What to expect from Purdue football in 2018

Purdue football is back in eleven days. What should students and fans expect from the 2018 season?

…The best atmosphere yet

In Jeff Brohm’s first season as head coach, the Boilers experienced their first winning record since 2011, first bowl appearance since 2012, and probably the most excitement on campus since Joe Tiller. In Darrel Hazel’s three seasons as head coach, Purdue won 3 conference games. In Brohm’s one season, they won 4. In 2018, the team should continue to improve, and buzz on campus is, trust me, continuing to grow. Purdue’s first game will be a Big Ten battle at home under the lights on ESPN against Northwestern. The excitement is huge on campus, and the students hope to not only enjoy the game, but impact it.

…a fun, high-powered offense

In 2017, Purdue averaged 25.2 points per game, most since 2011. This year, the Boilermakers have a chance to string back-to-back 25 PPG seasons for the first time since Tiller’s last two seasons, ’07 and ’08. Jeff Brohm’s teams have always been known for their offenses, and this season should be no different.

…a very tough schedule

ESPN has ranked Purdue’s schedule as the sixth-toughest in the nation. Out of conference, the Boilers will play Missouri and Boston College, both ranked in the top 35, higher than Purdue, 48th, in ESPN’s FPI. The real challenges, however, come in conference. In the Big Ten West, Purdue will play two top-25 teams in Wisconsin and Iowa. And in the Boilermaker’s crossover matchups, schools from the Big Ten East, they’ll play Michigan State and Ohio State, both top 10.

…somewhere between 0 and 3 starting quarterbacks

Last season, junior David Blough’s season ended early after he broke his leg at Illinois. Then-sophomore Elijah Sindelaar took over quite well and led the Boilers to a 6–6 regular season record and a bowl win. So who will be QB1 in 2018? The answer, so far, is TBA. Brohm brought both quarterbacks to Big Ten media day, which is unprecedented to say the least. The possibility of a 2 QB system is still on the table, it seems. What will be the final decision? Only time will tell.

…lots of trick plays

Last season saw Purdue run some pretty cool trick plays, including a flea flicker, a double reverse flea flicker, and a fake flea flicker. You can decide what those all are, but the point is, Coach Brohm loves trick plays. In fact, at Big Ten media day, Brohm said he wants to run fifty different trick plays this season. That’s 4.2/game, a trick play every quarter. A trick play every quarter! There’s a reason to watch Purdue this year, in case you didn’t have enough reasons already.

…cool uniforms

Last year, the Boilers finally rebranded their football program, changing the old italic font to a block font that matches the basketball uniforms and court. Now, the Ross-Ade endzones look like the Mackey Arena baselines, and the uniforms have experienced a REAL upgrade. Take a look.

…another bowl appearance (hopefully)

Once again, the goal of this season should be a bowl appearance. Yes, there are higher heights that a football team can achieve, but with the schedule Purdue has, another 7–6 season, or even 6–7, should be considered a success for the Boilermakers. Either way, it should be a fun season. I know Ross-Ade will be rocking, and personally couldn’t be more excited. Boiler up!