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PURDUE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 24, 2015

Darrell Hazell

West Lafayette, Indiana

COACH HAZELL: Welcome to week one of Purdue football. We'll be taking on the Indiana Hoosiers, being broadcast on Big Ten Network. They had a good win last week. But our guys walk past that clock in our hallways every day, countdown clock. You look at it, now it's down to four days. To play a good football game at Ross-Ade Stadium, for our seniors, and for our upcoming guys, this will be a huge game for us.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We'll open up for questions. Pete, what have you got?

Q. Darrell, I guess first off, how is David Bough and can he play this --
COACH HAZELL: How is David Blough?

Q. How is David Blough, and can he play --
COACH HAZELL: He's still foggy. I saw him last night for 30 seconds, and he's probably doubtful for this week, but will be a day-to-day evaluation to make sure he's safe.

THE MODERATOR: Pete, we could barely hear you. If you can talk as loud as possible we'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Q. I will talk really loud; is that okay? Does that work? Can you hear me?
COACH HAZELL: No. Can't hear you, Pete.

Q. Can't hear.
Okay. I'm screaming. My question is, who would be Austin Appleby's backup?

COACH HAZELL: Okay. I thought that question was coming, Pete. Who will be Austin Appleby's backup? We spent about 30 minutes talking about a lot of different scenarios last night. Obviously, Austin is going to start, and -- if Dave can't go. And one of the scenarios is if Austin loses his helmet early in the game, we put Aaron Banks in. We have a package of plays for him to run. If we come back and Austin gets hurt, and we're not sure if it's a long-term injury, in terms of quarters, plays, series, we'll buy some time with Aaron, but if Austin goes down early in the game, and the game is in the balance, and he's done for the game, we're going to play Elijah Sindelar.

A. Okay. Just your thoughts on you quarterback Nate Sudfeld and the problems he presents?

COACH HAZELL: Sudfeld is playing well. He's obviously scoring a lot of points. He's throwing extremely well. Not a great runner, but can hurt you, if you don't watch where he is all of the time. But his rhythm is really good right now. He's just throwing it before the break, even before the guys get out of the break. He's got a good groove that he's in right now. We're going to have to disrupt him.

Q. How confident are you that you can you get pressure on him given the quality of Indiana's offensive line?
COACH HAZELL: Well, you know, they're playing well up front, and he gets it out of his hands pretty fast. I think one of the things you have to be ready for, get as close to him as possible, but then get your hands up on those quick passes so we can get some deflected balls.

Q. And then, offensively, regardless who's quarterback, what is the key for you?
COACH HAZELL: I think the big key for us is early downs, early first and second downs, so we have manageable third down situations, and then, just like I said last week, we have to be able to convert some of those third down plays to stay on the field. Indiana is running a lot of plays, 90-plus plays a game. So we have to make sure our offense stays on the field by getting first downs on third down, or first and second down. You can still get a first down on first and second down as well.

Q. Okay. Thanks, Darrell.
COACH HAZELL: You're welcome.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Pete. We appreciate your cooperation. We'll go ahead and get started here in the room.

Q. Darrell, for your program, your seniors, this game is always the biggest game on the schedule, but to get some tangible positives going into the offseason, is it even amplified the significance of winning this game?
COACH HAZELL: I think so. I think it's going to take away a lot of the sting we're all feeling. This is a huge game for our players. We want to make sure we do it the right way and go out in the right fashion.

Q. It's been 68 years since IU won the bucket three times in a row. Will you seen mention that with your guys the significance of the legend of the history of this series?
COACH HAZELL: We talk about the bucket all of the time. I probably won't tell them that. But what we talk about is nonstop. We'll have a meeting today at 2:15, bring a special speaker in, and well talk about significant things about the bucket, but that won't be one of the things I'll mention.

Q. Who is your significant speaker?
COACH HAZELL: I'm not going to reveal it yet. We'll let the team see it first and put it out there afterwards.

