bowl game, he said, and they know what it'll take to do it. "There's a time a team has to say we're going to be
"We can still have a successful season — not exactly the season that we had in mind — but a season that at
" Marve said.
good or we're just going to be OK with losing, and I think we're starting to turn it around,
the end of the year that people can look back on and be proud of how we bounced back.
due's game at Illinois. • Kyle Charters: "Boy how things change in a week.
The following are our thoughts now, on the eve of Pur-
Seven days ago, not many would have thought Purdue could win a game, let alone three in a row. Now, the Boiler- makers seemed poised to pull it off. Against Iowa, Purdue found a formula for success: A power running game and efficient QB; what a novel concept. If the D can play consis- tently, Purdue might be bowling again." • Stacy Clardie: "Whether Purdue was following the game plan set forth by Gary Nord or Patrick Higgins used his influence as a play-caller to showcase some new plays and wrinkles in the offense, it worked against Iowa. It'd be nice to see a similar approach — use the tight ends to help the offensive line, play your best players the most and throw in some different formations — against Illinois. Pur- due's defense will be fine against an inept Illini offense. It's the Purdue offense I'm excited to watch for the first time this season." • Alan Karpick: "The best way for this football team
linois is really, really bad. Purdue has been bad, too, but it is better. The ball's now in your court, Boilermakers. Get it done.
to shut out all the peripheral noise going on around the program right now is to take care of business the next two weekends. Do that, and this season has a softer landing, something I wasn't sure was possible a couple weeks ago. • Brian Neubert: "I can not emphasize this enough: Il-
" " GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 23, EXPRESS 11 • 2
Purdue has won back-to-back games only once this season, and it hasn't had a three-game winning streak under Hope. But Illinois is struggling mightily — it has lost 12 con- secutive Big Ten games dating back to last season. Its offense has been stagnant without many playmakers and a defense loaded with them has under-performed under new coaches. That'd seem to offer extra hope that the Boilermak- ers can snatch their second consecutive road victory
"
— they have had more than one in a season only once under Hope — and ride into the finale with momentum. "We've seen throughout the year that we have to
play our best and be focused and ready for every oppo- nent or the outcome is not what we want, so we're go- ing to treat this one like it's the biggest game of the year because it is to us,
"(The Illini) might not have been having the season they were hoping for, but we obviously know they have a lot of talent and they're fighting. "All our games are one-game seasons. We know that if we happen to falter, we don't go to postseason play." j
" sophomore tight end Justin Sinz said.
Our special guests this week are former Purdue great Calvin Willliams and BTN analyst Tom Dienhart
NEXT SHOW NOV. 16 AT 2 P.M.!
Fridays this fall at a computer near you
featuring the staff of GoldandBlack.com Gold and Black LIVE Interactive live video-stream sports talk show — ask questions,
chat with other fans! Show will stream live on WLFI.com on selected Fridays during football and basketball season.
For complete schedule, visit the college page on WLFI.com. Trent Johnson, Agent
