Danny Hope

SI: Is this your deepest Purdue team?

DH: It's significantly improved from a personnel standpoint. We're much further along. We've never before started the season with a quarterback that has any game experience at all.

SI: Are you almost too deep at quarterback?

DH: That throws people off sometimes. Caleb Terbush went into spring ball as No. 1 and he came out of spring ball as No. 1. But we're always going to try to get our No. 2 quarterback, Robert Marve, in the game at some points. That way if No. 1 gets injured, No. 2 has some game experience.

SI: HOW IMPORTANT WAS WINNING A BOWL GAME LAST YEAR?

DH: REALLY IMPORTANT. [PREVIOUSLY] WE HAD PUT IN SOME GREAT EFFORT AND FALLEN SHORT. TO WIN WAS HUGE. BUT IT ALSO MADE US HUNGRIER.

SI: What made you bring Tim Tibesar to Purdue as your defensive coordinator?

DH: His head coach in the CFL, Marc Trestman, told me Tim was one of the brightest football minds he's been around, with a great mastering of the fundamentals. Our interview substantiated everything Marc had said. Tim's a very high-character guy, and his defensive plan is rock solid.

SI: What do you want to change on defense?

DH: We didn't have enough takeaways last season. We were able to manufacture more pressure in the second half of the season with our front line.