Three Thoughts is a new feature GoldandBlack.com will run every Monday morning in-season.

One word came to mind for me coming out of Purdue's harrowing win over FAU on Saturday night: Ominous.

Look, the Boilermakers had circumstances, no doubt, but how much those circumstances were the causation for that game coming right down to the wire, I don't know. Aidan O'Connell's Purdue's centerpiece, but it's not like it couldn't score without him. The offense managed four touchdowns and two other scoring opportunities that went by the wayside for reasons that had nothing to do with the quarterback. No matter who the quarterback has been, Purdue's not done a great job maximizing its scoring opportunities.

But in victory, so much came to the forefront that feels ominous as Purdue resumes Big Ten play with a trip to surging Minnesota.

Purdue didn't look great against the run vs. FAU, though much of that was the quarterback doing damage. Now comes the portion of the season where the Boilermakers are going to have to play bigger and more physical around the line of scrimmage, as the Minnesotas, Iowas and Wisconsins await.

We'll see how that goes, and if Purdue has to overcompensate, then a vulnerable secondary becomes even more so. Minnesota QB Tanner Morgan played damn near a perfect game against Purdue a few years ago, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that Purdue's defense is going to have to be way better next weekend than it was this one in order to keep him from having a comparable level of success.

Further, it's ominous that Mitchell Fineran has missed two important kicks in as many weeks, though this weekend's miss was far from a gimme kick. Purdue can't really afford a swoon in his confidence as seemed to happen last season.

And the physical state of this team can't be overlooked. There are a lot of important guys who didn't play this past weekend, including your best players on both offense and defense and a pretty robust portion of your overall depth.

That kind of stuff may be overcome against the likes of Florida Atlantic, but starting this weekend, things amp up considerably. Purdue's to be way better than it's been.

There's no such thing as a bad win, but the sheer difficulty Purdue encountered against FAU was ominous as things get really serious now.

Austin Burton did some really positive things in his first Purdue start Saturday and Purdue did plenty of really smart things to help him be successful, but now the reality is this: If Aidan O'Connell remains out, Austin Burton and the Austin Burton offense — distinctly different than the O'Connell offense — are what opponents are preparing for. And they're doing it with much better defenses than FAU brought to West Lafayette.

Burton's on film now, and Purdue's play calls for Burton are on film now. That's going to make things that much tougher, meaning this is something Purdue might want to make sure keeps evolving. If needed, that is. For all I know, O'Connell's back next week and things pick right up where they left off.

If not, Minnesota's not gonna bite on that option the way FAU did and Dylan Downing almost certainly isn't gonna look like Tony Dorsett and Devin Mockobee like Roger Craig next Saturday like they did this Saturday. (Come for the Purdue news and analysis, stay for the random '80s NFL comps).

The cushion Purdue could build offense around on Saturday may not be an enduring one.

That said, Purdue crafted good offense for Burton, weaponizing his credibility as a running threat, but also getting the ball out of his hand quick and letting the receivers and running backs do the work in space, playing the game east and west as opposed to the normal north and south. This wasn't the same deep-shot sort of offense and I think that lowers Purdue's offensive ceiling somewhat, but Purdue could move the ball against a substandard defense.

That said, Purdue's still just not scoring enough to avoid these fourth-quarter nail-biters. I know that's kind of the nature of football at a high level, but if they could just steal a touchdown now and again before halftime, things would be so much different.

In Purdue's three close games this season, it has averaged 11 first-half points.

The circumstances at quarterback mattered on Saturday, but broadly, the creativity that's been a hallmark of Jeff Brohm's offenses at Purdue just hasn't been all that much of a factor. The deceptives Purdue has run haven't really worked.

That's an area that could make a real difference for Purdue against these better defenses, sucker-punching them with a big-hitter every now and then, and planting that seed in their minds once again that anything can happen at any time.

Easier said than done, I know.

Tuesday's start of "official" preseason basketball practice isn't nearly as big a deal as it used to be, or as we'll make it out to be. Purdue and everyone else have been practicing for real for months now, albeit not as much as they'll be practicing starting now.

But this will be an especially important preseason for the Boilermakers and their very different team. Purdue spent the whole summer with a skeleton crew of personnel due to various recoveries and other circumstances, and so these practices since school began have probably mattered that much more.

More broadly, now is the time for the players on this team to show that this team is going to be the right kind of different.

Purdue had one of the best teams in America last season and came away without all that much to show for it when all was said and done. Had one of Purdue's most talented teams ever just been a little more Purdue-like, things would have been wholly different.

This team now isn't nearly as talented.

But it may align much more with what Purdue has historically been and Matt Painter so badly wanted last year's team to be: Responsible with the basketball and attentive on defense.

Purdue opens practice with a relatively clean slate from a personnel perspective, with Zach Edey probably being the only absolutely guaranteed starter and a whole bunch of players around him facing a wide range of outcomes this season. Purdue has too many good 4s, not enough point guards, and a couple of freshmen who are going to have to be ready for this team to be good. There's a lot of moving parts here, on paper.

But the parts have to fit the bigger picture of being low-maintenance, competitive and dialed in to the things this team has to be good at to have any chance at all. Purdue can't fritter away possessions the way last year's team did, nor can it wait 'til January to start guarding anyone. It's not good enough to overcome those things the way last year's team — a team that was probably too good for its own good, if we're being honest — could some of the time, but not all of the time.

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