Purdue Football - Defense Looks to 'Knock the Door Down'

Purdue football has to feel pretty good about itself. While a team that just lost bowl eligibility could be excused into folding up for the final three games of the season, Purdue responded by having its best offensive showing, a dominating win over a good Minnesota football program.

Purdue scored four touchdowns on its first four drives. Card looked right and Purdue's offense couldn't be stopped on the ground.

That's a lot of offensive talk, right? While Purdue was scoring a lot of touchdowns, Purdue's defense was bending, not breaking, but it bent a lot early and gave up 30 points to Minnesota including a late first half drive where Purdue's defense did break and gave up a touchdown that kept the Golden Gophers in it going to half.

Purdue's defensive coordinator doesn't feel quite as happy about his team's performance as the rest of the coaching staff, certainly wasn't that happy going into half.

"I left the field kind of pissed off," Kevin Kane said about the touchdown late in the first half.

Purdue didn't limit yards early against Minnesota, but they were able to get tough in the red zone and keep the Golden Gophers out of the end zone. Four times Dragan Kesich was sent onto the field to kick for Minnesota.

That's not a plan Kevin Kane hopes to carry over into Purdue's game against Northwestern.

"The best red area defense is not even letting them down there," Kane said after practice on Wednesday.

Purdue was bolstered by a Purdue crowd that still filled the stands despite the 3-7 record going in. That might not be the case as Purdue heads up north to Evanston, Illinois where a Northwestern program plays in front of one of the smallest student populations in the Big Ten. While Northwestern basketball fans have enjoyed a renovated basketball arena, the Northwestern football experience still leaves something to be desired.

Will Purdue's defense still be able to keep up its energy and help pull off just the second road win of the season and first in Big Ten action?

"You go into Northwestern, it's not a very big student population as it is," Kane said of his defense staying up on the field. "You know, it's a smaller school. You'll be on the lake where they'll be a little breeze probably at you... this is a patient offense. They're going to drive the field. I think the first three drives at the Wisconsin game were twelve plus plays."

Northwestern has bonded together after an off-season of drama with its long time head coach Pat Fitzgerald getting fired over multiple hazing and off-field issues. It's coming off its best win of the season, a road victory at Wisconsin.

While there might not be fifty thousand fans urging Northwestern on, the players will have plenty to play for. All season Northwestern has been playing for interim coach David Braun. Braun has led Northwestern to the edge of bowl eligibility, needing to win one of the next two games to get the Wildcats to a bowl game.

Northwestern will have some extra motivation with the news that Braun will no longer be coaching under the interim tag. He's been named the permanent coach for Northwestern football going forward.

Which could be concerning for Purdue as Northwestern was already complimented by Kane for how hard they play.

"One thing you notice about them on film is how hard they play," Kane said previewing the Northwestern game.

For Purdue, consistency remains an ultimate goal for the staff and its players. Purdue got up for its home game against Minnesota, but will look to spark its first winning streak under Ryan Walters. It will need to bring its own energy to Evanston and draw from the confidence it's gotten in stretches against the powerhouses of the Big Ten over the last month and not get lost in lack of atmosphere or what Northwestern is playing for.

"We can only control what we can control on defense," Kane said about his team responding to the losing streak with a big win over Minnesota. "Over the course of that, you're playing really good football programs - Ohio State, Michigan - but you saw what we're able to do against those types of guys. You keep telling them, 'this is who we are. This is what you can be all the time.' Consistency being that person every snap. We're able to build confidence within that because they saw it on film.

This generation they love watching themselves do things, right?"

For Kane and his defense, it's about believing in the best versions of themselves and getting to that person on every play, unapologetically.

"We're not just gonna tap on the door," Kane said. "We've gotta knock it down."

The next door in the way? A feisty Northwestern team on the road, noon, on Saturday.