2-Minute Drill: The Purdue Boilermakers

(Photo: Sandra Dukes/USA TODAY Sports)

Purdue's numbers here have improved quite a bit. Last season, the Boilermakers allowed Big Ten teams, including the Hawkeyes, to rush for more than 300 yards. Purdue tried a 3-3-5 defense about halfway through the season and it melted, with the Boilers allowing a Big Ten-worst 287.1 rushing yards and nearly 6 yards a carry in eight league games last season.

The Boilers have scraped the 3-3-5 and play a Big Ten-ready 4-3 base defense. The bodies also are a year bigger and stronger and, considering the transition that went on last season in head coach Darrell Hazell's first season, seem to know where they are going.

Sophomore tackle Jake Replogle (6-5, 269), sophomore noseguard Ra'Zahn Howard (6-3, 323) and junior noseguard Ryan Watson (6-2, 291) have held down the inside. Senior ends Ryan Russell (6-5, 273) and Jalani Phillips (6-4, 265) have combined for two tackles for loss.

After allowing 213 rushing yards in the opener against Western Michigan, the Boilermakers have cut that number down every week, including just 139 yards allowed to Notre Dame.

Iowa's running game remains a question mark five weeks into the season. The Hawkeyes haven't produced a 100-yard rusher since junior Jordan Canzeri went for a career-high 165 last season against Purdue, a stretch of seven games. Iowa found a vein of success against Pitt last week. Canzeri started, but showed signs of the foot injury he suffered against Iowa State. That opened the door for senior Mark Weisman, who responded with his best game of the season, rushing 22 times for 88 yards and two TDs.

Without a dominant running game, Iowa's offense hasn't had that one consistent or sustainable thing that pushes it over the top. Head coach Kirk Ferentz has said it's not personnel, but execution. In the second half, the O-line took care of the detail stuff and was at its most cohesive.

It will need to approach dominant today. Big Ten opener, on the road and possibly with a new quarterback, the Hawkeyes need consistent and sustainable out of the running game.

Advantage: Iowa

(Photo: Adam Wesley/The Gazette)

There will be a lot of mixing and matching of personnel packages on both sides of the ball.

Against Notre Dame and Southern Illinois, Purdue ran with what it calls a 'quarters package,' which includes five defensive backs, four lineman and two linebackers. Last season, Purdue used two hybrid outside linebackers/safeties to cheat inside against the run and to keep the offense confused in a quick-hitting run game.

That's not Iowa. Expect more base defense from the Boilers, which will mean a third linebacker replacing a defensive back. Iowa has the reputation as a power-running team. Second-year coach Darrell Hazell expects a physical running game, with the zone stretch and inside zone and, well, those two plays.

'That's the tricky part. We've been playing so much quarter package where you get your better athletes on the field,' Hazell said. 'Now, you have to say, 'OK, where do you sacrifice? Do you get an extra big guy in by taking another linebacker and putting him in the game and taking a secondary guy out? There's going to be a blend of base personnel and quarter personnel this week and making sure we're in the right packages.'

Oh, but wait, Iowa does have somewhat of a quick-hitting run package with the zone read. With Jake Rudock as quarterback, that's been a look more than anything else. Rudock rarely kept the ball. With Rudock possibly out this week with a hip injury, sophomore C.J. Beathard might be up. The zone-read package is more of his deal, so more of that? Probably not. With true freshman Tyler Wiegers the likely No. 2, don't expect offensive coordinator Greg Davis to put his QB at risk.

And that's OK, too, because, as you saw last week, Beathard can whip the ball. Iowa's play-calling didn't change really at all when Rudock left the Pitt game with his injury. Iowa called two deep passes for Rudock and one for Beathard. Each QB hit one. Plays were the same, but the ball got out faster and gave players a chance for yards after the catch. There weren't a lot, but after WR Damond Powell clicked with Beathard on a 62-yard play, corners backed off. On a second-and-10 Beathard zoomed a short pass out to Powell for a 14-yard gain. The pass was actually called a lateral and went down as a rush.

