Aidan O'Connell comes from a big family.
And then there's his second family, the much-larger Purdue football family, which the sixth-year quarterback continues to lean on in the wake of tragedy ahead of Saturday night's Big Ten football championship game.
O'Connell played in last Saturday's Big Ten West-clinching victory over Indiana, throwing for 290 yards and two touchdowns — all while his team knew the heartbreak he was going through, while the rest of college football did not. O'Connell's older brother, Sean, died suddenly last week.
He is away from the team, and with his family, as Purdue prepares to play Michigan in the championship game at 8 p.