Everything Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said about Michigan football
After dominating Ohio State this past Saturday, Michigan is headed back to Indianapolis for the second straight year to play in the Big Ten Championship game.
Iowa, shockingly, lost to Nebraska this past week, so it opened the door for the 8-4 Purdue Boilermakers to make their first conference championship game. The Boilermakers and Wolverines haven’t played a game since 2017. Michigan beat Purdue in West Lafayette, 28-10. The maize and blue lead the all-time series against Purdue, 45-14.
The Wolverines defeated Iowa last season in the Big Ten Championship and Michigan is seeking the program’s first back-to-back Big Ten titles since 2003-04.
Purdue’s head coach Jeff Brohm had a chance to talk with the media on Monday and talked about the challenges Michigan presents to his program.
Here is everything the Boilermakers’ head coach had to say about the Wolverines.
Opening Statement
OK, well, we’re definitely excited to advance to the championship game and represent the West. Tremendous opportunity for our football team. Like a setup to the game, I think our players work really hard. They have a dream in their mind. And we’ve been able to get to this point to put ourselves in a position to compete against, you know, if not the top team in the country, one of the top teams, and they prove it every week. So, of course, we have our hands full. Michigan’s played lights out this week. Very well coached. Tremendous defense. I think their front four plus, basically, their front seven will be the most talented team, we played to date, they’re big, they’re stout, they will rotate a lot of guys in. Good in the secondary, just statistically, one of the best defenses in the country, and on offense, you know, the running game, the tight ends, the O-line, and now a really athletic, dynamic quarterback who can make plays outside the pocket. You know, extend plays, throw the football vertically. You know, right now, they’re the complete package. So we just got to, you know, get to work and practice well, and, you know, go out there and cut loose come game night.
Playing as an underdog
Well, yeah, there’s gonna be more pressure on Michigan, of course. They’ve got a chance to really do something special this year, they’re in a great position to do that. So for us, you know, this is a one-game shot to play in a championship game and roll the dice and see what we can do.
On being 3-0 against top-three ranked teams as a head coach at Purdue
Well, you know what, when you play those type of teams, you have a little luck on your side, you’ve got to play your very best. A lot of things got to go your way. You know, I do think that we will prepare hard, I do think that we will give it our best shot. I do think that as coaches, we got to put in a plan that has a couple of wrinkles here and there, that gives us an edge. We got to figure out, you know, maybe what has slightly hurt Michigan at times on both sides of the ball and see if we can do something to take advantage of it. But of course, it’s going to come down to being aggressive, making plays, executing, blocking, tackling, and then have the ball bounce our way. And of course, you know, on any given Saturday, anything could happen.
First time playing against Michigan since 2017. What has Brohm improved upon since then as a head
Well, I remember the game very vividly. I think that they’re coming out with a stout defense, once again, they weren’t as dynamic on offense at the time. So we thought we — if we could figure out a way to shut them down on offense and create a couple scores, we might have a chance. And I think we started to play the trick play and picked up some yards and, and hung in there for a while, but then they pulled away at the end.
I think they’ve definitely elevated their game the last two years, and they’re playing lights out right now. So for us, you know, we just try to continue to get better. And I think, as you play in the Big Ten, you’ve got to become a complete team to win. Doesn’t matter what you can do on offense, you have to play really good sound defense, you have to be stout, you’ve got to be able to run the ball at certain times and move the chains that way. And get yards that way, due to a lot of things defensive structure, whether you name it, and you’ve got to still have explosive plays, and be able to score when you need to. And I just think that and also special teams, you know, has to do their part. But I just think all three segments have to play well, in order to win in this conference. There’s a lot of parity, there’s a lot of really good football players and good coaches. And we’ve tried to gradually help all three segments get better so that we can perform and win football games.
On preparing for Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards
Well, I think both these running backs are two of the best in the country. And they proven that week in and week out. They’ve got a great offensive line and play a bunch of tight ends, they get in running sets and then you throw in an athletic quarterback, they can pull it at any point and run. Now you gotta count for him. So that creates a lot of problems. And it will be very challenging for us. So you know, we have to figure out a way to be physical at the point of attack, put enough guys in the box to be able to stop the run but yet you can’t abandon covering the pass because they took advantage of that this past game against Ohio State, hit a lot of big plays. I would say that’s why they were able to score a lot of points. They had big plays. In the passing game, they had big plays in the running game. And we have to eliminate the big plays. I think if you watch Michigan’s defense, and we watch a lot this morning, there’s not many big plays there. So they do a great job of not allowing the big play, and making your audit and work all the way down the field. And that’s going to be a challenge for us.
On Michigan's D-line vs. Purdue's O-line
I mean, they’re very, very talented. Most talented defense we’ve faced to date, and definitely the most talented front four, slash front seven. So we all have our hands full there. So we’ve got to be able to negate that in different ways. And that’s having a balanced mixture of get-it-out quick screen game, moving the pocket. Running the ball different ways, you know, find a way to throw a deep but protect long enough. But yes, we can’t allow the sacks and the negative plays, and the interceptions. And that’s going to be critical for us.
