Purdue will host Northwestern this Saturday. It is Senior Day for Purdue, but not only that, it is a necessary win as Purdue hopes for a spot in the Big Ten Title Game.

Luckily for the Boilermakers, their last home game of the season is against a 1-9 Northwestern Squad that has struggled, well, all season.

The Wildcats have not won a game since week one of the college football season when they defeated Nebraska. Since then, their offense has been... bad. Northwestern's offense is 128th of 131 teams in terms of scoring, at 15.3 PPG.

Their defense is also a bottom-half group, allowing 28 points per game. But, as Boilermaker fans know, there is no win that comes easy. Northwestern and head coach Pat Fitzgerald will be a challenge, but a challenge that the Boilermakers should triumph.

1. Keep Evan Hull in check.

Evan Hull is the Northwestern offense. He is averaging more than 100 total yards per game. On the season, he has179 carries for 755 yards and four touchdowns. Not only does he carry the ball in volume, Hull also has 50 catches for 509 yards and two more scores.

The Northwestern offense is nearly a 50/50 split of the run to pass. Hull is the focal point of both. While overall, he is not the leading wide receiver, in yards and catches. He is second in both.

The Purdue defense will focus their attention on Hull and wide receiver Malik Washington (55 catches 619 yards). Hull should garner the most attention though. Fully expect a loaded box to stop the run and limit Hull on screens and check downs in the passing game.

You may remember Hull from the Wrigley Field game in 2021. He had 31 touches for 129 yards and a touchdown on the day. Stop him and Purdue will win. They did it last week against Chase Brown, can they do it again?

2. Continue to establish the run

When Purdue runs the football, good things happen. Devin Mockobee is approaching 1,000 yards rushing. His growth at running back has sparked the offense in games. Last week he had several runs that helped seal the game against Illinois. While Senior King Doerue has been out most of the season, Mockobee has been better than expected and is the bell cow for the Boilermakers.

Mockbee has a chance to be the Boilermakers' first 1,000-yard rusher since Kory Sheets (1,181 yards)

3. Limit mental mistakes

Mental penalties drive football coaches crazy. Unsportsmanlike Conduct, False Starts, and Personal Fouls are all penalties that can be avoided. Purdue and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties have become synonymous this season. Hopefully, this can be corrected over the next couple of weeks, between the Illinois and Syracuse games, it had Boilermaker fans ready to rip their hair out.

Purdue ranks 54th in the nation in flags per game, so, it isn't a huge problem, but Unsportsmanlike Penalties can kill drives, extend drives for the opponent or give a team great field position after the penalty is added to the kick-off.