Purdue Boilermakers head coach Barry Odom walks on the sidelines Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Purdue Coach Barry Odom Talks Areas of Improvement After Win Over Ball State

Originally posted on Purdue Boilermakers on SI
By Dustin Schutte | Last updated Aug 31, 2025 2:51 PM ET

Barry Odom is like most coaches after a win in Week 1: he still sees a lot of room for improvement. Purdue may have defeated Ball State 31-0 in Saturday's season opener, but he says there are plenty of things to clean up heading into next weekend's contest against Southern Illinois.

Purdue played well on both sides of the football, pitching a shutout defensively and putting up 435 yards offensively. Statistically, the Boilermakers played a solid game, but there's still plenty of room for growth.

"We're nowhere near a finished product. I did think that, overall, our team played fairly smart ... we did not turn the ball over, which is huge," Odom said. "I think our quarterbacks made smart decisions, I think our defense got us out of some calls ... So, the smart side, we're getting there. We need to be a really, really smart football team."

Purdue's defense might have been the best unit of the day. The Boilermakers held the Cardinals to just 203 yards of offense and racked up seven tackles for loss and four sacks. Ball State was successful on just four-of-13 attempts on third down.

Still, there are some things Odom would like to see improved before his team hosts Southern Illinois next weekend.

"I'm excited that we held them out of the end zone and they missed a couple of kicks, which was great," Odom said. "We didn't force any turnovers, which we've got to do. Tackling was average, at best. I thought we tackled well early, but didn't tackle well throughout the course of the game."

"In the world of college football today, it doesn't matter who you're playing; it's hard to shut someone out. We'll build on that."

More than anything he saw on the field, Odom said Purdue's energy level was something that needs to be addressed moving forward. Those who were on the field brought plenty of juice, but the head coach wants to see more enthusiasm and excitement from everyone wearing the black and gold on game day.

"I certainly don't want to take away from the win, but I thought our sideline, the energy from the guys who were not on the field, we were not anywhere close to where we need to be. I did not do a good enough job teaching them what that looks like. We'll get that fixed ... because you have to play with energy and enthusiasm.

"If you're not one of the 11 on the field, then man, you have to bring it on the sideline. Everybody has a job to do."

This article first appeared on Purdue Boilermakers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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