PURDUE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 1, 2021

Jeff Brohm

Press Conference

JEFF BROHM: Well, we're looking forward to getting ready for Michigan State. It's a great opportunity for our team. The Spartans are playing at a high level right now on all cylinders, offense, defense, special teams. They're well-coached. They're making plays. They're opportunistic. Really doing a good job. They've had some big wins.

We're going to have to have a good week of practice and get guys healthy and ready to play and go out there and take a good swing at it, but I know our guys are looking forward to playing a tremendous opponent and seeing how we stack up.

Q. How did Zander come out of Saturday's game?

JEFF BROHM: Zander was just a little bit sore and we'll try to take care of him this week and get him ready for the game. I think he'll be ready to go.

Q. Just as you went back and reviewed, how much of a boost was he in the running game that allowed you guys to move the ball on the ground?

JEFF BROHM: Well, it was great to have him back. He's a big, physical back. You feel comfortable giving him the ball that even if there's not a whole lot of yards there, he's going to knock some people back and fall forward and do a good job with it. I think he'll continue to improve, and he definitely was a boost to our running game.

Q. Is this how you envisioned the running game the last month of the season? Is this how you wanted at least the rotation and using the guys that you did?

JEFF BROHM: Well, we want to get the running game going, and every week will be a new challenge to get that done. I think we're fortunate to have some things work this past week in our favor that we threw Jackson in the mix a little bit with Zander and King, and he gave us a better combination of guys. I think we committed to running the ball more and found a way to at least get some positive yards and then a couple decent chunks here and there.

Without question, it helped us win the time of possession, which was big in that game. I'm not for sure exactly, but we may have had it 40 minutes to their 20 and definitely kept our defense off the field and not turning the ball over while you're doing that even though we'd like to continue to execute better in all areas, it was beneficial to us.

I think it caused them with the limited possessions to want to throw it more than they wanted to, which was in our advantage.

Q. With the offensive line, first of all, Greg Long's status as you start the week?

JEFF BROHM: We're going to try to get him back. He's still in the protocol, so how that comes out, we'll see. But we're hopeful to get him back.

Q. You used seven offensive linemen on one play, the 4th down there I think in the first half. How long have you been waiting to kind of unveil that and put that out there?

JEFF BROHM: Well, we've had a couple packages with those guys in it. We had some other plays, as well. That was kind of just a 4th down and short run that we wanted to run. I don't know if the two extra linemen benefitted us looking at it on the edge, but in general they can, and at the same time there are some young guys at that position that we've got to be careful that we don't burn their redshirt. We've got to think things through on that, and obviously the goal was to win the game first, but we want to make sure that we use them more than one play a game.

Q. Sam Garvin, I can't recall if he's dressed before Saturday, but is he an option now on the line?

JEFF BROHM: Well, Sam actually has rehabilitated his back and gotten back to where he has been able to practice. He's a backup for us now that can go in when we need him. We do have to limit him in practice, but he got over the hump, and he's back in the mix. At any point if we need to put him in there, he can go in.

Q. Just how Michigan State has come on this year. Mel Tucker has used the portal like every other coach, but he seems to have pulled a lot more out of it than maybe some other guys. Is this how college football is going to look and feel here moving forward where the portal kind of will shape your roster moving forward?

JEFF BROHM: Well, looks like that's the way it's going to be. He's definitely done a good job with it this past year, got some very good players and added them to the mix and they're starting and playing well and are a big part of the package on both sides of the ball. Credit to him and adding that mix in there.

They're just executing at a high level. Their offense is able to run the football with a really good running back and rushing attack. The quarterback has done a really good job, played efficient football.

Defensively they've stepped up and played well throughout the entire season, and they're well-coached, and they haven't beat themselves. They've found a way to win a lot of the close games. You give them a lot of credit for that.

But yes, they went into the portal and got quite a few guys. I think it's 14 guys, and quite a few of playing a lot of minutes.

Q. Just health-wise, is Jenkins okay? He kind of got rattled a little bit. Looks like Tyler Witt battled his way through, and is there any update with DaMarcus Mitchell and Garrett Miller?

