Purdue football: 3 takeaways from slim win at Northwestern in Week 11

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EVANSTON, ILLINOIS – NOVEMBER 09: Head coach Jeff Brohm of the Purdue Boilermakers in the huddle with his team during the second quarter in the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 09, 2019 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

2. Jeff Brohm is doing a masterful job

This was going to be the season where the Purdue Boilermakers take the next step toward contending in the Big Ten East. Purdue was going to build off of a season where they made it to a bowl, but Auburn let them know they still had work to do. That was fine as they were bringing back quarterback Elijah Sindelar and do-everything wide receiver Rondale Moore.

Then the injuries began.

First with Sindelar then Moore. All in all, there are over 20 players that were either out or questionable for the game on Saturday.

By mid-October they found themselves in the midst of a three-game losing streak. After a blowout win over Maryland, they lost two straight. By the end of October they were 2-6 and left for dead. After losing in a monsoon against Illinois, Jack Plummer and the offense put it all together in a win against Nebraska. The injury bug wasn’t done with the Boilermakers, however. Plummer broke his ankle and found himself out for the season.

In came Aidan O’Connell. He led the Boilermakers to a game winning touchdown against Nebraska, and is going to take the Boilermakers the rest of the way.

Jeff Brohm has this team at 4-6 and thinking about a bowl game. They’ll have to upset the Wisconsin Badgers to pull off a six-win season, but even if they finish 5-7, the job Brohm has done and the culture he’s created has this team playing hard and believing.

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