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MINNEAPOLIS — Adam Weber is only human.
For all the robotic, one-game-at-a-time talk that plagues college and professional athletics these days, Weber and the rest of the Minnesota Golden Gophers know what lies ahead. Trips to Penn State and Ohio State are on the horizon, and Minnesota (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) needs a win.
That's why the game Saturday against struggling Purdue (1-4, 0-1) is so important. The Boilermakers have lost four games in a row and come into TCF Bank Stadium fresh off giving away a home game to Northwestern last week.
If the Gophers can't win this one, they could be in for a long season.
"Coming into this Purdue game, going to the halfway point of our season, yeah this is a crucial game," Weber said. "You hate to say that any one game can kind of change the season, but I think this game has a lot of implications for our future and what type of season we're going to have."
The Gophers have lost two straight home games since opening their brand new stadium with a victory over Air Force on Sept. 12. That includes a 31-28 loss to rival Wisconsin last week, the sixth straight time that Minnesota has lost the Badgers.
"I'm not a guy that dwells much on what happened yesterday," coach Tim Brewster said. "I'm a big believer in today and tomorrow and the next day and that type of thing, and we understand that we missed a great opportunity to win a football game on Saturday against a quality opponent, a rival opponent. We didn't get the job done. We learned from the mistakes that we made. We move on."
The Boilermakers have a stinger to forget, too. They turned the ball over six times in a homecoming loss to the Wildcats last week, and haven't won a game since the season opener against Toledo.
New coach Danny Hope, who came from Eastern Kentucky to take over for longtime spread maven Joe Tiller, finds himself having to give his team a similar pep talk this week.
"We're not giving up on having a heck of a season or a heck of a football team," Hope said. "There's been some terrific play that we felt like we've improved in every phase of our football program, a lot of things about our football team as well.
"A lot of those things haven't shown up in the win column and that is unfortunate, but we feel good about the direction that we're going in and the price that we've paid, the ground work that we're laying."
Purdue is 113th in the country in turnover margin, one of the statistics tied most directly to success. Hope said there would be extra attention paid to ball security in practice this week.
Tiller put the Purdue program back on the map with a wide-open offense that often featured an empty backfield and five receiver sets. Hope has brought with him a renewed commitment to the running game, and Ralph Bolden is second in the Big Ten in yards rushing.
But after rushing for 352 yards in the first two games of the season, Bolden has battled some bumps and bruises and been held to 184 yards in the last three weeks. After the Gophers allowed 184 yards and three touchdowns to Wisconsin bruiser John Clay last week, Bolden is looking to get back on track.
"I would like for Ralph Bolden to get the ball more," Hope said. "I think anyone that's watched him play would come to reason that we need to get the ball to Ralph more, absolutely."
With road games against the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes — in two of the most intimidating stadiums in the Big Ten — coming up after their homecoming game on Saturday, the Gophers know they cannot afford another loss at home.
"It doesn't get any easier after this," Weber said. "Any time we play at home, we have to take advantage of that."
