Boston College Athletics
B1G Challenge Awaits in Indiana
September 18, 2018 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC knows how tough it will be to get a win Saturday on the road at Purdue
A palpable excitement permeated through Boston College this week. The Eagles earned a national ranking for the first time since 2008, thanks in no small part to an offensive showcase against Wake Forest. A 3-0 record marked the best start in 11 years, and BC ascended to the top of the ACC elite in categories on both sides of the ball.
The excitement could last so long, however, as the next test loomed at the end of the week. BC heads to Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium for the teams' first-ever meeting.
"We're excited about an opportunity to restart this week," head coach Steve Addazio said. "We're going on the road to play Purdue, a Big Ten team, (and) a tough place to play."
Purdue marks the fifth non-conference regular season game against a power conference opponent in the Addazio era. It's the third different opponent after Southern California and Notre Dame, and it's the first scheduled game against the Big Ten since BC played Northwestern in 2012.
"It's challenging," Addazio said. "We're going on the road to play a Big Ten team at their place. That's challenging. I think part of our maturation process of our program is to be able to take on one of these games and go get it done. That's not easy. Compared to the ACC, these are all really good power conferences. They all have legitimate, talented players."
Saturday will be Boston College's 83rd game against a current Big Ten program and first since last December's New Era Pinstripe Bowl against Iowa. It's the first regular season game since that game at Northwestern in 2012, and playing Purdue will leave only four teams from the conference BC has not faced, all of which are in the West Division (Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin).
"Obviously, the last time we played the Big Ten, it didn't go the way we wanted it to," running back AJ Dillon said. "I'm just excited for this test, and I'm confident with what we can do."
When BC lands in Indiana, it will find a Purdue team with a surprising record for all the wrong reasons. The Boilermakers are 0-3 for the first time since 1996 despite starting the season with four straight home games. They've lost each of those games by a combined eight points, and the last two each ended with last-second field goals.
"They've lost three games by eight points," Addazio said. "It reminds me a little bit of us a year ago. Those were very close games. It's a developing football team that's scary. I think they're talented. I think they're tough. Their coach is a tough guy, talented guy. Their team plays like that. That's a tough place to go play at. It will be a tough environment for us."
"I think this week will be an important week for us," Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm said. "We've got to come out, work hard, try to improve upon our weaknesses, push ourselves to do all the small things right and give ourselves a chance to win. We've got another big, tough football team coming in here that's playing very well. (They have) a very strong running game on offense, controls the ball on the clock and on defense, challenges you."
Purdue is one of college football's hidden gems. The Boilermakers have a proud tradition and are widely recognized as a quarterbacking factory. Len Dawson, Bob Griese and Drew Brees all started and won a Super Bowl, and the program produced other notable starters like Kyle Orton and Curtis Painter. Brees and Painter rewrote career excellence at Purdue, but both now look up at current starter David Blough after the latter threw for 572 yards in last week's loss.
It was Blough's breakout performance after an early-season time split with Elijah Sindelar. Sindelar was the Foster Farms Bowl MVP a year ago despite playing the final three-plus games of the season with a torn ACL. This year, he started the Northwestern game but was replaced by Blough. Against EMU, Blough started but was replaced by Sindelar.
"You can tell from their selection of plays that they have a sophisticated passing game," Addazio said. "They know what they're doing in the throw game. They're going to strive for balance. They have talented players."
"I think we feel very confident with the progress David made," Brohm said. "He played a very good game. He hung in there and made throws and sometimes he hung in there longer and made throws, which was huge progress. That was great to see. (We are) very proud of his effort, proud of his toughness, proud of his ability to continue to just fight hard and make plays."
Whoever is throwing the football can spread the ball around to a number of different receivers, led by Rondale Moore. Moore already has 25 receptions for 262 yards, and it's a number that was multiplied last week when he turned in 11 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown against Missouri. He's joined by Brycen Hopkins, who caught five balls for 136 yards last week, and Jared Sparks. Sparks made six catches against Mizzou to match his six-catch output against Northwestern. That makes it imperative for BC to avoid a Purdue offensive breakout, something that can be achieved with its own offense.
"I think this is a week where we have to control the football," Addazio said. "I don't think we need to turn this thing into letting them have the ball with multiple shots at going down the field. With balance, we want to control the football. That's our goal - to keep the ball away from them, keep the offense on the field. If we can strike, I'd rather have a touchdown than just a drive, so we'll do that too."
That balance will likely take center stage in the time of possession battle because Purdue's defense has been very hot and cold. The Boilermakers held Eastern Michigan to 69 yards rushing, but it came sandwiched between 166 yards allowed against Northwestern and 233 allowed against Missouri. In contrast, only Northwestern failed to throw for 300 yards or more.
"When you don't get much of a pass rush, the quarterback is throwing way too long and anybody can get open," Brohm said. "We have to get back to trying to create more of a pass rush and challenging routes more and making them turn. If the guy is able to buy extra time and earn it, we'll give it to him but I think some of our guys have lost a little bit of confidence. All those things tie together, and as coaches, we have to figure out ways to take what we have on defense to put pieces together and create so it (comes together).
