Purdue Football: Can the Boilermakers rebound this season?
By Dante Pryor
Can the secondary play better this season?
Purdue needs to play better defense if it hopes to win games this fall. Scoring has not been the issue in West Lafayette. The key to Purdue’s success is playing complementary defense.
After surrendering over 34 points the last three games with opponents completing over 60 percent of their passes, Jeff Brohm replaced the defensive coordinator for the second consecutive season.
Bob Diaco was relieved of his duties, replaced by Brad Lambert from Marshall. Lambert’s 4-3 base defense looks to take advantage of defensive end George Karlaftis’ skill set.
Indiana transfer Damarjhe Lewis and South Carolina transfer Joe Anderson give Purdue much-needed depth on the interior of their line. DaMarcus Mitchell needs to take advantage of the many one-on-one matchups he should see as teams double Karlaftis on the other end.
The biggest additions to Purdue’s defense are on the coaching staff. In addition to Lambert as defensive coordinator, Brohm added Mark Hagen from Texas to coach the defensive line and Ron English from Florida to coach the defensive backs. English is also a crack recruiter.
The back end is full of veterans who played well early last season. Cory Trice and Dedrick Mackey are formidable at corners, and both Marvin Grant and Cam Allen can create turnovers at safety. If they can stay on the field and create turnovers, the Purdue defense could see lots of improvement.