Most Important Quotes From Purdue Coach Barry Odom's Week 4 Press Conference

Purdue was back in West Lafayette on Monday after a long trip out West for its Big Ten opener against UCLA. Despite a great offensive performance, the Boilers returned home with a loss, falling to 1-2 on the season.

Life gets even more difficult this weekend, as the Boilermakers welcome No. 3 Notre Dame into Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday. It's a game Purdue hasn't won since 2007.

Head coach Barry Odom met with reporters on Monday to reflect on the loss to UCLA, what went wrong defensively, preview Saturday's matchup against the Fighting Irish and more.

Here are the key quotes from Odom's presser.

Purdue Boilermakers head coach Barry Odom reacts during warmups. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Taking responsibility for poor play

The biggest talk coming out of Saturday night was Purdue's poor play defensively. The Boilermakers surrendered 645 yards to UCLA, the program's worst defensive outing since a 38-14 loss to Wisconsin in 2012.

Rather than point the finger at anyone in particular, Odom said that Purdue's performance falls on him. He has to correct the mistakes and ensure that coaches on the staff have players ready to perform every week.

"If we don't play well enough, I take full blame for that," Odom said. "What did I not do to get our defensive coaches, our offensive coaches or special teams coaches, what did I fail at to not get them prepared, to get our players prepared? I've got to do a great job of getting those things fixed ... Every single area that we didn't play well enough in, I've got to do a better job."

What's Odom's role with the defense?

In the offseason, Odom suggested that he'd be more involved with the defense this season, helping defensive coordinator Kevin Kane. What does that entail?

"I'm trying to give another set of eyes, trying to provide experience, trying to provide thoughtful discussions on how we can do things that give our players opportunities to play fast and play confident," he said. "I don't think anybody on that side of the ball would sit back and say we're where we want to be or where we expect to be. We have a lot of work to do. That's from me all the way down."

After last week's performance against UCLA, there's a lot to dive into and several corrections that need to be made. With a game against Notre Dame this weekend and diving back into Big Ten play the following Saturday, Odom doesn't have any time to waste.

Will Purdue-Notre Dame continue to be played in the future?

One interesting question from Monday's presser was about Purdue's rivalry with Notre Dame and whether Odom enjoyed playing the Fighting Irish. The head coach provided an interesting response.

"I know both fanbases looked forward to this game," Odom said. "I always look at what is best for Purdue. We have to make those decisions administratively for what we think is best for building our program. If Notre Dame falls into that, then let's go play them. If not, there will have to be decisions that have to be made."

After Saturday, Purdue still has a home-and-home against Notre Dame on the schedule for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. However, it sounds like the program might be discussing the option of crossing those games off future slates.

That may be something worth monitoring moving forward.

Notre Dame's offense is still rolling

Notre Dame had a great offense anchored by quarterback CJ Carr and running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Prince last season. The Irish lost those two ball carriers, but return Carr and plenty of talented around him.

Through three games, the Fighting Irish are averaging 40 points per game. They also have two talented backs in Nolan James Jr. and Aneyas Williams.

"They haven't missed a beat. Obviously, they lost two great runners last year ... both of their running backs are playing at a high level right now," Odom said. "They're unbelievable up front, their quarterback play is elite, and then they've got wide receivers who can blow the top off of coverage and run really well after the catch. I don't see a lot of weaknesses in what they do."

Purdue's defense is going to have its hands full with Notre Dame's offense on Saturday.

Purdue among lowest spenders on roster

Last week, The Athletic published an article estimating how much teams have spent on their rosters. Purdue was in the bottom 10 of Power Four football and is projected as the lowest-spending team in the Big Ten.

That wasn't a shock to Odom.

"Does that surprise me? No, not at all. That's where we are," Odom said. "So, the challenge is, education, taking the resources we have and making the most of them. And then the challenge from there is trying to understand the reality of where college football and sports are right now and [making] the decision of where we really want to be. Can we be aggressive?

"I think it was eye-opening to some. It's a reality that some of us have lived for going on almost two years."

The task for Purdue and new athletic director Tommy McClelland is to find ways to generate more revenue so the program can climb out of the bottom of the Big Ten and be more competitive.

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