Purdue vs Northwestern: 5 Keys to Victory

A once in a lifetime game.

Purdue will play at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field tomorrow. What an unique opportunity for these players and coaches. As well as for fans, when I found out about the game, I knew I had to go.

I am looking forward to being surrounded by Boilermakers tomorrow.

But, what are 5 items that need accomplished for us to win? Northwestern is down, but, Coach Brohm has struggled against Pat Fitzgerald during his time at Purdue. What do we do to win?

Here are my thoughts:

1. RTDB - Run the Damn Ball - Northwestern allows 230 yards per game rushing. Good for the bottom of the B1G. Purdue Averages just under 80 yards per game rushing, good for bottom of the B1G. I think we can run the ball a bit against these guys, with a nice mixture of Zander, King and Jackson. In what is expected to be a windy day, we may need to.
2. Force Feed David Bell - I mean, this is a key every single week. The Future NFL player needs at minimum 12 targets. NW has limited opponents to under 200 Yards Per Game Passing, but, I don’t think that holds true vs Purdue tomorrow.
3. Stop the Northwestern Run - Northwestern, quite frankly, can’t throw the ball, even with an effective running game. They complete only 56% of their passes and have as many interceptions as touchdowns (12). But, what they can do is hand the ball off to Evan Hull. The 3rd year sophomore has over 800 yards and 5 TDS, as well as carrying a nice 5.8 YPC stat line. Stop him and we win.
4. Punt the Ball Better.. PLEASE - Coach opened up a punting competition, again. Ansell has been up and down, but my goodness was that 16 yard punt last week just terrible.
5. Win the Coaching Battle - Fitz has won this battle so far in career matchups. In big games, Brohm usually rises to the occasion. But, it seems like in games against unranked opponents we play and coach to that level. We need him to rise above.