Perhaps that shouldn't come as a surprise, considering Chris Ash arrived 22 months ago as a highly lauded defensive coordinator, having called plays for Big Ten-championship units at Wisconsin and Ohio State.
But midway through his second campaign, Ash has built a defensive unit capable of competing against most Big Ten teams.
Saturday's defensive performance was on a different level completely.
The Scarlet Knights dominated a Purdue team that had scored 30 or more points in its three wins this season, a unit that had averaged a respectable 26.2 points-per-game despite the fact that its three losses came against teams that were ranked in the Top 25 at the time.