Purdue Football Fall Camp: First Day Provides Foundation for Boilermakers to Improve on
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue football fall camp is now in full swing, and the team is working toward its first game of the year against Oregon State on Sept. 4.
The Boilermakers kicked off Day 1 of camp inside Ross-Ade stadium. And while the team is not yet in full pads, the players and coaching staff are looking to build off their first practice ahead of the 2021 season.
They're coming to practice ready to compete and push themselves to get better.
"I thought we had some good things throughout practice," Brohm said. "Like every practice, there's some things we have to work on and continue to get better, but it's a good start. It's something to build on. And I know we'll watch the film and hopefully improve and get ready for tomorrow."
This week, fans are permitted to be in attendance for Purdue football practices. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the first time since the 2019 season that spectators occupied seats inside Ross-Ade stadium.
📸 Day One view is a good one. #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/K1fkEmGu6D
— Purdue Football (@BoilerFootball) August 6, 2021
With a crowd cheering on the players, it was a glimpse of the added energy that football stadiums across the Big Ten and the country have been desperately missing. Those fans will be back at the team's home stadium when the Boilermakers take on the Beavers.
"It was definitely nice to have our fans back out. We had a great showing, we appreciate them coming out," Brohm said. "We look forward to them coming out even more and to games supporting us. Our players thrive when they're here and feed off that. I think it's going to be a great atmosphere."
As the team inches closer to its first matchup, the goal right now is to improve. Purdue football hasn't posted a winning record since Brohm's first year leading the program in 2017. Last season, the team finished with a 2-4 record. Three of the team's four losses were by one score.
Now, with a full slate of games expected for the upcoming year, there will be more opportunity for the Boilermakers to come out on the winning side of its close matchups, which was something they couldn't do a season ago.
"Our goals are always going to continue to be better and to push ourselves to improve each and every year. We always want to compete, beat our rivals and compete to win championships," Brohm said. "We understand that for us, it's about finishing games. Play it tougher to the very end, finding ways to work on some of our weaknesses on both sides of the ball, which I think we have set up a plan to do that. We just got to continue to go out, practice and execute it."
Stories Related to Purdue Football:
- BIG TEN DAILY, AUG. 6: Former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons is already making plays for the Dallas Cowboys, five-star cornerback Cormani McClain includes Ohio State in top five and former Penn State defensive lineman Anthony Zettel announced his retirement from the NFL. CLICK HERE
- 5 QUESTIONS AHEAD OF PURDUE FOOTBALL FALL CAMP: Purdue football's fall camp is set to begin Friday, with the first six practices being open to fans and media. Here are five of the biggest questions looming over the program that we'll search for answers for in August. CLICK HERE
- PURDUE FOOTBALL ADDS TWO STAFF MEMBERS: Purdue football has added David Elson and Mel Mills to the program's staff. Elson will serve in a quality control role while Mills was named director of player development. CLICK HERE
- NCAA RELEASES UPDATED COVID-19 GUIDELINES: The NCAA released new COVID-19 guidelines ahead of the fall sports season. It includes procedure regarding those with the highest rates of exposure but is subject to change as more date continues to emerge. CLICK HERE
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.