One of the things Nick Holt says he knows after being a defensive coach in college football for 15 seasons is that turnovers typically come in bunches.

The saying that turnovers are contagious also works for defensive play as one takeaway can quickly become two or three throughout a game or stretch of a few weeks. However, Purdue (5-4, 4-2 in Big Ten) hasn't found itself getting that ball rolling as much as Holt's defense typically have been known for throughout his recent years as a coordinator.

Last season Purdue's defense earned multiple takeaways in each of its first six games en route to winning the turnover battle in four of its seven 2017 wins. In his first season at Western Kentucky, the Hilltoppers led Conference USA in takeaways with 31 in 14 games and in each of his three seasons as Washington's defensive coordinator (2009-11) the Huskies finished in the top half of the then-Pac-10 in takeaways.

"I think we're really close and there have been some balls on the ground in the last couple of games," Holt said. "There were some errant throws we had a chance to pick off. On a fade pass last week, I thought our free safety was on it and it went through his hands. Hopefully, they'll come because we're getting them in practice and it just has to transfer to Saturday."

Coming into this game at Minnesota (4-5, 1-5) this weekend, Purdue is tied for last in the Big Ten in takeaways with just 11 and the only game in which it's generated more than one was the 30-13 win over Boston College Sept. 22. In that Week 4 win, Purdue's first victory of the season, the Boilermakers intercepted Eagle quarterback Anthony Brown four times en route to a blowout victory over a ranked team. In its 38-36 win over No. 19 Iowa last week, the only turnover obtained by Purdue came off the final kickoff when the Hawkeyes desperately throwing laterals as the clock expired.

"Sometimes it's as simple as the ball goes your way on turnovers," Purdue linebacker Markus Bailey said. "Like in the Boston College game, it went our way but then against Michigan State, we get a fumble, but the ball bounces their way. We have Turnover Wednesday, where we work on specific things to get turnovers like stripping the ball, strip sacks, tips, interceptions, blitzing and you've just got to be ball hawks."

Purdue's lack of a natural pass rush from its front four could be a significant factor in the drop-off in takeaways from last season to the first nine games of this campaign. Without a defensive linemen-generated pass rush making a quarterback uncomfortable, Purdue's had to manufacture pressure with blitz calls, depleting the second and third levels of the defense.

The only Boilermaker other than corner Kenneth Major with more than one interception this season is defensive end Kai Higgins, with two.

Turnovers could be a determining factor Saturday when Purdue travels to TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. The Boilermakers will be facing a Minnesota team that leads the Big Ten in giveaways and is minus-eight in the turnover battle in its six conference games. Gopher coach P.J. Fleck prides his program on what he calls the "78 percent," referring to a statistic that states football teams that win the turnover battle at either the high school, college or professional level win 78 percent of the time.

"The ball is the most important thing to any game and we preach to our guys that if we win control and taking care of that ball, we'll win 78 percent of the time," Fleck said. "What our guys have also found out is if we lose that battle, we'll lose the game 78 percent of the time but again, when you are playing with such youth, you expect turnovers to come with inconsistencies."

Purdue will face teams in the bottom half of the league in offensive giveaways in its final three games this season. Indiana, which will host the Boilermakers in the battle for the Old Oaken Bucket on Nov. 24, is 11th in the Big Ten with multiple turnovers in each of its last six games.

- Giovanni Reviere said Wednesday night that his injury was a temporary "numbness" he felt in his left knee, but once he sat down and regained feeling it, the doctors cleared him to return to action vs. Iowa. Reviere is entirely medically cleared to play this weekend at Minnesota.

"The injury scared me more than anything because I've never had a knee injury before and it didn't hurt but I couldn't move it to bend it for a short time," Reviere said.

- Both Holt and defensive line coach Reggie Johnson described the progress of freshman Jeff Marks as a gradual. The 270-pounder from Mobile, Ala., is listed as a backup defensive tackle on the depth chart but has seen snaps in six games at both tackle and end as a backup to Reviere. Purdue officials denied a media request to interview Marks this week.

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