Ahead of this week’s pivotal matchup with Purdue, I caught up with Andrew Ledman of SB Nation’s Purdue site, HammerandRails.com, to get the rundown on their team.
With both teams sitting at 0-4 in Big Ten
play, what does this game mean for Purdue and the rest of their season? October was looked at as a month where Purdue could find some wins. They faced Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, and of course Rutgers. Purdue is currently 0-3 in October, and they currently have one of the worst records against FBS teams since 2024. They’ve got 1 win in that time. Purdue is desperate here. This game could be the very last game Purdue has a chance at all season.
With Ryan Browne likely being out due to injury, are you expecting any change in the offense’s scheme? What are you expecting from backup quarterback Malachi Singleton?
Well we saw Singleton was able to move the ball against Northwestern after Browne went out, but he still couldn’t muster any points. Singleton is a better runner than Browne but the coaching staff seemed to have more faith in Browne’s ability to throw the ball. While the offense won’t necessarily change I think that Singleton will likely have more plays drawn up for him to tuck it and run.
How do you rate Barry Odom’s first year as head coach?
It’s a mixed bag of course. Purdue was a complete rebuild when he came in. Ryan Walters took over a program that went to the Big Ten title game (albeit they lost) and promptly ran it into the basement of the conference. He couldn’t recruit and he couldn’t coach. That’s a bad combination. In his final season he won 1 game so Odom has already doubled that but it’s still only 2 wins which is not ideal.
Odom brought in a number of good players, but the problem is Purdue needed a talent upgrade at nearly every position. That’s hard to do in one season. Fans are patient with Odom now because he’s saying the right things and, until last week against Northwestern, Purdue had at least been competitive.
What do you like about the defense? What are some of your concerns?
I like the linebackers on the defense. They’ve really improved throughout the season. They aren’t perfect by any means but they’ve gotten better at making good tackles and they are moving around the field effectively.
What concerns do I have? Basically everything else. The Purdue secondary is often a step, or more, slow leading to wide open receivers on deep balls. Then, the line has struggled to stop the run and get to the quarterback. On the positive side they’ve finally found out you can turn the opponent over, but they still aren’t doing it enough.
How do you see the rest of the season going for the Boilermakers?
Not great! The remaining schedule for Purdue is at Michigan, Ohio State, at Washington, IU. I don’t see many great opportunities therefor the Boilermakers, so if they don’t win this one against Rutgers they are staring down a 10 game losing streak to end the season.
What is your score prediction for this game?
Maybe it’s my unbridled optimism that somehow has still remained despite (desperately waves hands around) all this but I think Purdue can win this one. Playing at home will certainly help. Maybe starting Singleton will give Rutgers less film to review and prepare for? I’m grasping at straws here but I do think Purdue can pull this one out 28-24.