Q. This game, I think Morgan has talked about this -- I was actually eating dinner last night. There were six Purdue students there, and they were talking about how they enjoyed going to the games this year. I think they were young kids. But they all said they were going home for the weekend. They wished they could see it. They'll watch it TV. Would you be in favor of, as long as this game is going to be on Thanksgiving weekend, would you like to move it into maybe late October, early November, so you get your full fan base and not on a Thanksgiving weekend?
COACH HAZELL: I think those rivalry games are special at the end of the season, for whatever reason. I have not given that any thought about moving the game within the calendar, but I think that, if it were my preference, I like where it is falling as the last football game of the season.

Q. Last thing for me, you know, Indiana, obviously, has a prolific offense, but their run defense, has -- a lot of teams have pierced it, so to say. I mean, it's always important, must you establish the run to win this game?
COACH HAZELL: I think that goes without saying. Any time you're in a close football game, you have to be able to impose your will, and that's how you do it, with the run game, so hopefully we can get some things going, get Markell going early in the game, get D.J. going early in the game, and that allows you to throw some of those play action passes that we in in the package.

Q. Just a couple things back on the quarterback. If Blough got cleared on Friday or Saturday, could he be the backup quarterback in that scenario, or the lack of preparation would hurt him, or what would you do there?
COACH HAZELL: It would be nice to have him available to us. If he got cleared out by Friday, that would have to be a game-time decision which direction he would go. But that was not one of the scenarios that we talked about.

Q. How difficult of a decision would it be considering the circumstances to put Elijah in?
COACH HAZELL: We feel he gives us our best chance to win the game, and I brought Elijah in after we had our conversations as a staff. Actually, I brought him in prior to, because I -- we did it twice, actually. We met first -- I met with Elijah, and then we met again as a staff. I talked to Elijah about it, and he said, "Coach, I want to do anything to help us win the football game." So, he was more than willing to pull off his red shirt to win the game.

Q. Just -- you know, what has this senior class meant, I guess, when you look at this group of guys?
COACH HAZELL: I think -- the one word that comes to my mind when you talk about these guys is stability. To be able to go through what they've gone through and be able to maintain their presence as people and as football players, that's the one word that comes to my mind. These guys are stable, stable guys.

Q. And maybe Robert Kugler the leader of that stability a little bit?
COACH HAZELL: Yeah, him and a couple other guys. But, yeah, he's certainly one of the leaders for this group.

Q. What has he meant to you, I guess, is -- with him here, and sort of the leadership he's brought in the first three years here?
COACH HAZELL: He gets it. You know, he gets it because he's a coach's son. He knows what -- some of the things that have to be changed that you have to go through. He also knows the commitment to work and the commitment to the people in your locker room. So, he understands the whole gamut of things that go into a program and how to get the program moving.

Q. Have the results been hard on him?
COACH HAZELL: Well, I'm sure they have. As they have been on everybody. You know, when you don't get your desired results, they are always hard, especially when you put the amount of work we all put into it. Again, he understands he has got a chance to do something special on Saturday.

Q. Ryan Watson is one of the seniors, maybe not as vocal at Kugler, but what has he done during his senior season that you've like, coming off last year? I think you wanted him to be more consistent. Has he been able to do that for you?
COACH HAZELL: Yeah. He's definitely played more consistently up front for us. I think he's been a quiet leader for us on that defensive line group, trying to keep those guys together. He's a guy that played a lot of snaps for us. You love having guys like Ryan Watson in the program because of all of those things that we mentioned.

Q. Thanksgiving is a couple days away. What are you thankful for this year?
COACH HAZELL: I'm thankful for so much, but just the opportunity to be with our guys. That's always the main thing, for me, to be around some great people, and to work together, and hopefully accomplish a lot of things.

Q. You're welcome. In your first years, obviously, you haven't won this game, but just to have -- try to get some momentum in the offseason, how important is what you do on Saturday? Can that lead to that?
COACH HAZELL: Oh, absolutely. I think this is -- like I said earlier, it's a huge game for us as a program. Not only our seniors, but our guys coming back, but as a program, I think this is a gigantic, gigantic game for us. I think this will help springboard us into a great offseason, give us some energy, reinforcement, all of those things that you look for. I went back and watched our games from last year, it 16-16 with five minutes to go in that game. We were unable to finish that game, which was a little disappointing, but we're looking forward to this one.

