Danny Hope Audio

Coach Danny Hope and players Joey Elliott, Ryan Kerrigan and Zach Jones spoke at Purdue's weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon as the Boilermakers prepare to visit Wisconsin this weekend, coming off back-to-back wins over Ohio State and Illinois.

Purdue's two-game winning streak has kept the Boilermakers' postseason hopes alive, even after a five-game losing streak put them on life support.

To get to six wins, however, Purdue will have to win three of its last four regular season games, all but one of which are on the road.

Hope said he's not broaching the topic of bowl games with his players.

"We talk about all of the great things that were out there for us this season before it started," Hope said, "all of the great opportunities (still) out there and how achieving some of those opportunities would help us have a special season, something that we all wanted to do.

"But we haven't addressed the bowl season for our football team at present. We are doing a better job of just staying focused and ready and getting ready to play the next opponent. That's the most important thing we can do right now. But they can do the math. They read."

Beginning with the Notre Dame game, Purdue has worn all black for its past four home games.

"I liked it," Hope said. "The players really liked it. We all like it."

"The players liked it and Coach Hope thought they looked sharp," Elliott said. "He asked the captains and the seniors after the first few times we wore them, 'You want to just keep wearing them?' and we all said yes.

"I like it. Some people say it makes you look small, but I think the black on black makes you look pretty sharp."

Kerrigan likes the black ensemble as well, but another color change has caught his eye, too.

"I like the black end zones," Kerrigan said.

Ross-Ade Stadium's end zones have been painted in. Black, of course.

Wisconsin's defense will provide Purdue one of its greatest personnel challenges of the season to date in defensive end O'Brien Schofield, who leads the Big Ten with 16.5 tackles for loss and trails Kerrigan by just one sack (in one fewer game) for the league lead.

"It's helps a lot (to practice against Kerrigan)," said Jones, who could face Schofield Saturday, "because I haven't gone against anybody better than Kerrigan this year. Getting that training helps a lot in a game. I haven't gone against anybody this year who's better than Kerrigan. He's a great player."

Jones called the 6-2, 248-pound Schofield a "hard-nosed player who never stops."

"He has exceptional quickness and is a great rusher of the edge and a real playmaker," Hope said of Schofield.

As the season wears on, Purdue's practice plans will change, Hope said, suggesting he'll scale back some the later it gets in the year.

"I change it all the time anyway," Hope said. "I'm not real big on monotony on the practice field. I like a lot of energy on the field and I like to be out there and I try to be out there and get the speed of things up. If we have the same old practice routine all the time, it can become monotonous and guys won't go quite as fast.

"So we change ours around a bunch but the later it gets in the season, the shorter the practice schedule gets."

Purdue has rarely, if ever, practiced in full gear the past several weeks, which Hope believes has helped his team stay fresh and avoid injury, among other things. He also believes it's contributed to his defense's improved tackling in recent weeks.

In Purdue's 220-yard rushing performance vs. Illinois, Elliott's 62 yards on the ground provided the Boilermaker offense something of an added dimension out of the backfield, as he was able to pick up a couple third downs, make a few big plays and score a touchdown as a runner.

"It's just as important in the passing game as it is in the running game," Hope said, "because he takes some plays and manufactures some first downs out of it.

"He's made some good decisions the last couple of games that have kept our offense on the field, moved the sticks and kept the defense off balance some. I like the decision making that he's doing."

Elliott's run for 220 net yards this season, making him the Boilermakers' second-leading rusher.

Though he's anything but the prototype for the position physically, Dan Dierking has become Purdue's fullback - for the Illinois game, at least - with his consistency, Hope said.

"He gets the job done just about every time, just like he does in practice," Hope said of the 5-foot-10, 186-pound junior. "He sees things in front of him and makes good decisions. You know what you're going to get from him before the snap and after the snap, and it's usually what you thought. He's very consistent."

Dierking became the third fullback Purdue's used this season, joining Jared Crank and Frank Halliburton.

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