Two unbeaten teams will meet in prime time in Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday night. It will be 3-0 Northwestern vs. 2-0 Purdue at 7:30 p.m. ET on BTN, with Big Ten West pole position on the line. It doesn’t often get much bigger than this in West Lafayette.

“No, it's a great opportunity for us,” said Brohm. “Coach Fitzgerald and Northwestern, they play a sound, physical type of brand of football and it's going to be a challenge for us.”

Purdue would have had a measuring stick last week at Wisconsin had the Badgers not had to cancel the game as they work to contain a COVID-19 outbreak. The preseason West Division favorite, Wisconsin was 1-0, coming off a 45-7 demotion of Illinois in its opener. And it had won 14 in a row vs. Purdue.

“I think we were all actually disappointed not being able to play a highly ranked team of Wisconsin, with a lot riding on the game, a team that we hadn't beat here in a while,” said Brohm, whose team won 31-24 at Illinois in its last game after opening with a 24-20 victory vs. Iowa. “We were excited about the opportunity, about the opportunity to go out there. Our guys were hungry to get back on the field.

“Bye weeks can be an advantage, but sometimes I don't like taking them. I think we had a decent rhythm going and we just got to make sure we're back in that rhythm. We understand that it's back to a normal game week. We have to have a great week of practice and preparation to get ready for the next opponent.”

No. 23 Northwestern--with victories vs. Maryland, at Iowa and vs. Nebraska--will provide ample opportunity as it already has equaled its win total from 2019. This is a classic Pat Fitzgerald team that is physical on both sides of the ball and doesn’t beat itself, often hallmarks during his 15 seasons at his alma mater. The arrival of coordinator Mike Bajakian has given a once moribund NU offense some life.

This is a chance for Purdue to see how it stacks up vs. a foe that has won the last four times it has visited Ross-Ade Stadium dating to a Boilermaker victory in 2007, the last time Purdue started 2-0. Purdue won last year’s meeting in Evanston, 24-22, on a last-second 39-yard field goal by J.D. Dellinger.

“There's a lot of things that we worked hard in the offseason to be ready for these type of games,” said Brohm, “trying to be physical up front more, trying to find ways to run the football more consistently, try and find ways to put pressure on the other team's quarterback. All the things that we worked on, we have got to put into play and we have got to execute and I think this will be a great opportunity for us to see how we stack up and measure up against the top team in our division and go from there.”

Is this the week Rondale Moore will make his 2020 debut? The sophomore wideout hasn’t played since injuring his left hamstring on Sept. 28, 2019. And what about George Karlaftis? The sophomore had to be helped off the field at Illinois in Purdue’s last game. Others whose status appears to be murky: center Sam Garvin, left guard Cam Craig, receivers Maliq Carr and Mershawn Rice and running back King Doerue.

“Well, you know, what I could tell you once again is we're gonna try to get all those guys back as fast as we can,” said Brohm. “They're all working hard. The only one that will be out the remainder of the season is Cam Craig. He had to have surgery. And he'll be back in time for spring ball and all that stuff once we we get back, or at least around that vicinity. So, he's out for the rest of the year. But all the others, like always, we're hopeful to get back as fast as we can.”

If Karlaftis is unable to go, sophomore end Jack Sullivan would see his role increase.

"Jack, he's got some toughness to him," said Brohm. "I think he's hungry. I think he wants to go out there and prove himself. He's got good length. He's improved in our system here. Now, it's his time to go out there and showcase what he's about. I think that the desire and the want-to is there, and he's got a great opportunity against a good football team. So, he needs to play well.

"We need to spell him some, you can see (Sulaiman) Kpaka in there a little bit and we hope that he can, even though he's had limited experience, can do some good things when he's out there, but he hasn't played a whole lot. So Jack really needs to step up and really do a good job this week."

Craig is a rising talent. The redshirt freshman started the opener vs. Iowa, when he was injured. Redshirt freshman Spencer Holstege has taken over at left guard and done well. He also can play center.

"Spencer really is still a young offensive linemen," said Brohm. "He's one of those guys that really has exceeded our expectations to this point, because he's kind of hungry, he loves football, he has questions of--Why am I not starting? What can I do more?--which is what you want to see out of any player on your team. And he's got some toughness and he wants to be on the field and that matters as much as anything."

Brohm also said fifth-year senior receiver Jackson Anthrop is making progress after sustaining a shoulder injury in camp and undergoing surgery.

“Jackson has healed about as fast as we can imagine,” said Brohm. “He's worked extremely hard at it. He's been able to practice basically with an orange jersey on, where we can't contact him or can't do anything where he gets to the ground. But he's still a little ways off with the full healing of his shoulder. So, I think as soon as we get the all-clear from the doctor that the shoulder's fully healed, he'll be in great physical condition shape due to the fact that he's been able to work out and actually practice on a limited basis. So, we're hopeful in the near future that will happen.”

Brohm has declared the punting job open after sophomore Brooks Cormier struggled at Illinois. Don’t be shocked to see junior Zac Collins get some playing time on Saturday. The duo split reps this past week in practice.

“Well, the competition is open,” said Brohm. “We've worked both of our punters that are vying for that competition right now. … I would anticipate seeing both those guys on the field. They’re going to have to prove to us that they’re ready to play. If for some reason somebody is hot, we will ride with that. But we want to have consequences if someone's not producing and being consistent. That’s really kind of what we want to get. We want to get Brooks to be more consistent. We want to Zac to be ready to go … “

Cormier got off two poor kicks in the fourth quarter to set up Illinois in good field position during a tight game. One punt travelled 19 yards and went out of bounds at the Illini 45. (Illinois subsequently scored a TD to cut Purdue's lead to 31-24). The next punt went 28 yards and was returned 16 yards to the Illini 48 (Illinois drove to Purdue’s 8-yard line before turning the ball over on downs).

Collins averaged 39.0 yards on 33 punts last year, when Cormier averaged 40.3 on 28. Cormier is averaging 42.6 yard on nine punts this season.

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