Purdue football coach Ryan Walters: Preparing for Oregon State
Purdue football coach Ryan Walters met with reporters on Monday to prepare for Oregon State.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Purdue football team had to respond to last week’s historic loss to Notre Dame with an early, confident response game against Oregon State.
Instead, the Boilermakers fell into a two-touchdown hole they couldn’t recover from in a 38-21 loss at Reser Stadium. They finish the non-conference portion of their schedule 1-2 and head into Big Ten play looking for consistency on both sides of the ball.
The offense’s big plays in the running game were undermined by turnovers and a lack of momentum in the passing game. The defense held up early but later faltered in crucial periods after having to carry the load for another week.
Purdue played without starting receiver Jahmal Edrine, who was ruled out before the game, and several key defensive players were injured throughout the game, culminating in a team unable to pass itself a football to advance.
Purdue Football Offensive
Grade: D
The jet lag affected only half the team. A week after going 0-for-6 third downs in the first half against Notre Dame, Purdue went 1-for-5 and fell into a 17-7 hole. One yard gain on three third downs is not enough. The first quarter also included a red zone fumble and a pick-six. The offense contributed more to the 14-0 hole than the defense.
Devin Mockobee and Reggie Love III hit holes for big gains and struggled to gain yards. Mockobee had five runs of 10+ yards. But Purdue continues to lean toward a one-dimensional identity.
With less than four minutes left, quarterback Hudson Card had already completed six passes. Any optimism about Purdue’s improvement this season had to include a step forward at the quarterback position. The passing game had been a liability since Card’s near-perfect performance against Indiana State in the glorious opener.
defense
Grade: C-
Far from perfect, and not yet at a level that would be considered an improvement on last season. As long as good opponents don’t find it harder on the third attempt, the hunt for points will continue.
On the other hand, this defense cannot afford to make any mistakes at the moment. I am evaluating them according to the formula because the unit understandably seems exhausted towards the end of the games. In previous situations, they have managed to give the ball back to the offense several times, only to quickly sink it again.
KJ Jenkins showed what a weapon he can be as a middle linebacker in the pass rush. He isn’t much help against Purdue’s weaknesses on the outside run. Oregon State has learned a lot from Notre Dame here and used the lack of defense to score some important wins.
Special teams
Grade: B
There are only two reasons why Purdue hasn’t attempted a field goal three games into the season. Either the offense has racked up a ton of touchdowns, or field goal range is too often just theory. You know where Purdue stands so far.
This unit has avoided any major slip-ups. It will need to continue to do so to avoid missing an opportunity if and when the other phases figure things out. The same goes for punter Keelan Crimmins, who handles a plethora of tasks competently.
Coaching
Grade: D
I’ll defend the decision to go for the fourth down in the red zone early in the second quarter. You can’t get out of a 14-0 hole with field goals. The offense had to keep a touchdown drive alive considering it was the only good first-half drive in two weeks up to that point.
I do have a problem with this play, though – Love should have covered more than the required 2 yards on this pitch. He managed 1.
I assume Purdue head coach Ryan Walters called that timeout late in the first half because he thought Purdue had stopped Oregon State on their third attempt. That looked very close. The play was never reviewed and overtime allowed the Beavers to extend their lead with a field goal.
Slow starts are no longer a trend for this offense. They are part of this team’s identity. Walters and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell urgently need to find a solution.
Gameplay
Card attempted a short pass out of the backfield to Love to start Purdue’s second offensive series. The ball hit Love on the ankle and bounced right to linebacker Zakah Saez. His 20-yard interception return touchdown put the Boilermakers behind 14-0.
Player of the match
While Card and Purdue’s passing game stalled, Oregon State quarterback Gevani McCoy steadily moved the chains, combining well-timed running attempts and options to gain 66 yards, but also showed he could hurl it in the two-minute drill to close the first half.
