Know Your Opponent: Like IU, It's Purdue's Defense That is Leading Their Success

Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

 Head Coach: Jeff Brohm

Overall: 35-16 4th Year

At Purdue 5-6 (3-5)

Bowl Appearances at Purdue: 0

2017 Record: 5-6 Beat Iowa 24-15 at Iowa

Bowl Appearances Since 2000: 13  (5-8)

Mascot: Boilermaker Special and Purdue Pete

Colors: Black and Gold

Outfitter: Nike

National Titles: 0

Conference Titles: 12

Heisman Winners: 0

Talking Points

1. Most Significant Old Oaken Bucket Matchup Since 2007?

The Indiana Hoosiers have come into the Old Oaken Bucket game the last two seasons need two seasons needing a win over Purdue to secure a bowl berth, while the Boilermakers were just hoping to dash those dreams and end disappointing seasons on a high note. However, 2017 has the feel of 2007 in college football and for the first time since that whacky year, the Boilermakers and Hoosiers both have bowl implications to play for.

Both teams come into the game at 5-6 needing the victory to secure a postseason berth. The Hoosiers have won two in a row (Illinois and Rutgers) while the Boilermakers are coming in off an impressive 24-15 win at Iowa.

2. The Linebackers for Each Team Deserve the Spot Light

We all know about the men manning the middle of the Hoosier defense in Tegray Scales and Chris Covington, but Purdue has two great linebackers as well in Ja’Whaun Bentley and Markus Bailey. These backers are Purdue’s top two tacklers. Bentley leads the team with 81 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and an interception. Bailey, who had a big game in Bloomington last season, has had a great sophomore campaign making 63 tackles, 7.5 coming for a loss with five sacks. He has also picked off a pass, broke up two others while forcing and recovering a fumble.

3. This Will Be a Game For The Seniors on Each Side

Last weekend 22 IU players took the field at Memorial Stadium for the final time. Purdue has 15 fourth and fifth-year seniors that will be playing at Ross-Ade Stadium for the final time this week. For both sides getting to a bowl game will be the cherry on top of their careers. IU’s seniors haven’t lost to Purdue and conversely the Purdue players haven’t beaten Indiana. This game will come down to whose seniors want it more. IU’s seniors were key in their 41-0 win over Rutgers last week and should be able to carry over that urgency into this week.

4. It’s Purdue’s Defense, Not Offense That Has Been Most Impressive

There is no doubt that new Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm is an offensive wizard, but Purdue’s quick turnaround should be credited to defensive coordinator Nick Holt and the Boilermaker defense.

The Purdue defense was ranked 91st in the nation in 2016 surrendering 445.8 yards per game, Holt along with a senior laden defense, has taken the Boilermakers all the way up to 35th in the nation in total defense at 359.5 yards given up per game.

Offensively, Purdue was 100th in the nation in scoring in 2016 and 101st in 2017 at 24.5 points per game.

5. Both Teams Will Have to Be Two-Dimensional to Win

We saw what IU could do when the offense was balanced last week and accounted for 503 total yards. Both Indiana and Purdue have had trouble running the ball most of the year. The Boilermakers sit at 10th in the Big Ten with 139.9 yards on the ground per game, while the Hoosiers are right behind them at 11th with 130.8 yards per game. The team that can both pass and run the ball the best will have the upper hand on Saturday.

Purdue is led by running back D.J. Knox, who is the only Boilermaker running back to play in every game this season, with 412 yards and a score on 74 carries. Indiana’s run game exploded last week for over 200 yards and the one-two punch of freshmen Morgan Ellison and Cole Gest have been terrific the last two games. Ellison leads the way with 688 yards and six touchdowns on 134 carries while Gest has provided 388 yards and a score while toting the rock 80 times.

As far as the throwing game is concerned IU quarterback Richard Lagow has been really good the last four games throwing for 884 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. The mid-season benching has woken him up and the fifth-year senior has taken back control of the position. On the other side, Purdue used two quarterbacks all year until David Blough broke his ankle against Illinois. He was completing 65 percent of his passes and threw for nine touchdowns and 1,103 yards so he’s a significant loss to this team. Elijah Sindelar who has started most of the year has been solid completing 56.3 percent of his passes for 1,544 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. Over the last two games he has thrown five touchdowns to just one interceptions. However, he has been banged up as well. Both team’s have quarterbacks capable of exploding for big days, but they will likely need the help of the running game to do so.