An Interview With:
COACH HOPE 

Q. I guess the first question, having the bye week, what was the focus in terms of what you wanted to get accomplished in the bye week and how did that turn out?
 COACH HOPE:  The bye week, the bye week went very well for us.  We think we got done what said set out to get done.  We wanted to give them some reps first, so after the SE Missouri game, they had sun afternoon off, all of Monday, all of Tuesday, all of Wednesday to give them a chance to fuel up a little bit, freshen up a little bit, get away, get some personal time. 
 Then we came out and practiced well on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, most exclusively with our preparation for Notre Dame that went very well.  Gave us a chance to put together a game plan and take it out on the practice field and test it some, and do that over and over again, and we think that it makes a difference for the game on Saturday. 

 Q.  Now you're playing a Notre Dame team that could very easily be 4-0 and a Top-10 team if not for all of the turnovers.  How do you assess them? 

 COACH HOPE:  You're right on it.  They are an excellent football team and loaded with talent.  They have turned the ball over a lot in their first four games, and that's probably why they are not undefeated.  But they certainly have the talent and play like a Top-10 football team. 

 Q.  When you go against a team that has a turnover problem, not that you don't try to force turnovers anyway, does that become more a point of emphasis from a defensive standpoint? 

 COACH HOPE:  Well, it's always a point of emphasis.  That's one of the three things that we hang our hat on from a defensive standpoint.  One is forming our strain (ph) to the ball, the other is tackling and then ball disruption and takeaways.  It's a huge focal point of our defensive philosophy. 

 Q.  And then one of the obvious questions in terms of Purdue is the quarterback situation in terms of how you are rotating those guys, how is that going to shake out? 

 COACH HOPE:  Well, we'll make a decision as far as we might rotate them on Saturday, but obviously Caleb TerBush is our No. 1 quarterback and Robert Marve is No. 2, they are both doing very well. 
 We can win with both of those guys and both of those guys will be able to help us win this Saturday.  And throughout the course of the year, there will be competition,  but it's nice to have a little bit of continuity at the quarterback position for a change. 
 Last year and the beginning of this season, we had five or six quarterbacks in about 14 games, starting quarterbacks.  So to have some continuity at the quarterback position is really important to our football team so we don't have to make the switch right now.  We have two very good quarterbacks, both are ready to play very well for our team. 

 Q.  I know you've always made an emphasis on running the ball the last couple of years but the success you've had in the running game, can you talk about what has been the impetus for that? 

 COACH HOPE:  Well we have a commitment to it.  It can make a difference in ball security issue.
 Last year we had a lot of injuries at the quarterback position, so we had to manage the running game out of necessity.  Obviously from a physicality standpoint, you become a more physical football team if you can run the ball.  And throughout the course of practice, you get yourself a more defensive football team.
 So there's a lot of reasons why you like to have a strong running attack.  We have good running backs on the offensive line, and with the new quarterbacks, and I think being able to go out and have a strong running game takes a little bit of pressure off our quarterbacks.