Purdue Vs Iowa: 5 Things We Learned

Purdue pulled off another upset in front of another sell out crowd at Ross-Ade Stadium. Against number 16 Iowa, Purdue started hot and the offense was hitting on all cylinders. The Blough lead Boilermakers diced up one of the best defenses in the B1G, including what is considered by many the best front four.

Now, with just 3 games left, Purdue only needs one more win, having to beat one of the following, Minnesota, Wisconsin or IU, all very beatable teams. We even have a chance to win out, and have 8 wins going into bowl season.

But, what are the five things we learned from the past weekend?

First, we learned that David Blough has earned a long leash. After a terrible performance last week, Blough came out looking great. But then he had a couple of terrible interceptions, last year he would have been benched for those. This year, Coach Brohm has trust in him to shake it off. Blough went on to drive down the field to set up a late field goal for Spencer Evans, working the clock perfectly.

Secondly, we learned that Nick Holt learns from his mistakes. Sure, we gave up 36 points, but we didn’t see soft man coverage like we did the week before. We may have seen more press coverage than we have all year. Coach Holt said early last week that it was his mistake for the soft coverage, not the players.

The third we learned is that Joe Schopper is turning into one of the best Punters in the nation. He continues to improve as the season goes on. The senior from Cathedral has gotten his average up to 44 yards per punt, an improvement of 4 yards from last year.

Fourth, we learned that Rondale Moore is a great decoy. Rondale, who was a game time decision with a lower body injury, was held in check. But, with he being mostly a decoy the entire game, still opened opportunities up for Terry Wright and Isaac Zico. Terry Wright had a career day, with 6 catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns. While we want a healthy Rondale Moore, it was nice to see other players step up.

The last thing we learned was about this team’s toughness and fortitude. After blowing the lead, we could have tucked our tail and took the loss. But, these players knew that this was an important win, as it kept us in the race for the Big Ten West and for a bowl game. The offense did what they had to do late in the game, controlling the clock and even with having a rough year, Coach Brohm showed confidence in Spencer Evans who hit a game winner.