7-0 You Say? What about...wait is this right? Purdue?

So the Gophers are sitting at 3-0 going into conference play and have a legitimate shot at starting 7-0. Maryland is crap, MSU is beatable, and with Tubby Smith at the helm, Illinois ain’t beating no one. The wildcard to going undefeated in the first seven? Purdue. Effing Purdue.

I’m not really sure what to make of them. At times they’ve looked brilliant on offense and pretty disciplined on defense – not recent hallmarks of Purdue football. At other times they looked downright ordinary. They played Michigan pretty tight for three quarters, but the Wolverines weren’t exactly playing high-quality ball; whether that was due to the Boilers disrupting their plans or Team Pleated Khakis having a bad day is hard to tell.

I’m more troubled by the fact that I’m worried about Purdue. It’s Purdue for eff’s sake. What if Purdue beats us and keeps us from the incandescent glory that is 7-0? Are we okay at 6-1 with the “1” being Purdue? The couple of games after that, @Iowa and @Michigan are kinda important, particularly the former. Will our fans have the wherewithal to travel to Kinnick, tear down and steal the goalposts and duct tape Brian Ferentz to them right after a loss to Purdue? Pray we never have to find out.

I’m not really all that worried about Purdue, to be honest. They look better, much better, this season; but they’re one of the few teams in the conference over which we have a talent advantage. Further, thanks to Snorlax-styled coaching, two of their better defensive starters are suspended for the first half for targeting. That should allow us to put some points on the board early and hopefully provide enough cushion to sustain an offensive run by Purdue. I don’t think there’s any doubt they’ll be the best offense we’ve faced so far and, with our depth issues at defensive back, they’ll score some points. I just think we’ll score more.

Still, though, who would have thought the game we’d be most worried about in the first seven was Purdue? Brohm is a good, maybe a great coach, and has righted the exploding supertanker spewing oil all over the puffins, ducks and pelicans a lot faster than we thought he would. I don’t like living in a world where I have to worry about Purdue.