Purdue on verge of 'challenge' transforming into bowl
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Jeff Brohm was angry.
How could he not be?
After Purdue had lost its third consecutive game on Oct. 28 in a game that ended in heartbreak — a last-minute loss against Nebraska in a game that had seemed locked up — and dropped the Boilermakers to 3-5, Brohm was upset.
He doesn’t like to lose. At anything, but especially when he’d been charged with leading a turnaround, even if few thought that resurgence from the Boilermakers could happen in Year 1 of the Brohm Era.
But Brohm had to do what he was asking his players to do: Channel the disappointment and frustration and “dig deeper,” continuing to exhaust every ounce to find a way to improve.
And, somehow, he helped Purdue do that.
And now the Boilermakers enter their finale with a chance to do what few people thought was possible initially in August but, especially, after that Oct. 28 loss: Reach six victories and become bowl eligible.
When asked Monday if he envisioned this as a possibility before the season, Brohm said a bowl game was set as a team goal. But, seemingly, every team sets that as a goal. It was one voiced by the 2014 Purdue team, too: And that group was coming off a one-win season.
Considering how often Brohm used the word “challenge” when he got the job — he essentially refused to ever call it what he was, a rebuilding project, but it’s hard to otherwise define nine wins over four seasons — it’d be safe to say he knew Purdue would have to maximize its talent, get breaks, have excellent coaching and pull a shocker or two to have this chance.
Saturday’s 24-15 victory at Iowa certainly checked all those boxes.
And, now, this weekend’s Indiana game is about so much more than the Bucket.
“It's been a challenge every week. I knew it when I signed up for it,” Brohm said Monday during his final weekly press conference of the season, “and the great thing about this football team is they want to win just as bad as anyone else, and they want to find a way to get it done.
“Once (the losing) happens, you have to just try to find a way to get positive and focus on the things you do well, improve on the things you don’t, let your players know you still believe in them and that werre going to figure this thing out and figure out a way to get better. … So I think we all collectively have just tried to work hard to improve and hope that that gives us a chance to win, and we’ve been able to overcome a few things, and some things we haven’t been as good at. But we’re at least at a point now where we have a chance to play in a very meaningful game with a lot on the line.”
It has been quite some time since Purdue could say that.
In 2012, the Boilermakers were in a similar scenario, needing to win the final three regular-season games to reach bowl eligibility under Danny Hope. They started with a shocker at Iowa and then beat Illinois at home, meaning they had to take down the Hoosiers to secure No. 6. They left little doubt, using a huge second half to rout Indiana, 56-35.
Just over a month later, Purdue played in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. It got blown out, but Hope already had been fired and there seemed to be little emphasis on the game by the holdover coaching staff.
It’s really been since that IU game, too, that the Boilermakers entered a game with this kind of hype.
Purdue has sold 2,000 tickets since its victory over Iowa, and Brohm is hoping for a big turnout in Ross-Ade Stadium. That could be tricky because the students will be on Thanksgiving break, but perhaps the community will surge considering the importance of the game.
And it’s good to be even back to that point, Brohm said, with the Boilermakers playing relevant games in November again.
“Really, it’s about getting better towards the end of the year, and that’s what we try to do every year,” said Brohm, whose first team at Western also had to respond from a 3-5 start. “I think if you have the right attitude, your guys work hard, if you stick to it and don’t allow the losses to get you too frustrated, improvement can be made.
“So it was great to finally see it on the field this past week. We’ve got a chance against a team that’s a rival but is playing very well right now. They’re hot, and we can see if we can improve one more time.”
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