VIDEO: Purdue Coach Jeff Brohm's Press Conference Ahead of Matchup With UConn

Purdue football coach Jeff Brohm met with the local media Monday to discuss the team's upcoming matchup with UConn on Saturday. Here are the highlights from what he had to say, and what we should expect from the Huskies in Hartford, Connecticut.

Author:
D.J. Fezler
Publish date:
Sep 6, 2021 12:55 PM EDT

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Following a 30-21 season-opening victory for Purdue against Oregon State on Saturday at Ross-Ade stadium, coach Jeff Brohm met with the local media Monday to further discuss the win and talk about the team's upcoming matchup with UConn.

The game against the Huskies starts at 3 p.m. ET. As of Monday morning, the Boilermakers are a massive 33.5-point favorite on the road according to sports gambling website FanDuel.com. The over/under is 57.5 points.

Here's a look at the highlights of what Brohm had to say ahead of Purdue's second matchup of the year, plus video from the press conference. Check it out:

Opening statement:

Brohm: Well, I think our guys are definitely excited to get game number two under way this next Saturday, first road game of the year, which is always a challenge for your team. I do think we have a lot of experience, especially on the defensive side of the ball that's played a lot of football, so we've been here and done that before.

We understand that in order to win football games at this level, you've got to execute, you've got to play well, you've got to continue to improve, and that's going to be the goal. We're going to have to have a good week of practice, have to prepare hard, have to push ourselves to do all the small things correctly, and go out there and compete on Saturday against a UConn team at their place.

On Jack Plummer's play against Oregon State:

Brohm: Well, I thought Jack was a great leader throughout the game, did some good things. He was able to extend some plays with his feet, which helped us at times. He was able to buy some time to get a couple completions and buy some time to throw the ball away and not take a sack, and those are always beneficial, and then I thought that down the stretch, he played clutch for us and delivered. I think just -- that was due to the work ethic that he had and the preparation he put in. So I was proud of his performance.

There's still things we can improve upon there without question, and he knows that, but he did a very good job, and he helped us get to a victory.

On getting better for upcoming game against UConn:

Brohm: Well, we definitely need to get better at a lot of things. I think special teams-wise, we can't have penalties that were costly. I don't like not being able to catch the punt. We had the ball hit the ground way too many times on that. I think we can actually punt the ball farther, do a better job in that aspect.

When it comes to offensively, spreading the ball around, running the football, finding ways to gain yards on the ground is going to be -- continue to be important, and we've got to make sure we do that. I do think we took care of the ball, we didn't turn it over and that was key in these type of games that we're getting ready to play it has to be key, as well, we have to win that battle.

On defense, I thought we did some good things. Gave up a couple easy plays, gave up a couple easy runs to some bunch looks that shouldn't happen where they got around the edge. A couple times when we rushed three, we gave them way too much time to throw.

Then a couple times we need to line up correctly faster and make sure that we're all set there, but I do think that they played hard and we make progress. Numerous areas to improve upon. We'll work on it all week and try to put it into effect on Saturday.

On the Purdue offensive line against Oregon State:

Brohm: I thought our offensive line played hard. You know, there was some good, there were some things not as good. I think Gus Hartwig did a very good job for us, played solid, was the most consistent guy up front. Tyler Witt hung in there.

We've got to continue to get better at the other positions. I thought Greg Long and Eric Miller and Spencer played okay. They can play better. They can do things better.

The defense we played, there was a lot of movement, a lot of guys going in different areas. That just was their scheme. Having to block a lot of movement was a little challenging for our offensive line. Instead of having more -- in the Big Ten you've got a little bit more physical bodies that are coming off the ball and striking people and occupying space, so this was a little bit different scheme that we were facing, and we handled it okay. There were numerous things to get better at, but I do think our guys played hard. We just gave up one sack.

So there were things to build upon, and we'll continue to work to get better at all those small things.

On rotation and depth heading into Week 2:

Brohm: Well, depth is always going to be something we work on. We want to try to continue to improve that every day of the year, even during the season. Now, when it comes to game time, I do want us to err on -- we're going to have our players play. You know what, they can rest when the game is over.

While we'll continue to rotate as much as we can, at the same time if we feel like certain guys are playing well, they need to be out there playing.

With that, it's a 12-game season. You've got to have other guys able to play at any time during the year. Someone could get injured during a game, they could be out the next week, they could be out the rest of the year. I think we have a handful of players that could have played more that are ready that we did not rotate in as much, so we'll continue to try to work on that and get them out there where we feel comfortable.

You know, the corner position, safety position, those guys played a lot. Jalen Graham played a lot. So we've got to continue to build depth there and figure out ways to get more people involved if we need to.

Offensively I think we played multiple receivers. We played multiple running backs. Offensive line, we'll see if we can rotate a little bit more, but there's not a whole lot of experienced depth right now. We've got to continue to improve those guys each and every day in practice.

That's always a concern, and we'll always try to do what we can, but come game day we're going to do what we can to win.

On what to expect from UConn:

Brohm: Well, I think they're playing some football right now, the ball hasn't rolled their way, and sometimes that's due to execution, sometimes that's due to a little luck. But you know what, any week, anything can happen.

I know they're going to come ready to play. It's a home game for them. Every player in college football has pride, and they want to go out there and win.

Any time you can get a win, it can spark your team to many more.

We will have our hands full because yes, we have to be able to look in the mirror every night as a player and coach and say we've done everything preparation-wise to help us win, and if we're not doing that, then we're not going to have a good chance of winning. That's just the way football works. We've got to challenge ourselves this week to prepare, to work hard, to put a good plan together, and then to go out there and try to play better than we did last week, and that's the challenge.

If you want to be any good in football, you've got to challenge yourself to raise the bar and have your best performance each and every week, and if you're not doing that, it'll catch up with you and you won't have a good season. So this is an important week for us, and we need to play some good football.

On UConn coach Randy Edsall announcing retirement:

Brohm: Well, I think it'll motivate their team. I think Coach Edsall has done a lot for the UConn program over the years. Multiple times I've played against him back when I was an assistant coach at Louisville. He did a heck of a job. They had some really good football teams, and he's coached a lot of football for a long time.

You know what, I know their guys will be energized and fired up and ready to play, and they've got a Big Ten opponent coming into their stadium, and when that happens, teams get ready to play.

We've had numerous opponents come into our stadium here that probably on paper should have won through the course of myself being here, and we've found a way to win because our players were hungry and they wanted to prove themselves. I guarantee you, UConn will be ready to prove themselves this week.

PURDUE REPORT CARD AFTER OREGON STATE WIN: Purdue football started its 2021 season as a favorite against Oregon State on Saturday. Despite a close contest, the team executed in key moments, especially on the defensive side of the ball. A look at the Boilermakers' first report card of the year. CLICK HERE
OREGON STATE GAME STORY: Junior tight end Payne Durham caught two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to help lift Purdue over Oregon State. Junior quarterback Jack Plummer threw for 313 yards in his first season-opening start. CLICK HERE
OREGON STATE GAME STORY: The Purdue defense wreaked havoc on Oregon State in the first half of Saturday's game at Ross-Ade Stadium. Time and time again, it put the offense in a position to take control of a game that ended in a 30-21 victory. CLICK HERE
PURDUE 2021 SCHEDULE: Purdue's 2021 college football schedule includes nine Big Ten games and three nonconference matchups. The team will travel to Hartford, Connecticut to take on UConn next week. CLICK HERE