What Jeff Brohm Said Ahead of Purdue Football's Road Game Against Illinois
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Following a 24-3 loss to Iowa, Purdue football is on the road on Saturday for a matchup against Illinois. The two teams are scheduled to kick off at noon ET inside Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.
Head coach Jeff Brohm met with the media on Monday for his weekly press conference to discuss the team's recent defeat and give his first assessment of the Fighting Illini as both programs are among those battling for the Big Ten West.
Here's everything he had to say ahead of the game, including video from the press conference attached to this article:
Opening Statement
BROHM: It's time to get back to work. Obviously a lot of things to work on. We understand that. When you're faced with challenges you got to respond, so our team needs to respond. We have a lot of work to do against a really good opponent who's playing at a really high level. Beat the last two teams that beat us, both Iowa and Wisconsin.
Defense is aggressive. I think has been ranked No. 1 in the country. Done a great job. And offensively, really good running back. The quarterback come in and has done a good job.
Going to their place is always going to be difficult. So we got our hands full. Our guys understand that. That's life in our conference, and we have to dig deep and work hard to improve and not feel sorry for ourselves.
We got to dig ourselves out of a hole and work hard to get better.
On quarterback Aidan O'Connell, offensive struggles against Iowa...
BROHM: Well, like everything, it's a combination of things. As you look back on it, wasn't ideal conditions to throw, which is going to take off the ability to be precise in the passing game.
So we may have asked him to throw too much I guess. As you look around, Ohio State threw for 60 yards and won a game in similar conditions and relied on the running game.
So it means we have to be better and I have to be better at doing things in not ideal situations. We have not played well in bad elements. Even my brother, Brian, told me a story in. In the CFL in a key playoff game when they had Henry Burris who was the All-CFL quarterback and bad conditions were coming, real bad conditions, they played their backup. It was a running quarterback the entire game and won the game and didn't even play him at all.
Not that we would go to that extreme, but you have to be smart and make sure that you're doing things that are capable of being done.
At the same time, yes, he could have played better. The interception cost us. You know, he just missed by a little bit, and sometimes the elements affect that. Sometimes being able to have patience in the pocket affects it. It's a combination of all those things.
We were able to move the ball at times early on, and then the drives stalled and we weren't good on third down converting. They were able to get up and guard us and we weren't precise throwing the ball.
Unfortunately, we had way too many guys open for them early on for them for easy touchdowns. For us to win last year we were better as an overall team. We've got to play better as an overall team. All three segments have to do their part or we're not going to win the game.
On failing to take early leads and failing to stop the run in last two losses...
BROHM: Well it's always important to get the lead, but we have to be able to win games when we don't get the lead, and that hasn't happened. We have got to be able to stop the run against good running teams, which we are facing now, and that needs to be more consistent.
Really wide-open guys in the passing game is what has really crushed us. That has to stop. It's a combination of coaching and putting them in the best position to do a better job. That's on us. We have to do a better job of that and making sure that doesn't happen.
You can't give up easy touchdowns. Our guys play hard. It's on us to get that fixed. As far as getting the lead, we have to be efficient. We can't turn it over. Whether we have the lead or not, we have to figure out a way to win when we don't, and that has not happened.
On finding ways to shore up the secondary for the last three games of the season...
BROHM: There is, and I think that's for us to figure out and get done. I do think we have not done a good enough job, including myself, to put them in the best position to succeed.
There are some things that I don't want to give away everything that we need to do different, but man coverage has hurt us. Man coverage without extra linebackers helping for crossers and middle-of-the-field throws has hurt us. Times we blitzed with no help has crushed us. There have been some times where we have a check or two on defense that did not get fully communicated across the board, which has hurt us more than a few times.
So that needs to stop. We need to play what we have called. There are just a multitude of small things. Yes, we need to do better job to put our players in the position to succeed and help them play better. That's our job to get that done.
On senior safety Cam Allen not starting against Iowa...
BROHM: Well, everybody I think from myself on down needs to pick it up and be more efficient and coach better and play better. Everybody struggles at times. I think we can help Cam Allen play better and get back to playing the way he's capable of.
Now, we have to all be willing tacklers and be in the right spot when do have a certain call is made. If not, we're going to rotate guys around quite a bit. I think we can play better. We need to play better. We can help our guys hopefully get that done.
Now, we're going to face a good team and be challenged, so we've got to step up to the plate and find a way to get it done.
On if Aidan O'Connell is looking to Charlie Jones too much in the passing game...
JEFF BROHM: Well, could always be a possibility. We have to continue to work to spread the ball around. All of our guys need to find ways to get open. There were multiple times that we didn't gain much separation, and sometimes Aidan will press and go to a guy that he trusts a little bit more. Sometimes he's actually right going to it a little bit more; sometimes he's not.
So, yes, continuing to improve that group, possibly continue to go find ways to get ball -- get some yardage on the ground, continuing to find ways to get touchdowns when we get inside.
I did a bad job of that in running the football and being physical there, but definitely there is a lot of things that -- small things that add up that can cause you to be very inefficient, and that happened.
On if health is affecting Aidan O'Connell's play...
BROHM: I don't think so. I think that he could probably be pressing too much at times. I think maybe in those conditions we may have asked the passing game to be too precise and we didn't get open a whole lot. When we did, they found a way to grab us on double moves and get the pass interference and not give up the big play.
So it's just a combination of things. I think Aidan knows that he can play better and we're going to try to help him play better.
On Brendan Cropsey coming in for Jack Ansell at punter against Iowa...
BROHM: Jack has been nicked up, unfortunately. Some type of tendonitis in his knee got worse as the week went on. Going into the game we knew we could play both, and then I think towards the end we just got Cropsey in.
On why Purdue has struggled in poor weather...
