Purdue's Ryan Walters seeks first Ross-Ade, Big Ten win vs. familiar foe: Illinois

The conversations between the Purdue staff and the players was frank following last Friday’s 38-17 loss to Wisconsin that dropped the Boilermakers to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten under first-year coach Ryan Walters.

“We gave the guys Saturday off, met Sunday and watched the film and practiced,” said Walters. “So, the team meeting was very candid and very honest about where we are and what we need to do to go where we want to go. Greatness is around the corner. You never know when a streak starts. Every great team, every great program has had a beginning of something special.”

Maybe the looming visit from Illinois (2-2, 0-1) will be that something special Walters needs as he seeks his first Big Ten victory and first triumph in renovated Ross-Ade Stadium, when the Tiller Tunnel also will be dedicated in a private ceremony.

The storylines for this Saturday’s game–which kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Peacock–vs. the Illini write themselves.

Walters arrived at Purdue following a successful two-year run at Illinois working under Bret Bielema as defensive coordinator. And the staff Walters’ has built is stocked with former Illini staffers.

“You know, there are some outside and added storylines because of the nature, history between myself and Illinois,” said Walters. “But, at the end of the day, we need to win a game and we need to win a game at Ross-Ade. Need to win a Big Ten game to right the ship and to start turning the tide in our favor.”

It would help Purdue if it could get off to better starts. The Boilermakers have been outscored 76-48 in the first half this season. Syracuse was up two touchdowns early in the second quarter. Wisconsin scored two touchdowns in the game’s first 12 minutes. Purdue lost both games.

“I mean, obviously we have had discussions on do we take the ball if we win the toss to try to kick start it,” said Walters. “We started on offense first at Virginia Tech and started offense first the other night and didn’t go so well, so I think part of it is mentality standpoint and coming out the gate ready to attack.”

Confidence may be an issue.

“I feel like right now, at times, we still are looking around wondering, like are we as good as we think we are?” said Walters “Like, am I going to make the play or is my buddy next to me going to make the play? Instead of just playing the game and playing with aggression.

“Football in its nature is an aggressive sport, and so if you’re not aggressive in your approach, you’ll get hit in the mouth. We got hit in the mouth in the games we lost, especially early.”

Among other things, Purdue has had issues getting off the field on third downs and converting short-yardage situations into first downs.

“You got to take a step back and sort of look on the big picture,” said Walters. “Obviously, you don’t want to be–nobody wants to be 1-3 to start a season.

“When you look at the opponents we’ve played and the chances we’ve had in the games we lost and just the improvement from week to week just on understanding scheme and not having like mental errors and mental busts, and continuing to develop positive practice habits and winning mentality and all those things.”

Urgency has set in for the Boilermakers, who will play four their final seven games on the road following this week’s visit from Illinois. September–with four of five games at home–was supposed to be the month Purdue made hay. It hasn’t happened.

“So, you don’t want to panic with the start,” said Walters. “You definitely want to urgently fix the things you need to fix. We’re doing that right now. Not wholesale changes, but like tweaks here and there to continue to improve the program.”

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