JEFF BROHM: Garrett we're going to try to get back and DaMarcus we're going to try to get back. I'm not optimistic, but we'll continue to get that done. Jamari Brown has been nicked up and he was able to come back in the second half even though he missed some action in the first, but we're going to have to be careful with him this week. Payne Durham got nicked up, so we've got to get him as healthy as we can, and yes, Kydran Jenkins, I'm not for sure what will happen this week, but we'll see where he stands at the end of the week.

Q. Are quarterbacks still going to be part of the ground game; I think each guy only got one snap this past week, Burton and Plummer. Burton ran one time, but obviously didn't need to go that route this week but obviously it's still in your repertoire, right?

JEFF BROHM: Yeah, I think we'll continue to have that in the package, whether it's situationally or in the red zone or on the goal line, the ability for the quarterback to run the ball. Obviously the one play we ran, kind of missed the cut a little bit. Didn't follow his blocker, but we didn't get the yards we wanted. But we'll continue to do that, and both those guys can throw, so if we need them to throw or move the pocket or run bootlegs, that's always been up.

But we were able to run the ball better. We were able to use the run pass with it, as well, and actually called more runs that we threw the ball on and had some success, so we'll continue to try to sharpen up that as much as we can.

But it needs to be a big part of our package.

Q. Just discuss the turnovers the last three games. I should say takeaways. Discuss the takeaways, the last three games, 10 takeaways, only had two the first five. Was it just a matter of time before this started happening or has anything changed to really instigate this surge?

JEFF BROHM: Well, I think that's football. Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn't. I think early in the year there were balls on the ground quite a bit and we didn't get them. I think if you look at the games we've gotten the most turnovers, obviously the interception by Jalen Graham was a great play by him, a bad throw on our quarterback, threw it basically right to him, which was big for us. Against -- I'm trying to think, against Iowa and against Nebraska when we got a lead in the game and caused them to throw more than they wanted to, that's when the turnovers really started to flow in.

That's kind of what I've felt all along. If we can somehow get in an advantageous situation, at least by the second half, and have a lead, our defense will play much better if a team has to throw the football a whole lot, and that's what we have to do. If we've got to play catch-up the entire game, it'll be a dogfight until the end, and we'll have to scrap and claw and try to hang in there.

But this past game when we got the lead, then all the turnovers started to come, and the same thing happened against Iowa. When we got the lead, it made them throw the ball more than they wanted, we've done a good job because we can generate pass rush with George and those guys, and our guys have done a good job in the back end at keeping their eyes on the quarterback and guarding things tighter.

Q. Is there anything magic about going on the road for you guys, 3-1 in really hostile environments?

JEFF BROHM: You know, I don't know, it's different every year. I think that some games you play better than others, and some games the luck goes your way. It just happened to be that that's the way it's flown this way. We'd obviously like to win more home games. It's a goal of ours everywhere to win all of our home games; we just have not been able to get that done. Came short against Minnesota, and Wisconsin put it to us pretty good, and it was not a good day for us.

We'll have to have a good week of practice and hopefully come out and do a better job this week.

Q. We spoke briefly after the game about the kicking situation. You've had a couple days to think about it. Is it still Mitchell's job? Are you going to try to work him through this funk or are you going to have a competition this week?

JEFF BROHM: Well, there's always going to be competition, and there always has been. I think as you saw this past week, Freehill kicked off last did mis-hit that he had, so he was in the mix the week before. We just stuck with Mitchell.

There will be competition this week for field goals and PATs. I think Mitchell can get out of the funk, but Freehill is another option that we'll utilize. As we've studied it, there's some small little things we're going to slightly adjust, see if it helps our kicker. We've tried to sharpen up the protection, and I don't think that's been a problem, but they've gotten some push, and hopefully that's not getting in his view and disrupting his kick. It should not, but we want to just tighten it up as much as we can.

Even looking at the holds, we may be holding it too close to our body, which I'm not a kicker, but I think that may have gotten in his head a little bit, so we're going to really study that and get that exactly the way we want.

