Quotes That Matter From Barry Odom After Purdue's Win Over Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The long drought without a Power Four victory ended for Purdue on Saturday in Champaign. Head coach Barry Odom picked up his first Big Ten win as the head coach of the Boilermakers, leading his team to a 24-17 victory over Illinois at Memorial Stadium.

Purdue set the tone by building an early 13-0 lead. Although Illinois threatened a few times, the Boilermaker defense held strong, ultimately securing a road victory to improve to 2-3 on the year and 1-1 in conference play.

What did Odom have to say after Purdue's big win over Illinois? Here are a few key comments from the head coach.

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

Purdue finally gets some validation

Several months have passed since Purdue experienced the joy of winning a Big Ten game. For Odom, it had never happened. Despite the Boilermakers coming close on a few occasions, they continued to fall short.

On Saturday, though, Purdue game through in a big way.

"I was excited to see our team get some validation on the work that they put in," Odom said. "There were some really good things in the way we played complementary football in all three phases together. I thought our coaching staff did a tremendous job, and then our players went and executed.

"They showed the heart and the toughness and the resolve of what I believe a Purdue Boilermaker is. I was excited, not only for our locker room, but for everybody associated with the program and our great fans."

What made Saturday's win even more special was that it came in a rivalry game. For two years, Illinois kept the Cannon trophy. Now, it's headed back to West Lafayette.

Sharing a post-game moment with Kevin Kane

Purdue's defensive coordinator has come under fire after the team's 1-3 start. It was a tough three-week stretch for the defense, as Kane's unit surrendered 38 points to Wake Forest, 52 to UCLA and 49 to Notre Dame.

Illinois was held to 17 points on Saturday, with one of those touchdowns coming with under two minutes to play. When the clock finally struck zero, Odom had a special moment with his defensive coordinator.

"I was happy for him. He's been in the business a long time and for him, who worked here, to be able to come back in this spot and get a win, and the way the defense played. I just wanted to make sure he knew how excited I was for him," Odom said.

The emotion of a victory

Odom can be an even-keeled coach, but he couldn't contain his excitement inside Memorial Stadium. After Purdue recovered the onside kick, he felt the wave of emotion set in. He worked hard to put his team in position to win Big Ten games, and it finally game to fruition.

"I was pretty high on the field. I was emotional," Odom said. "I know what goes into this, and it was fun for me to see the players and the staff. When you talk about that, a lot of people don't understand it. They don't get it. They don't see what happens away from here. So, for that moment, that was pretty awesome."

The Boilermakers dropped 10 straight Big Ten games under Odom, but finally ended that drought. He made it clear that, after the team gets back to West Lafayette, the focus immediately shifts to Minnesota.

Boilers stay aggressive offensively

The drive of the game came in the fourth quarter with just over eight minutes to play. Purdue held a 16-10 advantage and was holding on for dear life. Instead of playing conservatively in a tight game, the Boilers got aggressive.

Offensive coordinator Josh Henson trusted his quarterback to make plays, and the gunslinger came up big. He engineered a seven-play, 61-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard run by Antonio Harris to give the Boilers a 24-10 lead with 4:29 to play.

"I thought that Josh and that staff did a great job," Odom said. "We had a feeling we'd need a touchdown. We have a lot of trust in them to go call it. They did a great job working together and putting us in position and executing the drive."

Browne's two biggest plays came on back-to-back throws. Facing a 3rd-and-long, he connected with Tra'Mar Harris to keep the drive alive. On the next play, he got the ball to Chauncey Magwood on a 31-yard pass to get Purdue down to the Illinois 1-yard line, setting up the game-sealing score.

Officials missed Odom's timeout

Before the end of the second quarter, Illinois scored a touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Katin Houser to Collin Dixon. Before the snap, Odom attempted to run onto the field to call a timeout and change his team's formation.

Officials missed it and Illinois scored. Needless to say, Odom wasn't happy in the moment.

"They did not see me. Two different officials," Odom said. "I thought I got to the numbers, but neither one of them saw me. They didn't see it. It was a formation that we didn't like our call, so we wanted to try to get a timeout and get another formation in. I didn't get out there far enough to get in their sight line."

It didn't end up hurting Purdue in the win-loss column, but it felt like a pivotal moment at the time.

Ryan Browne comes up big again

Browne has continued to play extremely well this season. He struggled against Notre Dame, but bounced back on Saturday in Champaign. He finished the game completing 18-of-27 passes for 255 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.

He wasn't perfect, but he helped Purdue get a big win against Illinois.

"There were some ups and downs this week on connecting on some plays, but we knew they were there," Odom said. "I think his maturity, his stoic presence, to fight through that during game week and trust it shows a lot about who he is as a person and as a competitor. Made some big-time throws today."

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