Purdue coach Joe Tiller was impressed with how hard the Illinois defense played when he took his first look at the films of Saturday’s 40-2 loss to Ohio State.
“I thought they played extremely hard,” Tiller said. “They certainly haven’t sent up the white flag. I was somewhat surprised they played Ohio State that tough, particularly in the first half. Then, in the second half, Ohio State made some big plays.”
As of noon Tuesday, Tiller had yet to study the Illini’s offense, but he remembers running backs E.B. Halsey and Pierre Thomas because of what they did in last year’s 38-30 loss to Purdue.
Halsey ran for 83 yards on 15 carries and Thomas gained 48 yards on eight rushes.
“Thomas and Halsey were the best 1-2 combo backs we saw all last year,” Tiller said.
Thomas has rushed for 499 yards on 98 carries this year while Halsey has 285 on 70.
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Next: Saturday at Purdue, 11 a.m.