In general, he's got to believe in himself, trust it, and just kick that daggone ball through the goal posts with everything he's got. I think he's caught some of them short or hit them on his toe and just hasn't really put it out there. But he's just got to get his confidence back.

Q. Just getting a chance to watch the film on Jackson Anthrop in the backfield, those handful of plays, what did you like about his skill set in the running game against Nebraska and kind of what he brought in the backfield?

JEFF BROHM: Jackson is a smart, intelligent player. He can do a lot of things for us. It was good to utilize him in different ways. He gives us someone in the backfield that's got some shiftiness and some elusiveness and can shake and bake a little bit back there and make some moves. Zander and King are bigger backs that run downhill, so it's always good to have that mix.

I thought for the most part he did a really good job and we were able to hand it to him, throw it to him out of the backfield and still get him some balls at receiver and use him in the kicking game, so he was a very, very valuable piece to the puzzle this past week.

Q. If you continue to move forward with him getting reps back there, is there rotation in terms of him in practice just spending one day with running backs, another day with receivers? How is that kind of working for him?

JEFF BROHM: Well, he's been practicing with running backs for quite a bit of time now sporadically throughout practice. This week for sure we had a more extensive package for him that we wanted to get to, and we forced ourselves to get to it earlier, and he did a good job with it, so we were able to come back with it.

You've just got to remember to get him in there, and you've got to remember which ones that you worked him with during the week and call those runs he feels good about. We were able to spread the field a little bit more with him back there and give him some room to run, and he did a good job. We'll definitely keep working that package this week.

Q. Obviously you've talked about Jack Plummer and Austin Burton, their packages in the running game, as well. Just in these last couple games to end the season, how important is it to continue being creative in the running game as they're continuing to get Zander healthy and you have King and you have all these options, I guess, as you continue?

JEFF BROHM: Well, we need to do a great job of coaching and making sure we change it up every week and make sure that there's plenty of options on the table. I think that with Jack and Austin using the quarterback as an extra runner with an extra blocker at times can be beneficial. Whether that's getting on the edge, whether it's running an option play, a zone read play, those are all things that it's not the strength of Aidan, but we also wanted to get back to a true running game, and we were able to kind of get that going with Aidan and he did a good job with it.

We want a mix of that, and like I said, sometimes situationally when there's a lot of guys up in the box, having an athletic quarterback to do a couple different things and still have the ability to throw on the edge can be beneficial.

We normally carry quite a bit in that, it's just a matter of getting it called and trusting that it's going to work and making the right call.

Q. Then as you start preparing for Michigan State, Kenneth Walker is a player that obviously stands out. What can you say about the season he's had so far and the opportunity for your defense to kind of match up against him and try to slow him down?

JEFF BROHM: Well, Kenneth has had an outstanding season. Their offense is suited exactly for him and built around him, running the football, power football, running downhill, getting it to him multiple ways, trusting in the running game because you have a really good defense and understanding that they're not going to beat themselves. They'll throw it when they need to and have to and mix it up, but for the most part they're going to rely on that running game to be the foundation of their team, and they've done a great job with it. Even got down this past week and still found a way to get him a lot of carries, and he broke off a lot of big runs. So that shows their confidence in him.

That's really how you have to win football games against really good teams is be sound and aggressive and good on defense and have a running game to go with it, and if you can have a passing game on top of that, then you can be extra dangerous, but you have to get the ground game going and play really good defense.

Q. Any modest or pleasant surprise on your part to be as productive as you were offensively without being able to make a lot of big plays?

JEFF BROHM: Well, we knew teams have gotten to where they're playing the pass, and creating big plays is a little tougher to do when they don't honor the run. It's tough. They're playing guys deep. They're double covering certain guys. Sometimes they're not rushing any. It's just tougher to throw the ball deep, and it's even tougher to get any trick plays going, as well, when they're playing the pass.

Getting better at running the ball and forcing people to try to come up and stop it and adjust what they're doing is beneficial to us, so we've got to continue to do that as much as we can and obviously when the game is close, you're easily able to do that. If it were to get lopsided one way, then we would have to divert. Now, we do understand we can pass the ball when we need to, but when you can do both, you can play more efficient, you can control the time of possession, you can keep your defense off the field, your quarterback can take care of the football better instead of having to force a bunch of throws up the field always into tight coverage.

