Barry Odom Brutally Honest After Purdue's Poor Performance vs. Illinois
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Barry Odom walked into the postgame press conference, sat down, and took a deep breath. Taking a few seconds to gather his thoughts, the Purdue head coach vented his frustrations about his team's poor performance in a 43-27 loss to No. 22 Illinois.
"I believe in Purdue, and for us to play the way we did today, I thought from the coaching staff all the way down was awful," Odom said. "This place is special. You walk into that stadium, and the students are sold out. The energy that Ross-Ade creates, and for us to play the way we did, I'm very disappointed in my coaching staff and our team. I can't be any more honest than that."
Purdue's defense was a problem once again on Saturday. Illinois racked up 507 yards of offense, led by quarterback Luke Altmyer, who completed 19-of-22 passes for 390 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Hank Beatty had 186 yards on five receptions, and running back Ca'Lil Valentine had 95 yards on the ground.
"It's frustrating because I thought our offense — at least they kept us in the game in the first half," Odom said. "But we didn't do anything well enough defensively to win a game against anyone."
While the offense did play well throughout the game, wide receiver Michael Jackson III made a big mistake early in the game. He fumbled the football after catching a pass early in the second quarter, when Purdue owned a 7-3 lead. The Boilermakers were driving with a chance to extend their lead over the Illini.
On the following play, Altmyer connected on a 62-yard touchdown pass to Beaty to give Illinois a 10-7 advantage.
"We were able to do some good things at the line of scrimmage," Odom said. " it doesn't matter if you get them in 3rd-and-7 and you give up 50 yards on a pass."
Surrendering those big plays was the story of the game and was the greatest reason behind Odom's frustration following Saturday's loss. And while he understands it's not an easy process to turn Purdue back into a winner, he's also exhausted with the same result.
"I'm tired of saying those things, I know everyone is tired of hearing them," Odom said. "There comes a point where you can't just talk about it, you have to do it."
Explosive plays continue to haunt Purdue
Explosive plays continue to haunt the Boilermakers on Saturday. Entering this weekend's contest, Purdue had surrendered 18 plays of 20 yards or more, 14 of which came through the air.
Illinois finished the game with seven plays of 20 yards or more, all back-breakers for the Boilermakers.
"The explosive plays on defense, I mean, that's as frustrated as I've been coaching," Odom said. "Two of them were on miscommunication. And then, I just didn't think we were very competitive, honestly. That's hard to say out loud."
There's no question that Purdue's secondary continues to be a problem. It's been a struggle for that unit all season long, and it's something that must be fixed moving forward.
"We'll correct what we can," Odom said. "It'll be a sprint to get ready for Minnesota."
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DEFINING MOMENTS IN PURDUE'S LOSS: Purdue started off hot, but ultimately, the Illinois offense was too much to handle. The Boilermakers came up short, falling 43-27 to the 22nd-ranked Illini. CLICK HERE
BROWNE TURNS FUMBLE INTO TD: Ryan Browne bobbled a snap near the end zone, but the Purdue quarterback was able to grab the football and score an easy touchdown against Illinois. CLICK HERE
Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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