Q. Are you still experiencing similar issues, like a year ago, about finishing --
COACH HAZELL: In terms of finishing?

Q. -- finishing game?
COACH HAZELL: Obviously, we have. We've been in a couple close games this year that we have not been able to finish, but that's all part of that growing process.

Q. Did you get everything you could out of Danny Anthrop this year?
COACH HAZELL: That's hard to say. You know, I know you love Danny Anthrop and his willingness to get back and all of those things. I think the thing with Danny right now, is you like having just a hair more healthy than what he is. And wonderful, wonderful, player, wonderful person, and I'm happy for his future success.

Q. You talked about the IU quarterback earlier, but the running back, Jordan Howard, what dimension does he give that offense and how much has he helped maybe Sudfeld thrive this season?
COACH HAZELL: They are a different team when he's in the backfield. He's a very physical runner, runs extremely well, runs a lot of outside own. That's probably the number one play, outside zone. He has tremendous patience through the hole. Stays on course, stays on course, stays on course, puts his foot in the ground and gets up field. Very physical, great finisher with the ball in his hands. I mean, you see guys go backwards when he collisions.

Q. Thank you.
Q. What will be the -- the pregame for the senior day, what are you going to do?
COACH HAZELL: We will run out of the tunnel, as underclassmen and coaches, and then we'll announce the seniors, the parents will be out on the field. I'll shake their hands and then the parents will actually get pictures with those guys after I shake their hands.

Q. What uniforms are you going to wear?
COACH HAZELL: They voted. I gave then a chance, the seniors, to vote, and I think it was like 9-9, or 6 or 8 -- something like that. Black. They want all black.

Q. When you get a junior college guy, you never really quite know how that's going to work out. David Hedelin, just the growth that he's had over the last couple years, what have you seen from him, you know, his transformation since he's been here?
COACH HAZELL: You know, it's funny. David Hedelin is a guy you love to have for one more year, because if he could make the jump from year one to year two, and two to three. He made so many strides in this year, just understanding the game so much more, how to play a little bit harder. The communication he has with his guards and things like -- he's played so much better this year, year two, than he did in year one.

Q. Sorry if this is repetitive. I was kind of working with my mike early on. But the offense, they have balance. They can run it right, actually run it over you and they can obviously be explosive. What kind of challenges does that present when you don't exactly know what's going to come your way?
COACH HAZELL: One of the big things is making big plays. And we've give up some big plays this year. I think if we can reduce some big plays that they're making, that gives our chances that much more to be successful. They are balanced, they have good wide receivers. They have a good back. Obviously, the quarterback is playing at a high level and their offensive line is playing well.

Q. This could potentially keep Indiana from reaching a Bowl. Is there satisfaction in denying your rival a Bowl win or does it simply just come from winning the game?
COACH HAZELL: I think it's about winning the football game and getting that bucket back, more so than anything else, for our people that are inhouse.

Q. And then when you walk into a recruit in this state, high school, or home, or whatever. Obviously, you have not been able to pitch the fact that you've won the bucket the past couple years, but what can that mean?
COACH HAZELL: I shared that story with our guys on Sunday at our team meeting. You I went out to a high school down in Indianapolis and one of the first things I saw was a t-shirt that had our game against IU last year. This was about a week after the game, and it was not a favorable t-shirt for us. And I shared that with our team. I said, this thing means more than just the people in this room. This means something to everybody in this state. So, it's a very significant, significant moment those three and a half hours on Saturday.

Q. Kind of to that point, is it easy for your guys to think solely about this game and what it could mean moving forward when you've had the season that you've had?
COACH HAZELL: Yeah. That's -- you know, I put up on the overhead, "Indiana Focus." That's all we are thinking about. Nothing in the past, whether it was recent past, or the long past, nothing of that matters. It's all about this game on Saturday.

Q. That's all I got. Okay. Thanks.
THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach? No? Appreciate your time all season long, Coach. Thank you.

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