Brohm believes Purdue's playoff run began last weekend
As far as Jeff Brohm is concerned, Purdue is in the playoffs.
For Purdue to be West Division champion for the first time in school history, the Boilermakers will need to defeat Minnesota, Wisconsin and Indiana and combine that with two more losses from Northwestern. Since they can’t control the Northwestern results, Brohm decided starting last week to treat the final four games of its regular season as a postseason run.
Purdue won what it considers its first-round game last weekend against Iowa and now has three more rounds of “playoff” football remaining. The Boilermakers' coaching staff have adapted Brohm's "one-game season" mentality to involve every game of the final month of this season.
"I think if we want to be a contender and stay in the race, we've got to win," Brohm said. "It is a playoff game because if we don't, we're out of the running. The players need to take some incentive and take that desire to want to stay in the mix. It should mean something to them. I want that pressure on them."
Brohm stressed this playoff idea to the players after Tuesday's practice as the only way for his program to earn a trip to Indianapolis in four weeks.
"I think the guys understand and Coach Brohm told us after practice that this is a playoff game for us because if we want to keep going to where we want to be, we have to keep winning," quarterback David Blough said. "They all will be playoff games from now on."
Regardless of the division title implications, winning out in November would allow Purdue its first eight-win regular season since 2006 and the program's first perfect final month since 2005.
"I'm happy with the amount of progress we've made throughout the year but at the same time, during the season you try not to think about it," Brohm said. "Yes, to this point, we've done very well but we've still got ways to improve and I think we've got guys that are still hungry. Hopefully, we can finish strong."
Purdue is shooting for its sixth win in its last seven games by traveling to TCF Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff against a reeling Minnesota team that still needs two wins for bowl eligibility. The Boilermakers are winless in four attempts in TCF Stadium, which was built in 2009. Brohm will be trying to avenge his last trip to TCF Stadium as well. In his only previous trip,, Brohm was the quarterback coach at Illinois in 2011 when the Illini lost the regular season finale 27-7 the last game in a six-game losing streak. The next day after Illinois fired coach Ron Zook. Yet, Brohm called Illinois' offensive plays in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl win over UCLA.
| Northwestern (5-4, 5-1) | Wisconsin (6-3, 4-2) | Purdue (5-4, 4-2) |
|---|---|---|
|
at Iowa |
at Penn State |
at Minnesota |
|
at Minnesota |
at Purdue |
vs. Wisconsin |
|
vs. Illinois |
vs. Minnesota |
at Indiana |
Other noteworthy items from Brohm's post-practice media conference
- Brohm confirmed senior tailback D.J. Knox (wrist) would be able to play Saturday and that freshman wide receiver Rondale Moore (lower body) has been able to practice since Tuesday this week.
- Brohm reiterated that he's still not entirely sure about what he'll see from Joe Rossi, Minnesota's interim defensive coordinator, and will likely have to adjust during the game Saturday.
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