INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Purdue hasn't discussed the possibility of going to a bowl game recently, but the opportunity still exists despite a 1-5 start.

   The Boilermakers lost five straight games by a combined 33 points before beating Ohio State and Illinois the past two weeks. Purdue coach Danny Hope said his players know they could work their way back into postseason contention, starting Saturday at Wisconsin.

   Purdue (3-5, 2-2 Big Ten) would need to win three of four to earn consideration.

   "They can do the math," Hope said Tuesday. "They read."    If they're reading, they know that the Boilermakers don't play Iowa or Penn State this year, the top teams in the conference along with Ohio State. Instead of worrying about that, Hope is focused on just getting the team to play a little better each week.

   "We are doing a better job of just staying focused and ready and getting ready to play the next opponent," he said. "That's the most important thing we can do right now."

   Hope said confidence is high after the team's first back-to-back regular-season wins since the middle of the 2007 season.

   "I think we are gaining some momentum as a football team, and we are probably the best we have been all season long right now in all three phases, offense, defense and special teams," he said.

   The defense has shown perhaps the most improvement. The Boilermakers had one of the worst defenses in the nation the first half of the season, but held Ohio State to 18 points and Illinois to 14.

   Hope said the starting defensive backfield of Brandon King, Dwight Mclean, Torri Williams and David Pender, along with reserve Albert Evans, has played well recently.

   On offense, the Boilermakers re-established a dormant running game and ran for 220 yards against Illinois, their second-best total of the season.

   "I like the fact that we could earmark it or pencil it as a key to victory; that we were going to be committed to the run and go out on the field and execute the run game and play physical and establish a strong running game like that," Hope said. "We chose to do that and went out there and got that done."

   Though the Boilermakers don't play a ranked team the rest of the season, they still play their next two games at hostile environments against Wisconsin and Michigan.

   "We have to improve as a football team," Hope said. "The competition is stepping up and there are some challenges. We have to step up some as a football team. We have to get better and take care of the football. What we have been doing the last two or three weeks -- if we do that again, then we will certainly compete."
 
   (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)
   APTV-10-27-09 1826CDT