to Auburn in the Music City Bowl.
Then in 2017, Brohm’s first season in West Lafayette, Purdue was 4-6 before winning its last two regular-season tilts to become bowl eligible.
So as a result of the upset over Illinois, the Boilermakers are in a position to win eight regular-season games and win nine for the second straight year if they can be triumphant in their bowl game. Keep in mind, Purdue has only won 10 games in a season once. To do that, it would have to beat Northwestern and IU, and play in the Big Ten Championship Game, plus win it and win its bowl game.
Unlikely? Probably. Impossible? Not after the big win over Illinois.
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