Purdue will take the lid off the 2018 season against Big Ten West rival Northwestern at Ross-Ade Stadium on Thursday in an 8 p.m. ET game televised by ESPN.
This is one of the most anticipated Purdue seasons in years, as the Boilermakers look to build on the momentum of Jeff Brohm's surprising 7-6 debut that saw the program win a bowl game for the first time since 2011. What will Purdue do for an encore after it closed 2017 with three wins in a row?
Northwestern could be a sleeper to win the Big Ten West, as Pat Fitzgerald is coming off one of the best seasons in his 11-year run as coach of his alma mater. The Wildcats went 10-3 in 2017, capping the year with a Music City Bowl victory over Kentucky. It was NU's second 10-win season in the last three years and the program's third consecutive season in a bowl game.
But a question looms over Northwestern: What's the status of Wildcat signal-caller Clayton Thorson? The senior is coming off a knee injury suffered in the bowl game. He has looked good in training camp, but Fitzgerald has remained mum on if Thorson will start ... or even play. The options behind Thorson lack experience. He is a legit NFL prospect who will leave campus as the program's best quarterback ever.
NU also is replacing all-time leading rusher Justin Jackson, but Fitzgerald has seven starters back on an offense that should have a good line. The new workhorse for an attack that loves to pound the rock is sophomore Jeremy Larkin, who ran foe 503 yards last season. The Wildcat defense also has potential with six starters back. The front seven looks salty, but the secondary has something to prove.
This will be the first of four home games to open this season for Brohm's crew. The last time Purdue began with four games in West Lafayette was 2006; that year, the Boilermakers started 4-0, knocking off Indiana State, Miami (Ohio), Ball State and Minnesota en route to an 8-6 record.
This also will be the first time Purdue has opened the season against a Big Ten foe since 1996, when it lost at Michigan State with Jim Colletto as coach. The Boilermakers last opened at home against a league opponent in 1979, when they played Wisconsin. From 1973 to 1979, Purdue began the season against a Big Ten foe.
Northwestern has controlled this series of late, winning the last four meetings and six of the last seven. Purdue's last win came in Evanston in 2010, a 20-17 triumph with Danny Hope as coach. The Boilermakers last beat the Wildcats in West Lafayette in 2007 when Joe Tiller was coach, as Northwestern has won the last three meetings at Ross-Ade.
• Key matchup: Keep an eye on the battle between the Purdue tight ends and the Northwestern safeties. Brohm loves to use his tight ends, and he has a nice trio in Cole Herdeman, Brycen Hopkins and Darius Pittman. They could pose issues for an inexperienced group of Wildcat safeties.
• Player on the spot: Purdue defensive end Kai Higgins. Time and again, Brohm has said his defense needs some pass rushers. Higgins is a former junior college transfer who enjoyed a good training camp and has the requisite skill set to bring the heat off the edge against Northwestern. Higgins plays the Leo spot, which is a hybrid linebacker/defensive end.
• Purdue will win if: The Boilermakers can mute the Northwestern run game. Fitzgerald typically does nothing fancy on offense. He likes to be physical, and that means running the ball early and often to set up play-action passes. Purdue's revamped front seven that has five new starters will be put to the test against a Wildcat o-line that has four starters back. Keep an especially close eye on Boilemaker defensive tackles Lorenzo Neal, Anthony Watts, Jeff Marks, Ray Ellis and Alex Criddle. If they can slow down the Wildcat rushing game, that will allow Purdue co-defensive coordinator Nick Holt to dial up pressure on the Northwestern passing game.