The first step in identifying the problem is admitting you have one.

To that end, Jeff Brohm has admitted mistakes, and his realization of those mistakes has been part of the reason David Blough is one of college football's hottest quarterbacks right now.

"I think the first thing is I've done a better job," Brohm said on the Big Ten media teleconference Tuesday. "I probably wasn't as aggressive with him in the beginning and I didn't give him as many opportunities to throw the ball vertically up the field."

That conservative nature Brohm admits to take with Blough, especially on that rainy afternoon against Eastern Michigan, went against the nature of both men. The "game manager" plan was ditched after a mid-week injury to Elijah Sindelar during preparation for Missouri. The result was the school-record 572 yards Blough threw for vs. the Tigers and defenses immediately needing to respect Blough's ability to throw the deep ball, a hallmark of any Brohm-devised offensive scheme.

"We opened up the playbook and he responded so well, put up some big numbers," Brohm said. "It has kind of just taken off from there."

Blough has said what he calls "tough coaching" is something he relishes getting from his head coach, knowing Brohm's background. In his college career, Brohm threw for 5,451 yards at Louisville from 1989-93, before a meaningful NFL career. From the television broadcast of the last four games, you'll see Brohm talking face to face with Blough about reads and his decision-making on a given play or possession. It's this hands-on sort of coaching behind the Brohm-Blough combination that has meant so much during Purdue's three-game winning streak.

"For him to criticize and critique himself is kind of why I feel like we're built from the same mold because I tend to be hard on myself, too," Blough said. "I hear that he thinks he didn't do a good job coaching me and I have to disagree with him. I look at it like I didn't play well enough and listen to what he was telling me to do. In the same way that he's trying to deflect blame off me, I would say, 'Put it on me more. I can improve.' And I needed to."

Blough will surely be tested Saturday, but based on the seven-game history of Ohio State's 2018 season, they'll likely test the Purdue quarterback's efficiency in throwing deep passes. In a 49-26 victory over Indiana, Hoosiers quarterback Peyton Ramsey put 322 yards and three touchdowns on the Buckeye secondary. But Ohio State only allowed six second-half points. To date, the most dangerous quarterback Ohio State faced was Penn State's Trace McSorley, as the Buckeyes escaped Happy Valley with a 27-26 win Sept. 29. The Nittany Lions' versatile signal-caller accounted for 461 total yards (286 passing and 175 rushing) and two touchdowns and helped Penn State build a 26-14 lead with eight minutes to go.

Brohm has seen the film of Ohio State's defense and says he "doesn't blame them" for playing a risk-reward scheme that challenges opponents to beat them throwing the ball consistently over the top of their cornerbacks. Most college programs can't handle and don't have the skill position talent to expose that Ohio State mentality. The problem for the Buckeyes as they look for their fourth win in West Lafayette since the turn of the century, Brohm doesn't coach a typical college program or typical college offense.

Purdue is currently tied for third among Football Bowl Subdivision programs with 17 plays of 40 yards or more and is averaging seven yards per play this season, which is more than half a yard more than the current school record set in 1997.

"What they're going to do sometimes is take away your easy throws and make you throw it over their head and I don't blame them because the chances of completing those are a lot less," Brohm said. "With that, you're going to hit some of those and that is what has happened against them this year. We're going to have to take the same mentality and if they're taking away our quick throws, we'll have to hit some throws down the field."

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