This week I will review Purdue’s loss to Washington and preview the upcoming bye.
About last week …
Holy moly was that game bad. Purdue had several opportunities early in the game and failed to convert. Then the Huskies arose from their nap to score 35 unanswered points and the rout was on. During this time, Purdue was back to early season form, shooting themselves in the foot with penalties, poor execution, poor tackling, poor blocking, poor passing, poor angles in pursuit, etc. You name something
Purdue did and with a few exceptions, it was done poorly. Note they must have had several foot replacement surgeries over the course of the season to even have yet another foot to unload rounds into.
A few examples of poor play on the part of Purdue:
- On the opening possession of the game Washington gifted Purdue a golden opportunity thanks to their center snapping the ball over Demond Williams, Jr.’s head. Purdue recovered at the Washing 42-yard line. Thanks to a false start penalty, this three-play drive netted -1 yards and resulted in a punt.
- Purdue’s next two possessions, they moved the ball into Washington territory but on both occasions were unable to convert a 4th down with 1-yard to go, at the Washington 38- and 39-yard lines, respectively. Both times featured a run up the middle even though Purdue had little to no success running the ball thus far.
- Leading 7-0, Washington was driving but faced a 3rd down with 19-yards to go Williams completed a pass to Raiden Vines-Bright. Purdue S Miles Slusher deliver a big hit that left Vines-Bright well short of the 1st down and unresponsive on the turf. In a garbage move, Slusher proceeded to taunt the Washington sideline and earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, gifting the Huskies an automatic 1st down. It was a pathetic look for Slusher to be taunting on a play when the player he had hit was carted off in an ambulance. With their drive extended, Washington went on to score another TD.
- In the second half, Purdue TE Rico Walker earned not one, but two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for taunting. The second one resulted in Walker’s ejection. My question, when you’re losing by 30+ points in what will be your team’s 9th consecutive loss, why are you taunting the opposing team? If anything, you should be embarrassed about your team’s performance.
What I liked:
- Purdue kicker Spencer Porath nailing both of his FG attempts from 41- and 53-yards, respectively, the latter being a career long kick. He is now 14 of 15, including two made FGs of 50+ yards.
- Purdue and former Washington punter Jack McCallister continues to punt well and averaged 43.5-yards on four punts.
- The Seattle Times reported that Husky Raiden Vines-Bright was doing well after leaving the field in an ambulance.
What I didn’t like:
- The exceptionally poor play by Purdue. A few examples are provided above.
- Penalties – Purdue had seven for 64-yards, most of which were either pre-snap or post-play (two false starts and three unsportsmanlike conducts). Add an ineligible offensive lineman downfield and the result is a bunch of completely stupid penalties.
A very good, but not great Washington team dominated this game. I expected them to play with a chip on their shoulders due to their loss to formerly winless Wisconsin the previous Saturday. In such situations, Purdue needs to play a perfect or near-perfect game to have a chance. With all of the mental errors by Purdue players, I’m not surprised the game was essentially over early in the second quarter.
It’s on to a bye week. Hopefully Coach Odom can use the extra time to have his Boilermakers focus on playing better with much more discipline. At times over the past month, I thought they had been. Unfortunately, this past week was a huge step back. Once again, Purdue will need a perfect game to have a chance when they face an excellent Indiana team on Black Friday. Stop back next week for an Old Oaken Bucket Game preview!
