Ryne Smith turned to his teammates near the Purdue bench and screamed in excitement after making a three-pointer.WEST LAFAYETTE – Albert Evans doesn’t think Purdue will play on a bigger stage all season than it did in its opener on national television last week at Notre Dame.
But that game is done – the Boilermakers lost 23-12 – and next up is Football Championship Subdivision school Western Illinois.
The message throughout the week from starting safety Evans, junior quarterback Robert Marve and coach Danny Hope will be simple: don’t lose focus.
“(Avoiding a letdown) is always one of the hardest things to do,” Evans said. “Coaches try to push you and stay on you in practice to go hard, but we’re still 0-1 right now. So to get that first win, I think will still be a motivator for us to play hard.”
Last season, Purdue suffered a heartbreaking 38-36 loss at Oregon in the second week of the season only to return to Ross-Ade and lose to Northern Illinois.
Evans said that game is a reminder to not only stay focused but not to let the previous week affect what will happen the next.
Hope echoed that.
“I’ve been back here for a couple of years now and probably the loss this past weekend was probably the toughest loss,” he said. “The team was down. They came out and worked hard. But it wasn’t a whole lot said. Winning would make us feel better. Obviously, that would be the perfect remedy.
“What we have to do is take some steps as a football team here the next couple days, and we need to play better regardless who the opponent is this weekend.”
Still MIA
Hope doesn’t expect a boost in backfield depth anytime soon. He said Keith Carlos, who was converted from receiver to running back last spring, still hasn’t practiced while nursing a stress fracture.
“It’s a mystery,” Hope said about when Carlos could return to the field. “I have no idea how long it’s going to take. Haven’t seen him do anything.”
Boiler Bits
No changes to the depth chart. Keith Smith is actually listed as the No. 1 punt returner. Smith fielded all the punts last week despite not being on the two-deep, and Hope said he’ll keep the job. … Purdue will play against a 3-4 defense for the second consecutive week. Western Illinois’ scheme is a bit different than Notre Dame’s, though, and Hope said the Leathernecks could do more blitzing. … Hope said Purdue came out of Saturday’s game healthy.
