Last season the schedule set up beautifully for Purdue to have a dramatic turnaround. With an FCS team and a pair of MACrifices the Boilers should have been able to start 3-1 with some confidence. Well, that didn't happen. The season wasn't necessarily over after losing to Central Michigan, but it certainly took a turn south.
There are no such luxuries this season. Purdue might be lucky to be 2-2 before the conference season starts, and the opening game in conference play is not an easy one. It is only against a team that is 24-3 over the last two seasons and is 16-1 against the Big Ten.