PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB David Blough has come a long way from the days where he and Elijah Sindelar were fighting over playing time. He threw for 378 yards and three touchdowns in the victory over the Buckeyes and didn’t turn the ball over. His steady play running the offense has been a key factor in the four-game winning streak.
–WR Rondale Moore is going to earn a lot of Freshman of the Year trophies after the season. He continues to be all but impossible for defenses to stop, with 12 catches for 170 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Ohio State last week.
–LB Markus Bailey continued his dominance in the linebacking corps, and the Columbus native left Ohio State fans wondering why the Buckeyes couldn’t have found a scholarship for him when he was a high school senior. Boilermaker fans are grateful for that recruiting oversight, as he had 15 tackles and a game-clinching pick-six last week.
–DB Antonio Blackmon played the best game of his college career on the biggest stage thus far in 2018. He broke up two passes, both of which came on third down plays that stalled Ohio State drives and finished with six tackles. It’s no coincidence that Purdue’s recent run of success has been accompanied by much-improved play in the secondary.
SERIES HISTORY: Michigan State leads Purdue 35-28-3. The Spartans enter the weekend with a seven-game winning streak against the Boilermakers.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I think we understand it’s a one-game season and we’ve had some extreme highs and some extreme lows all in one season. So anything can happen when we play the game if we’re not fully ready and hitting on all cylinders. We know this team will come ready to play and if we don’t play well, we’ll get blown off the field, so we have to do all the small things to give ourselves a chance to win and we’re going to work very hard to do that.” — Coach Jeff Brohm, on his team’s mindset heading into the Michigan State game after upsetting No. 2 Ohio State.