If Beathard is the guy does the Iowa staff put that natural, seamless and rocket-fast release to work? In the Big Ten opener? On the road? With an inconsistent running game, Iowa has to use any means possible.

Purdue's best punch against the passing game has been its rush. The Boilers are third in the Big Ten with 11 sacks. A solid seven-man rotation has kept Purdue churning up front.

Advantage: Push

(Photo: Sandra Dukes/USA TODAY Sports)

Raheem Mostert might be the fastest player in college football. As a sprinter for Purdue's track team, he won the Big Ten indoor 60- and 200-meter dashes. Last spring, he claimed the 100 and 200. The 5-11, 180-pounder is a legit track athlete. That speed can and often does translate to the football field. Mostert is at or near the top of Big Ten kick returners (No. 2 so far this season with 27.17 yards a return).

Also so far, this has been the year Mostert has really been tried as a running back. Last year, he had just 11 carries. This year, he's Purdue's leading rusher with 67 carries for 293 yards. He broke out for 143 yards in the opener against Western Michigan and has been pretty much held in check since. So, Hazell said this week senior Akeem Hunt (5-10, 183, pictured above) will get the start and redshirt freshman Keyante Green (5-9, 210) will see more playing time. Green led Purdue with 71 yards on 13 carries in last week's win over Southern Illinois.

Left tackle David Hedelin (6-4, 295) came off suspension last week (involvement with a football club in his home country of Sweden) and gave the Boilers a boost.

Iowa's front seven faced its first heavy test of the season last week and came away with mixed results. Pitt's James Conner gouged Iowa for 155 yards on 29 carries. He had 100 at halftime, so the Hawkeyes did tighten up in the second half. Conner is a 250-pound bruiser with a center and guard who weigh nearly 700 pounds combined. Purdue has giant linemen, but the backs are a different look with Mostert and Hunt, who are extremely fast.

One underreported factoid from last week was an unspecified injury that sophomore linebacker Reggie Spearman suffered. He was in and out of the lineup, replaced by redshirt freshman Josey Jewell. Iowa's gap control was much better in the second half, but linebackers will need to guard against getting too far ahead of themselves and getting sucked into the wash. One underrated aspect of Iowa's defense is the way corners Desmond King and Greg Mabin willingly and capably play run force.

Advantage: Iowa

(Photo: Sandra Dukes/USA Today Sports)

Purdue quarterback Danny Etling (above) struggled in the Boilers' 38-17 debacle against Central Michigan three weeks ago. The sophomore struggled with throwing mid-to-deep passes, completing 17 of 32 for 126 yards and two interceptions. He was yanked for sophomore Austin Appleby, who fared a little better and well enough to start whispers of a QB controversy (where have you heard this one?). Hazell squelched that and Etling's game has moved along. Since Central Michigan (where have you heard this one?), Etling has completed 42 of 66 for 432 yards, four TDs and two interceptions.

The Boilermakers are hearing a lot of the same questions Iowa's offense hears week in and week out. Mainly, where's the vertical passing game? Purdue is No. 82 in the nation with 28 pass plays of 10-plus yards (Iowa is No. 58 with 33, by the way). Last week against FCS Southern Illinois, Purdue hit its longest play from scrimmage of the season with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Etling to wide receiver Danny Anthrop.

The Boilers have a productive receiver group. Anthrop (6-3, 191) leads with 12 catches for 204 yards and two TDs (he had 106 receiving yards last week). Tight end Justin Sinz (6-4, 249) has 16 catches, leading all Big Ten tight ends. Wide receiver DeAngelo Yancey (6-2, 218) has caught TD passes in the last two games.

Iowa's secondary held up against what really became a one-man passing game last week. WR Tyler Boyd caught 10 passes for 153 yards, but was bottled up, mostly by Mabin, in the fourth quarter. How good was Pitt QB Chad Voytik? He missed plays, but the Hawkeyes found some pass rush in this season's version of the third-down rush package (seven standup defenders on the line of scrimmage, with two or three dropping into coverage and the rest rushing) and the secondary probably grew some in depth-wise.

