Purdue's Charles Correa emerging as vocal leader after defense's wake-up call

This is unfamiliar territory for Purdue linebacker Charles Correa. The UNLV transfer came from a defense that allowed over 40 points just once during his freshman campaign in 2024.

The Fighting Irish just dropped 56 on the Boilermakers on Saturday.

Correa isn’t used to this much adversity on the field. Neither is defensive coordinator Mike Scherer, who was one of the main reasons for Correa’s arrival in West Lafayette, and had also never given up 50 points in his two plus years as a coordinator.

Scherer will now depend on Correa to be a key piece in the solution moving forward as the Boilermakers navigate the flip side of the bye week coming off back-to-back losses to USC and Notre Dame. Correa spoke to what Scherer has been preaching throughout the last few days of practice as Purdue looks to get back on track.

“Rallies the troops, is how I like to put it. He brings everyone together. He’s not gonna take this moment and try and break everyone apart and pick everyone apart, rather watch the film, learn from it and bring everyone back together,” Correa said.

Correa has been an impact player for Scherer’s unit through four games this season, ranking t-3rd in total tackles (23), first in tackles for loss (four) and second in sacks (1.5). One of two linebackers holding down the heart of the Purdue defense, along with fellow UNLV import and senior Mani Powell, will have his work cut out for him as he helps lead the unit into yet another tall task that lies ahead.

Despite not being a named captain, Correa has emerged as a leader of the defense, and that will be put to the test as the Boilermakers move forward into the full swing of conference play.

“I’m kind of just stepping up and being that vocal guy on the field, just knowing that, back to communication, how important that is,” Correa said. “Obviously looking at guys like Jackson Woodard last year, how he controlled the whole defense through his through his voice, is something that I’m trying to work towards and something that I can improve on.”

Saturday’s performance against Notre Dame was a matter of lacking discipline and not executing the game plan set forth by Scherer, in the eyes of Correa. Getting back to playing assignment sound football will be the key moving forward.

“I think it’s just trusting the scheme that that coach (Mike) Scherer is putting together. And we all know that if we play together, we’ll be successful, and when we don’t play together, we get exposed, like what happened this past weekend. So just making sure we’re playing assignment sound football at all times is our big focus this week,” Correa said.

The Boilermakers also slipped into tackling woes against the Fighting Irish, who forced 14 missed tackles, mostly stemming from the running back tandem of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. 48 missed tackles on the season, five of which Correa was the guilty party on, is one of the biggest areas of growth needed. A common thread for the defense this season has also been a focus of the unit during bye week practices.

“I mean today, we’re working on feet, eyes, inside hip, tracking the ball carrier. So it just goes back to the fundamentals, you know, we lacked in that area this weekend. But again, it’s just those reps. We need those reps and turn it into habits,” Correa said.

The potential progress of the defense will be on display next Saturday, when Purdue hosts Illinois for the Cannon Trophy Game in Ross-Ade Stadium. The Illini are coming off a 63-10 defeat at the hands of Indiana, but have a high-powered offense averaging 36.2 points per game, behind star quarterback Luke Altmyer, breakout receiver Hank Beatty and a balanced ground game.

“We know they’re a great team. They have great coaching, and you’ve seen how high they’re ranked this past weekend and what they’re capable of. So we know it’s a challenge that we can’t take lightly. You can’t take any games lightly in this league. So this is just another example of that,” Correa said.

Next weekend’s rivalry clash in West Lafayette is going to show where Purdue’s defense stands on the heels of the dismantling handed down by Notre Dame. If the Boilermakers are to take a step forward, Correa will be at the heart of it.