Purdue barely beat a bad Illinois team last week thanks to a long drive and a defensive stop. It was far from pretty, but we would feel much worse had they lost this one 9-6 or 16-13. Ugly wins are still wins…and as Drew Brees reminded the team before they game, they’ll have to find different ways to win each week in B1G play to make the season one that we all will want to remember.

Injuries might be the biggest story, but the emergence of the defense continues to be the best story of this young season. Can our Boilers continue to buck some Jeff Brohm era trends and beat Minny on Homecoming Saturday this week? Let’s talk about it.