That's an issue we ran into against Wisconsin, but I give them credit, they were really good and they found different ways to get to the quarterback from a lot of different areas and simulated blitzes and dogs and disguise of coverage. Running the football definitely helps.

Q. Just what you've got this season from Kydran Jenkins. Has he come on really quickly? Is that the effect of playing alongside Karlaftis, or what have you seen from him this season?

JEFF BROHM: Well, I give a lot of credit to Kydran. He is extremely hard worker, he's strong, he works hard in the weight room. He puts in a lot of extra work. Coach Hagan has done a great job with him. We trust him to do what he's supposed to do, to be in the right spot, to play physical, and yes, when you play opposite of George, you can do a lot of really good things.

He has definitely played at a higher level than we thought he would this year just going into the season, but it's due to the work ethic that he's had and he's been thrown in the mix and he's just a physical individual that really cares about winning and cares about doing a good job. He's been a great addition to the defense.

Q. As a long-suffering New York Jets fan, had to ask you about what Mike White did for the Jets yesterday.

JEFF BROHM: Well, I didn't get to see the game. I followed it early and I saw they were losing and then came back in after practice and heard he had a heck of a game. That's a credit to him. He's a very poised quarterback. We took him as a transfer from South Florida. He had to sit one year as a transfer and play behind Brandon Doughty and Brandon put up really ridiculous numbers, and then Mike came in and we had him last year there and he put up tremendous numbers.

Really he's an accurate passer, he's 6'4", he can see the field. He's got a lot of poise. Not a super athlete, but can spread the ball out and be accurate with his passes. Really throws a very catchable ball. Some guys throw it hard and have a big arm. He throws a very catchable ball at times.

So I was happy for him. He's a great young man. He's got a -- he's married and got a kid now, and great family. He's got a big game I think in Indianapolis this Thursday, and we'll -- yeah, it's in Indianapolis. My son wanted to go to the game. I said, well, you're going to have to go by yourself. I can't make it. That will be a big test for him if he can do it two weeks in a row, but it was huge for them, so I'm happy for him.

Q. With Jalen Graham when you were recruiting him, how much discussion -- did he want to play quarterback since he played that in high school as opposed to playing defense, or was it just straight defense with Jalen?

JEFF BROHM: No, sometimes we won't fully elaborate where we want to play him. Jalen, he knew he was going to play defense. We recruited him as a defensive back, really a safety. We knew he probably would grow into a linebacker, but he could play safety now if we wanted him to. He's got good length. He's a competitor.

I think a lot of times when you play on offense and him playing quarterback, he kind of understands passing schemes and what the quarterback is doing and what he was looking at or what he was trying to look off, and he's been in the right spot a lot of the time.

Even when the scouts come in, I talk about Jalen quite a bit, that this is a young man to keep an eye on. He's really played good football for us, he practices well. He doesn't miss any action. He's a competitor. He wants to win. It was great to see him make a lot of plays for us.

He's had some really good games this year. This was probably his best game. He did a lot of really good things, not only on the turnovers but just playing sound football and being in the right spot. Once again, he's a hard worker. He doesn't miss practice. He wants to be great, and he's helped us win a lot of these games.

Q. Just talk about the two freshmen offensive linemen. You must really like those guys, true freshmen offensive linemen, to get on the field. They played this year before, too, Moussa and Mbow. Just their potential and what you think of those two.

JEFF BROHM: We really like Moussa and Mbow. We think they've got a bright future. They've come in in their freshman year really just getting here in the summer, and they've got some good twitch to them, they've got good size, good athleticism. They've gotten strong and as big as they can in a couple months, so they're going to continue to fill out. But we like them a lot.

If someone were to get injured or to go down, one of those two guys would go in and play a lot, so it's just getting them ready, making sure that they prepare as hard as they can because their number is close to being called if we have another injury or two.

They definitely have done a really good job. I think just their athleticism and they've got some football savvy and they do compete hard, so we like both them.