Saturday night needs to be a get-right game for Purdue. The Syracuse loss was among the most frustrating in recent memory, but in the long run at least it is not a conference game. The West still looks very weak and if Purdue can right things and pull off a win in Minneapolis next week it will be right back in the hunt despite the Penn State loss.
None of that happens without a win over Florida Atlantic, however. Purdue is favored by a decent sized margin, but this is still a dangerous team. Like many MAC squads we see, they are full of talented athletes that were overlooked by Power 5 schools.