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Barry Odom: Purdue’s progress nice, but it's time to deliver wins

On3 imageby: Tom Dienhart8 hours agoTomDienhart1
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(Matt Krohn/USA Today)

The losing streak is four games and counting for Purdue. But Barry Odom is keeping a stiff upper lip as the Boilermakers (2-4 overall; 0-3 Big Ten) travel to Northwestern (4-2; 2-1) on Saturday (3 p.m. ET, BTN):

“How could you not be hungry for an opportunity to go play again and improve on the things that we’ve done well, and then also fix the mistakes and try to go play winning ball?” said Odom. “So, I won’t get into the narrative of not winning a game in the last couple of weeks on those things. I won’t let myself go there.”

Purdue let a golden opportunity slip away last week at Minnesota, dropping a 27-20 decision despite dominating the game in most areas. The Boilermakers were done-in by penalties, dropped passes and turnovers.

“Turn the ball over in total four times and you get one back, we’re not going to beat anybody, no matter what we ran for or held them the opponent in rushing yards, that’s not going to matter,” said Odom. “So, we’ve got to get those things corrected, we can’t extend drives on defense with third-down penalties, which we did a couple times, frustrating. But we’ve got to get it fixed. That’s our challenge, that’s our goal.”

The three areas that next fixing:

• Purdue ranks second-to-last in the nation in turnover margin (-10), ahead of only Nevada and Florida Atlantic (-11). The Boilermakers have one fumble recovery and one interception. Ryan Browne has thrown a Big Ten-high seven INTs.

• Purdue has seen its penalties increase each of the last five games, from 2 vs. Southern Illinois, to 5 vs. USC, 7 vs. Notre Dame, 8 vs. Illinois and 9 vs. Minnesota.

• Purdue was plagued by drops last week, with Pro Football Focus counting six vs. the Golden Gophers.

Purdue can build on some positives in its near-miss vs. the Gophers, including a revived run game, good run defense and improved play in the secondary, too. It will need to build on that vs. a Wildcat squad that has won three in a row and is coming off a Titanic win at Penn State that sunk James Franklin’s tenure.

Odom knows it’s time to start delivering results. Purdue has lost 15 of its last 17 games. The program has lost 12 Big Ten games in a row. The last league win was vs. Indiana to close the 2023 season. The last Big Ten road win was at Indiana in 2022.

Odom’s tenure began with victories vs. Ball State and FCS Southern lllinois before this four-game slide that has seen the Boilermakers fall to USC, Notre Dame, Illinois and Minnesota.

“If you’re going to let that defeat you for now, six games in, and then we’re not very tough competitors, if that’s the case,” said Odom. “And I don’t sense that at all. We’ve got to learn from experiences good and bad, move past that and understand the opportunities that await us.”

Odom gets it. His intensity boils behind a steely gaze. You know the losing gnaws at him. He’s paid to deliver results … and it’s not happening.

“I know that everyone in the organization is working extremely hard to get us to the winner’s circle,” said Odom. “We’re all tired of saying we’re making some progress in these areas, but we come up short. So, you know, I’ve said it a number of times, we’re all judged on results, and right now, I haven’t gotten the team with the results that we need to, so we’re working hard to get there.”

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