Camp Randall to be Purdue's Biggest Challenge Yet
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Big Ten has some of the toughest places to play in all of college football. The Big House, Happy Valley and Ohio Stadium stand out right away, but right up there, if not ahead of those three, is Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisc.
Purdue travels to Camp Randall Stadium this week to take on the No. 12-ranked Wisconsin Badgers in a must-win game to keep their bowl hopes alive. For a team filled with mostly freshmen, the trip to Madison will be a new and difficult experience.
“It’s going to be unlike any environment I’ve ever been in in my life, so that in itself is going to be a challenge,” Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell said. "I think we’re doing a good job of trying to simulate the noise at practice, but it’s hard to simulate that many thousands of people screaming at you.”
The Boilermakers have been in a similar environment twice this season, when they lost 35-7 Penn State on Oct. 5 and at Iowa on Oct. 19, when they lost 26-20. At that time though, O’Connell was the backup quarterback to Jack Plummer, and he threw only one pass at Penn State and didn't play at all at Iowa.
Saturday will mark O’Connell’s biggest start to date, with his only prior road start coming on the road at Northwestern two weeks ago. Camp Randall holds 80,321 people, and that should be more than double what O’Connell faced last on Nov. 9 in a semi-packed Ryan Field in Evanston.
The craziest part of the Camp Randall atmosphere comes between the third and fourth quarters, with the playing of House of Pain’s “Jump Around.” In between quarters, the song plays for about two minutes, and the student section, along with other fans, do exactly what the song says — they jump around.
The tradition, which has become one of the favorites in all of sports, literally shakes the stadium and the press box for two minutes straight.
“It’s a crazy environment, crazy atmosphere, and the jump-around thing is one of the best things in college football, to be honest,” Purdue tight end Brycen Hopkins said.
Hopkins, a senior, is making his third trip to Camp Randall Stadium, so he knows the ins-and-outs of playing in a place like that. His role this past week has been getting the rest of the team — most importantly O’Connell— in the right mindset to head into a place like that.
“It’s him on the field. It’s us,” Hopkins said. “They have some energy there, but at the end of the day it’s just us on the field, so if you can wipe that all out and focus on your job and play football, then you should have nothing to worry about.”
That’s easier said than done, of course, but O’Connell seems ready for the challenge. Since taking over the starting job, he’s led a game-winning drive against Nebraska and a game-winning drive on the road at Northwestern. That calm, collected manner will surely be tested this week.
O’Connell knows that, and he’s excited.
“It’s going to be something I’ve never experienced before, but that’s why you play the game, to play in front of people like that and stadiums like that," O'Connell said.
