Purdue beat Minnesota 41-13 and hosts Washington next as the favorite

Purdue is back to .500. The Boilermakers beat Minnesota 41-13 on Saturday, a 28-point win that evens their record at 3-3 ahead of a Friday night home game against Washington.

On3's Gold and Black site is going back over the game in its Sunday film-and-data series. Brian Neubert's Definitive Week 5 Review says it focuses on Purdue's running game and its defensive plan against the Gophers. Most of the review is behind On3's subscriber paywall, so this story does not repeat its stats or film notes. The outlet ran several other pieces off the same game: player grades, ten observations and postgame video with coach Barry Odom and his players. That is a sign of how much the result meant to people who follow the program closely.

The score explains why. Holding a Big Ten opponent to 13 points while putting up 41 is the most complete game the Boilermakers have shown this fall. On3 chose the ground game and the defensive approach as the two topics worth a closer look, which points to where Purdue's coaches will want to keep building. Running the ball well lets a team control the clock and the pace. A defense that sticks to its plan for four quarters keeps a game from getting away. Purdue managed both on Saturday.

The question now is whether it carries over. Purdue hosts Washington on Friday, October 16, at 8 p.m. EDT on Fox. Both teams are 3-3, so the winner moves above .500 in a season that has been up and down for each. A Friday night national TV slot also gives Odom's team a chance to show a wider audience that the Minnesota game was a real step forward.

The market makes Purdue the favorite. On Novig, one of the venues listing the game, Purdue is -156 to win. The spread has the Boilermakers favored by 3.5 points, and the total sits at 52.5. The best sportsbook price on Purdue is -155 at Hard Rock Bet, almost the same number. That is about what you would expect between two .500 teams with home field going to Purdue. Saturday's lopsided score has not pushed the number to a wide margin. Current lines are on the Washington at Purdue odds page.

The 52.5 total suggests the market expects more scoring than Purdue allowed to Minnesota. If the run game and defense look like they did against the Gophers, the Boilermakers would push the game in the other direction.

For Purdue, the goal this week is to show that the Minnesota game is a new standard and not a one-off. With a short week ahead, the staff has a few days to apply what the film showed before Washington comes to West Lafayette.