Hi everyone, I (HoustonBoiler) am a new “writer” at OTE and will be assisting BoilerUp89 with coverage of Purdue sports. BU89 is transitioning to basketball coverage – B1G Media Days are here! – so I will be filling the void with some reflections on Purdue football. I began this series last week, though I placed that article in the Feed and titled it “Week 5” because it was leading to Purdue’s 5th game. I have since learned how to post content so this is my first article (which none of you will read,
as is tradition). To better align with the rest of college football, I’m jumping ahead with this article to “Week 7.”
About last week’s 43 – 27 loss to Illinois that I did not watch as I was traveling to my 45th high school reunion. Mrs. HB and I had fun. Watching this mess would have been a lot less fun.
Good:
- Overall, the offense did some nice things, but not nearly enough nice things. That said, in 4 out of 5 games this season Purdue has been above the Ferentz lineTM. The season average to date is also above the Ferentz lineTM.
- Purdue had 2 explosive plays for TDs – a 60-yard pass from Ryan Browne to Corey Smith in the 2nd quarter and a 41-yard run by Antonio Harris in the 3rd quarter. This is an improvement as Purdue has had difficulty executing explosive plays, particularly ones for TDs, earlier in the season.
- Illinois punted the ball 3 times! This is an improvement over the previous 2 games where Purdue’s opponents did not punt, at all.
Bad:
- The defense – woof! Purdue’s top corner, Tony Grimes, was unavailable due to injury and it showed. Look, Grimes has not been the “lockdown” corner many Purdue fans were hoping for when the former 5-star recruit arrived from UNLV via the portal. Overall, he’s been good but has also been beaten for TDs a couple of times already. However, with him sidelined, there were a number of issues with coverages leading to Illinois receivers being wide open way too frequently.
- Purdue turned the ball over twice, once on a fumble and later on a muffed punt return. The fumble was particularly devastating. Purdue had a 7 – 3 lead and was driving when Michael Jackson III made a 9-yard reception and then fumbled at the Illinois 38. On the very next play, Illinois scored on a 62-yard bomb from Luke Altmyer to Hank Beatty, who just happened to be wide open. This was the start of 24 unanswered points from Illinois that broke the game open.
- For the 4th game this season, Purdue failed to take the ball away from their opponent. On the year, Purdue has one fumble recovery against Notre Dame and zero interceptions.
- Purdue had 8 penalties for 61-yards. I believe this was a season high.
On to Minneapolis to face the Gophers. Purdue is 1 – 6 in games played in Huntington Bank Stadium, though that one win was the most recent game in Minneapolis between the Boilers and Gophers. In fact, Purdue has won the last 2 games in the series, but Minnesota has won 8 of the last 11, which swung the overall series in favor of the Gophers, 41 – 35 with 3 ties. It’s worth noting that 50 of those 79 games were played in Minneapolis. My thoughts on the upcoming game:
- Overall, Purdue needs to play a clean game, i.e., not help Minnesota via turnovers, penalties, etc., to give themselves a chance to win this game.
- The defense needs to play a lot better, i.e., make tackles, get stops on 3rd downs, not give up explosive plays, and pressure the Gopher QB. A few takeaways would be appreciated.
- The offense needs to keep scoring points like they have been AND secure the football. Some explosive plays would be nice.
- They need to be solid on special teams. So far, the place kicking has been perfect and punting great, the Boilers just need good coverage and no muffed returns.
The game is on Saturday, October 11, at 6:30 pm CDT in Minneapolis and on BTN.
