We’re into the final stretch on our trip around the Big Ten to examine three areas with each team that need attention during the offseason. Next on the list is the Purdue Boilermakers.

1. Settle on a quarterback: Purdue must go into August with better definition at the most important spot on the field. Austin Appleby, a rising junior, looks the part at 6-foot-5 with a solid and accurate arm, but he struggled with consistency after taking over for classmate Danny Etling in October. Too often, Purdue relied on Appleby to carry it to victory with his arm. It was never a good strategy. In the four games that he attempted 35 passes or more, Purdue lost by an average of 16.5 points as Appleby fired four touchdowns to go with eight interceptions. Appleby enters spring as the man to beat, but Etling returns to provide competition, and David Blough, as a redshirt freshman, is a dark horse.

2. Identify playmakers: Gone are talented running backs Akeem Hunt and Raheem Mostert. Top receiver Danny Anthrop, a senior next fall, continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered Nov. 1 at Nebraska. So the spring offers a chance, on both sides of the ball, for talent to emerge. Offensively, Purdue needs more from junior wideouts DeAngelo Yancey and Cameron Posey – now in need of a new position coach after Kevin Sherman left this week for Pitt. Fellow receiver Gregory Phillips figures to build on playing time earned late as a freshman. But who’s the difference-maker? Maybe it’s Markell Jones, an under-recruited back out of Columbus, Indiana, who was nothing short of spectacular as a high school senior, running for 60 touchdowns and more than 3,500 yards. He enrolled this month, as did junior-college transfer Anthony Mahoungou, originally from France. Defensively, cornerback Frankie Williams and a young corps of linebackers can build on solid performances in 2014.

3. Work on the mindset: It showed only slightly in Purdue’s 2014 record, but the Boilermakers were much improved from coach Darrell Hazell’s first season to his second. Purdue was oh so close on the road at Minnesota and competed well against Michigan State after Hazell notched his first Big Ten win in October over Illinois. Momentum slowed in November, but Purdue returns a lot, in particular at linebacker and on the offensive line, and it can build on that midseason stretch. This program is not far removed from a run of success under former coach Joe Tiller. Even Danny Hope won seven league games over his final two years before Hazell arrived from Kent State in 2013. The opportunity is there for Purdue to rise again in the West, easily the weaker of the Big Ten divisions.