It’s not do-or-die. There’s too much time left in the Big Ten schedule for that.But tonight’s Purdue-Illinois game is important as both teams try to build momentum down the stretch. The teams meet at 8:30 p.m.WEST LAFAYETTE – The countdown started immediately after Purdue beat Indiana on Nov. 21 – the final game of last season.
“The Notre Dame game was 273 days away or something,” junior linebacker Joe Holland said.
At various points during summer workouts, an updated number would pop up in the weight room, signaling days dwindling until the season opener.
Typically, Purdue opens with a lesser-quality opponent. It hasn’t started a season against Notre Dame since 1984 and hasn’t opened at Notre Dame Stadium since 1980.
So getting a big opportunity – national television against a storied program and rival – to start the season served as motivation to continue to push and test limits during the offseason.
“From the very end of the season, we’ve been working toward this point,” Holland said. “It creates a great sense of urgency in our lifting, our conditioning, during two-a-days and hopefully that will put us where we need to be for Saturday.”
Robert Marve, who will start his first game at quarterback for the Boilermakers, said he thinks this matchup is the “right game for this team,” in that it’s one that provides a great opportunity for a team that could have at least 10 players getting their first starts.
“People are going to get weeded out this game,” senior receiver Keith Smith said. “Either you’re going to come out and perform, or you’re going to have to come sit on the bench. Real players are going to come out to perform on Saturday. It’s going to be a great environment.”
The Boilermakers’ last victory against Notre Dame in South Bend was in 2004, but they’ve lost 15 of the last 16 games there.
Coach Danny Hope, who was a senior at Eastern Kentucky the last time Purdue opened in South Bend, said he isn’t concerned about those numbers. Then he noted that Purdue snapped long streaks last season by beating a ranked opponent and winning at Michigan.
But Hope knows how much is riding on this game, even if it is only the first game of the season.
“It’s an opportunity to springboard the program,” he said. “It could be a difference-maker for us in the very first game. … I think it could do some of the same things for the program that the big wins from last year did for us. It certainly rallies up all the Boilermaker Nation, will get national attention, brings great proven credibility to the development and the direction of our program. It’d be a huge coup, if you will, in the record books. There’s a million things to gain from a win. There’s a million things to gain from preparing to win.
“We can’t lose Saturday. We can’t.”
