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Purdue football notebook: Barry Odom preaching toughness in midst of six-game losing skid

On3 imageby: Tom Dienhart9 hours agoTomDienhart1
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Toughness. That’s the message Purdue coach Barry Odom has delivered to his team this week as it heads to Michigan looking to end a six-game losing slide.

“How you want to leave your mark, how you want to leave your legacy?” said Purdue OL Jalen St. John. “We had a rocky road, but it ain’t over. We’re just trying to get a win and get the train back rolling again. Toughness.”

Purdue’s cause would be helped greatly if it won the turnover battle. It has yet to do so in any game this season. How bad has it been? The Boilermakers have a Big Ten worst -11 turnover margin. Last week’s loss to Rutgers swung on a late fumble by the Boilermakers that helped set up a game-winning field goal by the Scarlet Knights as time expired.

“We take our bumps and bruises,” said St. John. “If I told you we were gonna win all 12, I’d be lying to you. It is football. Every Saturday, you have to go out and battle. It’s a fight. Men in the arena. We are all in there together.”

All this losing has served to draw the team closer.

“This is probably the tightest we’ve been in a couple weeks,” said St. John. “We all just made a decision, we draw a line in the sand. Keep your head forward and go from there.”

Beating Michigan (6-2 overall; 4-1 Big Ten) won’t be easy for Purdue (2-6; 0-5) when the game kicks off at 7 p.m. ET on BTN. The Boilermakers are a 21-point underdog. Michigan leads the series, 41-13, and is riding a six-game winning streak vs. the Boilermakers dating to a Purdue win at Michigan in 2009.

How big would a victory be for Purdue as it takes the lid off a daunting November that also includes games vs. No. 1 Ohio State, Washington and No. 2 Indiana.

“It would be very big,” said St. John. “Any win would be big. Winning is big. Nobody wants to sit here and lose. Winning is winning.”

NOTES:

• Barry Odom has coached in Michigan’s “Big House” before, taking his 2023 UNLV team to Ann Arbor when it dropped a 35-7 decision to the No. 2 Wolverines.

• Devin Mockobee needs 13 rushing yards for 3,000 in his career. He would join Mike Alstott (3,635), Kory Sheets (3,341) and Otis Armstrong (3,315) in the 3K club. Mockobee looks poised to pass Armstrong for the most carries in school history; Armstrong had 670, while Mockobee has 630 with four games to go.

• The record of Purdue’s four November foes No. 21 Michigan, No. 1 Ohio State, Washington and No. 2 Indiana: 16-3 Big Ten; 27-4 overall. The Wolverines and Buckeyes won the last two national titles; the Huskies played for the 2023 title; the Hoosiers made the playoff last season.

• Purdue has five players with more than 125 yards rushing for the first time since 2005. The list: Mockobee 521; Ryan Browne 165; Malachi Singleton 153; Antonio Harris 152; Malachi Thomas 138.

• Purdue’s last win at Michigan came under Danny Hope in 2009.

• Purdue’s last two games vs. Michigan have been away from West Lafayette. The schools met in Ann Arbor in 2023 and in Indianapolis for the Big Ten title in 2022. The Wolverines haven’t been to Purdue since 2017. No Big Ten team in the league since 2014 has a longer absence from West Lafayette.

• Fast starts have not been an issue for Purdue, which has outscored opponents 59-34 in the first quarter. It’s being outscored in the second (92-53) and third (60-34) quarters and holds an edge in the fourth (37-36).

• Points off turnovers: Opponents 47; Purdue 3.

• Mani Powell (76), Charles Correa (72) and Tahj Ra-El (68) have combined for 216 tackles, more than any other trio in the nation.

• Purdue has five wins over Michigan when the Wolverines are ranked.

MORE: Matchup preview: Michigan-Purdue | Barry Odom: ‘Purdue has been very aggressive in giving us every single thing that we need’ | The 3-2-1: Fearsome foursome of November foes looms for Purdue | First look: Michigan | First and 10: Purdue at Michigan | Gold and Black Radio: Purdue preps for No. 21 Michigan | Projected depth charts: Michigan | Opponent View: Michigan | Videos: Jalen St. John, Ian Jeffries talk Michigan

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