Boston College and Purdue will kick off at 12 p.m. on Saturday from Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. The game can be seen on ESPN2 with radio broadcast available on the Boston College IMG Sports Network. It is also available on Sirius channel 976, XM channel 382 and satellite internet channel 958, with streaming audio available through the TuneIn app.
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The excitement could last so long, however, as the next test loomed at the end of the week. BC heads to Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium for the teams' first-ever meeting.
"We're excited about an opportunity to restart this week," head coach Steve Addazio said. "We're going on the road to play Purdue, a Big Ten team, (and) a tough place to play."
Purdue marks the fifth non-conference regular season game against a power conference opponent in the Addazio era. It's the third different opponent after Southern California and Notre Dame, and it's the first scheduled game against the Big Ten since BC played Northwestern in 2012.
"It's challenging," Addazio said. "We're going on the road to play a Big Ten team at their place. That's challenging. I think part of our maturation process of our program is to be able to take on one of these games and go get it done. That's not easy. Compared to the ACC, these are all really good power conferences. They all have legitimate, talented players."
Saturday will be Boston College's 83rd game against a current Big Ten program and first since last December's New Era Pinstripe Bowl against Iowa. It's the first regular season game since that game at Northwestern in 2012, and playing Purdue will leave only four teams from the conference BC has not faced, all of which are in the West Division (Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin).
"Obviously, the last time we played the Big Ten, it didn't go the way we wanted it to," running back AJ Dillon said. "I'm just excited for this test, and I'm confident with what we can do."
When BC lands in Indiana, it will find a Purdue team with a surprising record for all the wrong reasons. The Boilermakers are 0-3 for the first time since 1996 despite starting the season with four straight home games. They've lost each of those games by a combined eight points, and the last two each ended with last-second field goals.
"They've lost three games by eight points," Addazio said. "It reminds me a little bit of us a year ago. Those were very close games. It's a developing football team that's scary. I think they're talented. I think they're tough. Their coach is a tough guy, talented guy. Their team plays like that. That's a tough place to go play at. It will be a tough environment for us."
"I think this week will be an important week for us," Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm said. "We've got to come out, work hard, try to improve upon our weaknesses, push ourselves to do all the small things right and give ourselves a chance to win. We've got another big, tough football team coming in here that's playing very well. (They have) a very strong running game on offense, controls the ball on the clock and on defense, challenges you."
Purdue is one of college football's hidden gems. The Boilermakers have a proud tradition and are widely recognized as a quarterbacking factory. Len Dawson, Bob Griese and Drew Brees all started and won a Super Bowl, and the program produced other notable starters like Kyle Orton and Curtis Painter. Brees and Painter rewrote career excellence at Purdue, but both now look up at current starter David Blough after the latter threw for 572 yards in last week's loss.
It was Blough's breakout performance after an early-season time split with Elijah Sindelar. Sindelar was the Foster Farms Bowl MVP a year ago despite playing the final three-plus games of the season with a torn ACL. This year, he started the Northwestern game but was replaced by Blough. Against EMU, Blough started but was replaced by Sindelar.
"You can tell from their selection of plays that they have a sophisticated passing game," Addazio said. "They know what they're doing in the throw game. They're going to strive for balance. They have talented players."
"I think we feel very confident with the progress David made," Brohm said. "He played a very good game. He hung in there and made throws and sometimes he hung in there longer and made throws, which was huge progress. That was great to see. (We are) very proud of his effort, proud of his toughness, proud of his ability to continue to just fight hard and make plays."
Whoever is throwing the football can spread the ball around to a number of different receivers, led by Rondale Moore. Moore already has 25 receptions for 262 yards, and it's a number that was multiplied last week when he turned in 11 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown against Missouri. He's joined by Brycen Hopkins, who caught five balls for 136 yards last week, and Jared Sparks. Sparks made six catches against Mizzou to match his six-catch output against Northwestern. That makes it imperative for BC to avoid a Purdue offensive breakout, something that can be achieved with its own offense.
"I think this is a week where we have to control the football," Addazio said. "I don't think we need to turn this thing into letting them have the ball with multiple shots at going down the field. With balance, we want to control the football. That's our goal - to keep the ball away from them, keep the offense on the field. If we can strike, I'd rather have a touchdown than just a drive, so we'll do that too."
That balance will likely take center stage in the time of possession battle because Purdue's defense has been very hot and cold. The Boilermakers held Eastern Michigan to 69 yards rushing, but it came sandwiched between 166 yards allowed against Northwestern and 233 allowed against Missouri. In contrast, only Northwestern failed to throw for 300 yards or more.
"When you don't get much of a pass rush, the quarterback is throwing way too long and anybody can get open," Brohm said. "We have to get back to trying to create more of a pass rush and challenging routes more and making them turn. If the guy is able to buy extra time and earn it, we'll give it to him but I think some of our guys have lost a little bit of confidence. All those things tie together, and as coaches, we have to figure out ways to take what we have on defense to put pieces together and create so it (comes together).
Boston College and Purdue will kick off at 12 p.m. on Saturday from Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. The game can be seen on ESPN2 with radio broadcast available on the Boston College IMG Sports Network. It is also available on Sirius channel 976, XM channel 382 and satellite internet channel 958, with streaming audio available through the TuneIn app.
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