Minnesota's Mason looks to beat Tiller for first time
JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - Few teams have given Minnesota coach Glen Mason fits like the Purdue Boilermakers.
Mason is 0-6 in his nine seasons with the Gophers against Purdue and coach Joe Tiller. The only other Big Ten team Mason has yet to beat is Michigan.
But Mason's Gophers will be facing a far different team on Saturday when No. 11 Purdue comes to town.
The Boilermakers (2-0) still run Tiller's famed "basketball on grass" offense, but this year they're also featuring the option, a rarity in Big Ten football. And they also play a little defense.
With mobile quarterback Brandon Kirsch replacing pocket passer Kyle Orton, who has started for the Chicago Bears as a rookie, the Boilermakers have added a new wrinkle that figures to cause headaches for most Big Ten opponents, starting with the Gophers (3-0).
"Once you're not used to seeing the option, not a lot of teams run it in the Big Ten, it can be a problem," Gophers cornerback Trumaine Banks said Tuesday. "If you just have defensive players that make it an issue to get to the ball, you can have some success."
In his typical "aw-shucks" fashion, Tiller downplayed the addition of the option to his wide-open spread offense.
"I don't think what we did last week is an indicator of what we're going to do for the balance of the season," Tiller said. "We will lean a little more heavily on the run than we did when I got here eight years ago. We're still a one-back, spread offense and we spend a lot of time practicing the pass."
Purdue gained 239 yards on the ground and failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 16 games in an impressive 31-24 victory at Arizona last week. Kirsch rushed for 54 yards in the game.
Mason chuckled when told that Tiller didn't understand what all the fuss was about with the option.
"It's easy for him to say that too much was being made of it because he doesn't have to defend it," Mason said. "They're running the option quite a bit and it makes them that much more difficult to prepare for."
Oddsmakers made the Gophers three-point favorites early this week, which came as a surprise to Mason given the Boilermakers' experience on defense and recent success in the Metrodome.
Purdue has won the last three games at the Dome, 59-43 in 1997, 33-28 in 1999 and 35-28 in 2001.
But those teams came into the game looking to simply outscore the opponent, using an unconventional attack that features five wide receivers and is aimed at confusing the defense.
These Boilermakers come in with the No. 1 rushing defense in the nation and a smashmouth attitude.
"I think you can kind of see everything changing from the old Purdue `basketball on grass' style to a style where we're going to pound it, pound it and run some play option things off that," Kirsch said after Purdue's victory over Arizona.
Mason certainly sees it.
"They have been comfortable winning games 55-54," Mason said. "We're better suited to win 10-7."
Which may be why the Gophers have as good a chance to finally defeat Purdue this season as ever before.
If Purdue wants to go toe-to-toe rather than float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, that's fine with the Gophers. They bring one of the top offensive lines and stable of running backs in the nation into Saturday's game, and they love to get physical.
"It happens every year," star running back Laurence Maroney said. "We faced Michigan and they had the No. 1 rushing defense. Then you go against Iowa, they had the No. 1 rush defense, then you go against Alabama, they so-called had the No. 1 rush defense. It's nothing we've never faced. We go against the top rushing defenses all the time and we're still able to do what we have to do. It's just another big challenge for us."
