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

When you look at Purdue's winning formula at Minnesota this weekend, a simply enormous win for the Boilermakers, it was, shall we say, atypical.

Purdue turned the ball over three times, and didn't make any big plays until the end of the game. It ran the ball unlike anything we've seen this season or last and it legitimately won that game with defense, Big Ten style. Purdue beat Minnesota at its own game.

After Purdue's unfulfilling September, this would seem like some reason to believe this represents a very positive change. While progress can so often be fleeting in this funny game, what the Minnesota game showed was the Boilermakers' self-destructive tendencies from the Penn State and Syracuse games may not be enduring, season-undermining fatal flaws.