Beavs bounce the blundering Boilermakers.
Two teams that got smoked by in-state rivals last week meet for a Big Ten – PAC 2 matchup. One team looks to have learned something while the other is developing an awful trend.
Pre-Game
I am going to say this now with as much chagrin as possible. Purdue is falling flat when it comes to gameday atmosphere. This is more than just the fact that Shout is not effective. Like the Boilermakers have all things trains, Oregon State has everything in the beaver and lumberjack world. On an opponent’s third down attempt, everyone cranks up a chainsaw and goes crazy. It was admittedly fantastic. Between the third and fourth quarters, the lights went out and ACDC’s TNT got the crowd actually motivated for the final quarter. Purdue has another unique schtick and it feels like they are woefully underutilizing it during games.
First Half
Purdue actually started the game on a high note. Electing to defer to the second half, the Boilermakers started the game on defense. After 3 rushes for 9 yards, the Beavers decided to take a gamble and go for it on fourth down. An overthrow to the sideline meant a turnover on downs and Purdue would get the ball on offense inside the Beaver 30. It was about as good of a first defensive drive as could be and after 3 Devin Mockobee rushes for 19 yards, Purdue was set up inside the 10 with a 3rd and 1. But almost on cue, a fumble on the next play gave the ball back to OSU without even a chance at a field goal. Purdue would hold Oregon State to a 6-play, 13-yard drive next time out thanks in part to a Kydran Jenkins sack. Following a Beaver punt, Purdue would take over at their own 27. Despite a turnover, the game was going ok so far for Purdue.
On the first play of Purdue’s ensuing drive, a Hudson Card screen pass deflected off of a defenders hand, off of Reggie Love III’s leg, and back into the defenders hands who walked it in for a touchdown. It was the most unfortunate sequence on a play that would have gained Purdue a good chunk of yards. Instead, it was 7-0 OSU.
Purdue would get the ball back following the touchdown and the Boilermakers would amass a 3-yard rush and 2 incomplete passes, forcing a Keelan Crimmins punt. This is when Oregon State would figure out Purdue’s weakness: the outside rushing game. Whether it be a jet sweep, a QB read to the outside, or simply an outside zone, Purdue cannot handle being stretched horizontally. It’s a weakness that Notre Dame repeatedly exploited and it’s one that OSU was learning to take advantage of. On this drive, the Beavers converted both a 2nd and 17 and a 3rd and 10 en route to a touchdown to go up 14-0.
Purdue’s next drive would at least move forward as the Boilermakers rushed for 63 yards across 10 plays (1 play was a completion for 0 yards). The running game was at least moving and Purdue got down inside the redzone again. But rather than taking a field goal attempt and likely 3 points on 4th and 1, Purdue went for it and fell a yard short of the first down. At this point in the game, Purdue had more failed redzone attempts than passing yards (2-0). The defense would do a nice job holding OSU against the goal line as a 3 and out ensued, resulting in a punt that set Purdue up inside Beaver territory. The following 3 plays occurred for Purdue: a waived-off interception due to pass interference, a rush for no gain, and a beautiful 32-yard touchdown pass from Card to Max Klare. So after nearly 24 minutes of game time gone by, Hudson Card finally had a passing yard in this air raid offense.
Oregon State would use a good kickoff return and more chunk runs to get into Purdue territory. All the way down at the Purdue 27, Kydran Jenkins again had a sack as he dove and caught an ankle to put OSU at the 34-yard line. On a 52-yard field goal attempt, the ball doinked the left upright and the score remained 14-7. Unfortunately, Purdue could not capitalize as 2 incomplete passes sandwiched a 6-yard run, so Purdue punted again.
Oregon State would make Purdue pay and drove down 81 yards to get to the Purdue 12 on a 4th and 1. This was helped in part by Purdue calling a timeout after a third down play in which they thought did not make the line to gain. Instead, OSU would take it’s final timeout with 7 seconds left and rather than go for it again, they kicked a short field goal to go up 17-7 at halftime.
Second Half
Down 10 at halftime, Purdue’s offense got the ball to start the second half. They immediately laid an egg, as the first snap was off of Hudson Cards chest for a fumble. The drive would result in a 3 and out. OSU would definitely make adjustments at halftime as their next 4 drives would all end inside Purdue’s territory. The first was a turnover on downs, however, at the Purdue 3 in which the Beavers were looking for a knockout blow. Not to worry though, because Purdue would immediately go 3 and out after a 5-yard out route was completed on 3rd and 7. Oregon State would get the ball at midfield and ran 50 yards in 4 plays to go up 24-7. That was the knockout punch. Purdue’s offense finally decided to do something next as they drove 75-yards for a touchdown of their own to get back within 10.
At this point, the defense was gassed and Oregon State knew how to exploit Purdue. With Purdue back within 10, OSU ran the ball 5 times for 75 yards and a touchdown to go up 31-14. And right on schedule, Purdue would go 6 plays for 75 yards and a touchdown to keep the game semi-respectable. Oregon State wanted none of that as for the third straight drive, they marched right down the field following a Purdue onside attempt with over 7 minutes left and scored another touchdown to go up 38-21 with just under a minute left. Down 3 scores, Purdue looked for miracle plays but turned it over on downs and OSU took knees.
Takeaways
To say this offense is an air-raid offense is a blatant lie. Purdue finished the game with 56 passing yards in total and 32 of those came on 1 play. Yes, Purdue had over 250 rushing yards, but this is not Georgia Tech or Navy. This kind of offense is not sustainable, and we are miles away from Hudson Card’s performance against Indiana State.
Yes, the defense had some good moments, but we have gone another week in which there were no turnovers forced. The glaring weakness is the outside rush defense. Anything to the boundary is good for 5-6 yards minimum and now in the last two games, Purdue has given up over 700 rushing yards. We may not see another pass this season on defense. But I have to ask, what adjustments were made? Purdue has more talent than Oregon State, but when the scheme fails, the team fails. Somebody needs to be held accountable for this.
Onto Nebraska for homecoming. Hopefully some people will want to come home for this team.