Sophomore cornerback Maurice Fleming played more than he ever has. Sophomore safety Anthony Gair had the game-sealing pick.

Purdue is capable here. Iowa will need consistent pass rush. This defense is a Jell-O. It's starting to thicken, but it's still sort of fluid.

Advantage: Push

(Photo: Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

When junior kicker Marshall Koehn got off to that slow start (1 of 5), he didn't hide anywhere. He came out after the Ball State game and talked about the struggles. That was a pretty big tip to his resolve. Since that start, Koehn has made 3 of 5, including a 44-yarder against Iowa State and a 52-yarder at Pitt.

The 52-yarder was a high mark on a lot of fronts: It's the longest field goal in the Big Ten so far this season. It's also Iowa's longest field goal since Nate Kaeding made a 55-yarder against Minnesota in 2003.

Field goals aren't even Koehn's best thing. He leads the nation in kickoffs with a touchback percentage of 84.2 percent. He's put 16 of his 19 kickoffs into the end zone, which is a Big Ten high and which also happens to be important this week.

Purdue features two of the best kick returners in its history. Mostert ranks sixth nationally among active FBS players in kickoff return average. Mostert averages 28.7 yards per kickoff return. Purdue has had six 100-yard kickoff returns for a touchdown in program history and Hunt and Mostert each have one. Each player has two kickoff returns for a touchdown in his career.

Purdue kicker Paul Griggs has connected from 51 yards. He's hit on 6 of 7 field goals, including 3 of 4 from 40-plus. Safety Frankie Williams averages 20.2 yards on five punt returns (second in the Big Ten).

Advantage: Purdue

1) Motivating factor — Maybe it's a 'read between the lines' thing, but Hazell was asked several times this week about last year's loss to Iowa. Purdue had 11 loses last season. Who knows why the defeat to the Hawkeyes is such a curiosity? The Hawkeyes won, 38-14, at West Lafayette, Ind. 'I went back yesterday and as you go through your film study to watch last year's game, we weren't very good last year,' Hazell said, 'and just watching that game, we're a lot better now as a football team than where we were ten months ago.'

2) Was it the late TD? — Remember last season at Ross-Ade Stadium? It was late in the game. Iowa held a 31-7 lead and moved the ball to Purdue's 5. Then, Beathard, in for some mop-up time, ran a naked bootleg for a 5-yard TD and a 38-7 lead late in the fourth quarter. Ferentz wasn't big on the play. It smelled of running it up. It wasn't, but it also wasn't what Beathard was supposed to do. A signal was missed. So, when Beathard did the same thing against Nebraska for a 38-17 lead late in the game, Ferentz was asked if this one was preapproved. 'This one was talked about, actually, 10 minutes before,' Ferentz said. 'This one was sanctioned. We needed this one. There were no complaints.'

3) Possible new QB, and that's a mystery box — If Beathard does indeed start today, it'll be an entirely different situation than he's seen. He replaced Rudock three times due to injury last season. He guided Iowa to a win over Nebraska (things did get somewhat hairy in the second half), but was unable to fuel comebacks against Wisconsin and LSU. Beathard had the benefit of the relief pitcher's role. This could be the week he walks out there as the guy. 'There's a mental aspect,' Beathard said. 'You go into practice, you work hard and sometimes you don't get to play. You have to be mentally, 'It's all good.''

Iowa will win if ...

Beathard, if he starts, can be a steady hand. Let's not throw too heavy of an expectation his way, if he indeed ends up being the starter. The Purdue secondary is experienced (60 career starts), and the Boilers get after the QB. You want a QB controversy? Beathard, if he starts, will have his work cut out for him to get it to that (if that's even possible).

Purdue will win if ...

The Boilers are successful attacking Iowa on the perimeter. Iowa State showed the way in week 3. It wanted to get its speed in space against the Hawkeyes and exploit matchups. Pitt wanted to trade punches. Iowa can play that game. Purdue has the fastest player in college football. It won't run him between the tackles.

Prediction: Iowa 24, Purdue 20