BROHM: I think when you're a precision passing team, that's not going to be as effective, so in those conditions, you have to have a sound run game. You have to be committed to the run game. When you do throw, has to be some type of easy completion that isn't going to be stuck up in the wind very much.
You have to be really good on defense. I'll take the blame for that. We had thoughts of going with a multi-quarterback package and had some of that ready. We did not choose to use it during the game but probably should have.
On if playing multiple quarterbacks could be in play this week...
JEFF BROHM: As I look forward I don't know what the weather is going to be. Did look great during the week and was cold and windy on Saturday. Yes, everything will be in play.
On Illinois running back Chase Brown...
BROHM: Well, he's done an outstanding job. He's one of the best in the country. Their offensive line is big and physical. They've done a good job running the football, and that's kind of their strength. No. 1 in the country in defense and a really sound running game and just been efficient enough in the passing game, with a couple good speed receivers. That's why they're playing well.
But he's tough. He's been tough. He's physical. He's got good hands. We're going to have to figure out a way to keep him in check or could be a long day.
On third-down struggles against Iowa...
BROHM: Well, third down, that's when they got up in our face and challenged us, and we weren't able to win one-on-one battles. When we did, we weren't precise enough to complete the pass in those conditions. As you look back on it, we need to run the ball more on third down.
On why Charlie Jones isn't having a lot of yards after the catch recently...
BROHM: Well, I think Charlie has played very hard. He's been very tough. He's been limited more in practice than we have ever had a receiver be limited, but we have to do what we can to get him to the game. I think that hurts him.
He has more probably from what I saw contested catches than anybody in the country. That means he's not getting real open, not as much room to run.
So whether or not it's his strength or not, it's just a combination of a lot of things. They're trying to get up and guard him in his face and he's working hard to get open and catch balls.
But when he's the focal point, he's going to demand a lot of the attention, and we have to improve in areas around him.
On talking to the team about still being in a position to win the Big Ten West...
BROHM: We brought it up briefly last week. Obviously, that didn't work. No, we're going to get right back to our only goal is to win the game and play better football.
We have to do it against a team that's really hot. I know they lost last week, but they have been playing really good football. Last year we had to score on the last drive to come back and win.
As we go back and look, really last year against us was the first game that they brought out this new style of defense they're playing, which is somewhat of a 5-1 package, guys stacked on the line of scrimmage.
But that's the first time they ever played it against us. They mixed it in and it was very effective. Then from there, they've taken it and it's almost all they run at this point. They're that good at it.
So it presents challenges. It's going to cause you to have to figure out way to run some. They're going to load the box and make you throw the football more than you like normally.
But they have a lot of mixtures off of it. So this is something we have studied a lot because it's basically what they've ran the entire year. After our game last year they started to run it more. It helped them upset Penn State and played a lot of other really good teams.
Now they've got really efficient quarterback play with the transfer and an outstanding running game. When you have that, makes for a really good team.
On why the defensive scheme has worked for Illinois...
BROHM: Well, it's a great scheme in my opinion. We studied it. Really haven't -- we ran it a couple of times this past week. It works because, like I said, they got guys up on the line of scrimmage, guys in the box. It's hard to run against.
When you pass you got to get it out faster because they have a lot of guys coming after the quarterback, and their secondary has played well. They don't press a lot so that you get an easy completion, but they're going to play off and a little bit of catch technique and sit on some routes and make you double-move them.
Like we did with the last team, they grabbed us every time we did and just and took the PI. You have to be patient enough to figure out a way to get something over the top.
So it's been very efficient for them this year. They've shut down teams. And to be ranked No. 1 in the country in total defense, you're doing something really good.
On running back King Doerue and safety Chris Jefferson...
BROHM: Chris will not be available this game, and King, as of right now, probably will not.
On Iowa adjusting to Purdue's passing attack on Saturday...
BROHM: Well, as you look at it, they blitzed us less in this game. Last year they blitzed us a little more and gave us single coverage on the outside and we were able to hit quite a few things.
This game, especially when they got the lead, they cover you down with two safeties and get up in your face because they know they have help, and that makes it hard to pass against. We've always known that.
Last year I was surprised they came after us as much and it helped us quite a bit. And of course, they probably did because we had the lead and they wanted to be more aggressive. This year they got to play their base system. You have to be able to run the ball against that. You just have to be able to it.
There is a reason they're in the Top 5 in the country every year in defense with good players, but they're not getting the five star players. They're getting the most out of their guys. They're very sound in what they do. They keep it in front. They challenge routes. They know where their help is.
In two-high looks they walk out on the slot receivers all the way, get up in their face, and it causes you to work hard to get open.
So yes, they did a good job. And yes, in those conditions the holes were smaller and we aren't able to hit the few we had. It was not a good day for us.
On the possibility of wide receiver Elijah Canion returning to the field...
BROHM: Doesn't look like it. There has been quite a -- not quite a few, but obviously some guys that haven't been able to play for us. I don't see to happening any time soon.
On the importance of the first few drives of a game to earn a lead...
BROHM: Well, we talk about that. That is important. We were able to move the ball early. Got stopped on third down a couple times getting yards and then got down.
And then from there, that's when we turned it over the first time, which caused them to score the second they touched it. Went up 14-nothing. Then we got down to the red zone again, threw another interception, and that made for a long day.
Now, like I said earlier, that's a perfect world. We have to be able to win when we don't get the lead. That we have not been good at. We have to get better at it. That's the way it is. We have to have a better plan, we have got to be tougher, we have to fight through it, and we have got to not make mistakes, continue to eliminate -- well, try it eliminate as many big plays as we can and get touchdowns.
So it's just a combination of all these things. We have a lot to work on, and we have to man up and see how tough we can possibly be because it's going to take everybody pulling together to try and get it done.
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