It’s the battle for the Cannon. It is Purdue’s third most important rivalry trophy, yet it is the only one we have been able to win in recent years. The downside to that is that the road team has won five straight in this series. Two years ago the Illini came to West Lafayette and used a very poor running game to run for almost 350 yards on us. Four years ago they broke a 20-game Big Ten losing streak in a 20-16 strugglefest.
Things need to be different today, because if we can’t beat Illinois at home we’re probably not getting another win this year.