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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 6 • 20 BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com A bout a half dozen Boilermak- ers earned "winning" perfor- mances for the defense, a sign of how well they played in holding Iowa in check. Purdue was particularly good in the first quarter Saturday, when the Hawkeyes had only 14 yards of offense, were held without a first down and gave up a pick-six to Frankie Williams. "We played a serious quarter of football," defensive coordinator Greg Hudson said Wednesday, fol - lowing the 24-10 loss to the Hawk- eyes. "The guys were fired up, they were focused and came out and were flying around. They were sac- rificing their bodies. It was all 11. You could see the flow of each guy fitting where he was supposed to be and just the intensity." It's been a steady progression for the Boilermakers, starting with their performance against Notre Dame in Week 3, then to Southern Illinois and Iowa. But against the Hawkeyes, it might have been at its best, at least through the 17- game tenure of Darrell Hazell and Co. Iowa generated 420 yards of offense but scored only 24 points, and only 136 yards came in the first half. The Boilermak - ers wore down in the second, as their offense failed to generate the drives necessary to score points and keep the defense off the field. But Hudson doesn't like that reason. "Get a three-and-out," he said. "We did it in the first quarter, do it again. You can say you're out there a bunch of plays, but make those third down plays and we're off the field just like the first quarter." Hudson says the next step is for the Boilermakers to play a com - plete 60-minute game. "Take that first quarter and do it for 60 minutes," he said. "There's no magic to it. Do what we did in the first quarter and do it for four. And it's not easy or everybody would be doing it. That's why I'm probably over-critical and obnoxious on Tues- days and Wednesdays. We want them to get out on the game field and be able to exhale and execute and play at their best." WHO'S THE QB? Purdue spent the week determining who its starting quarterback would be against the Fighting Illini. And on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was Aus- tin Appleby over Danny Etling, who struggled against Iowa, who got a vast majority of the team snaps in practice. What is Purdue seeking? "We've just got to be efficient like we have been at times this year F O OT BA L L Offensive Coordinator John Shoop Defensive Coordinator Greg Hudson Defense On The Rise Tom Campbell The Boilermaker defense was at its best early in the game when it held Iowa to no first down and 14 yards in the first quarter. Defensive coordinator Greg Hudson knows his unit has to build on its "serious quarter of football."