To get a better idea of this year's Boilermakers before the Spartans face them noon this Saturday at Spartan Stadium on ESPN, The State News talked to Rebecca Schneider, sports editor for The Purdue Exponent — Purdue's student newspaper.

Editor's note: This story was lightly edited for clarification purposes.

Q: First off, Purdue lost its first three games, and now it's on a four-game winning streak, with obviously the 49-20 win over then-No. 2 Ohio State last Saturday. What has Purdue changed in the last four games?

A: I think it's been a couple of things. I think; first, it's been reducing the penalties and the stupid mistakes. The first two or three games, Purdue was making a lot of costly errors that were 15-yard penalties, personal fouls. Just really stupid plays, and Purdue was shooting itself in the foot. The first three losses were by a combined 8 points, and the team knew something needed to change. And I think it really started in the Missouri game Sept. 15, where [quarterback David] Blough broke three or four records, I think a couple of Drew Brees' records and the offense started clicking. And even though they lost that game, I thought it showed a lot of hope and promise. And coming out against then-No. 23 Boston College and Illinois and Nebraska, the offense was just rolling. I mean, not to be cliche, but it's been firing on all cylinders, and they've just found their stride.

Q: Then obviously Rondale Moore, he's probably one of the best wide receivers in the nation. So how has he, just being a freshman, and throughout these first seven games?

A: It's crazy because he doesn't act like a freshman. He doesn't talk like a freshman. You wouldn't think he's a freshman — he does look like a freshman because he's 5-foot-7, but … on the field he expects a ton of production from himself and from his teammates. He's very well spoken. I know multiple times during interviews he's talked about how it'll be 4 a.m. after a win, and he'll be texting [quarterback Elijah] Sindelar or Blough about what he can do better. He'll be texting coach Shephard, the wide receivers coach, about what he can do to beat coverage or run his routes better and stuff. He's so completely dedicated to the game and to the team. Unless someone told you he was a freshman, you wouldn't think he is one. And it's just incredible to see that, because even my parents who watch the game on TV — and he did an interview with ESPN — and they were like, 'He's a freshman, are you kidding me? Like, he's so well spoken, and he's so smart and knowledgeable.' You don't think he's a freshman, and then you look at his stats and what he's done in seven games (57 catches, 728 yards, 7 touchdowns and 163 rushing yards on 11 attempts and a touchdown), and you're like, 'How is this even possible?'"

Q: You talked about him a little bit, David Blough. I mean, at least in my mind, when it came to the Big Ten quarterbacks going into the season, most people thought about Shea Patterson, Brian Lewerke and Dwayne Haskins. But how has David Blough evolved, especially with how Purdue has been rolling as of late?

A: I think for him, he's just been here for five years. He knows the players around him very well. He knows what everybody here is capable of. And I think the after injury last year that sidelined him for the second half of the season (dislocated ankle, small break in the fibula and ligament damage), really put it into perspective for him that he's really only got 12, maybe 13 Saturday's left of college football guaranteed, and he wanted to take advantage of that. Going into the season, obviously it was tight competition with Sindelar, and he didn't win it. But then, Sindelar went out with an injury, and I think, just from the reporter's perspective, I think, internally, he realizes this might be his last opportunity to capitalize on making something happen and being able to be that starting quarterback for his last year here.

 I mean, he's so composed, even in losses. Talking to him on the sidelines, he believes in this team no matter what, and what he's doing right now isn't anything we haven't seen before. He's just doing it so consistently. I think the past three games, maybe four games, he's put up 300-yard performances. This is nothing new. We've seen this before; it's just he's able to string these performances together that's giving him some weekly awards — Big Ten Player of the Week Awards. It's that he can do it on a regular basis is what's making the difference right now. 

Q: Switching over to the defense, I'm looking at the overall defensive statistics, and I'm looking at linebackers Markus Bailey, Cornel Jones, Derrick Barnes, safety Jacob Thieneman, all those guys. So, how does the Purdue defense run and how do these guys rise to the top?

A: Purdue runs a 4-3 defense, nothing too crazy. I mean, Nick Holt is probably the most aggressive, energetic, crazy defensive coach you'll ever meet. They don't run anything too crazy. They just blitz a lot, they play aggressive and they'll come after you. They won't stop putting pressure on, and I think that's something they definitely learned in the Ohio State game, is that if they wanted to win that game, they had to continually put pressure on, because if they didn't do that, then they'd end up like Penn State did. And so I think for them, it's just been learning to play a full game and to not stop. I think that's another thing that contributed to those losses in the beginning of the season.

Derrick Barnes and Cornel Jones are sophomores — they haven't seen the field before this year. And now they're two of the Big Ten's best linebacker pairs. I mean, it's just incredible what's been happening. It's honestly nothing crazy that they run, they just play hard, they play aggressive and they're in your face. It's nothing more than that.

Q: Who wins, what's the score and why?

A: Purdue 28-17. I think Purdue is rolling right now. The offense is literally firing on all cylinders, and the defense has played about three or four straight games of lights-out defense. I don't know the specifics on Michigan State's injury situation, but I know a lot of them are injured — and that's not great. And I think Purdue has realized this season, its ability to capitalize when the other team makes mistakes, especially Ohio State. I think that was a really big turning point for them. So, I think the Boilers are going to come out on top.