FNF: Purdue’s Season in Tailspin, but not all Negative
By Keith Carrell (@BoilerColts)
ISL Purdue Columnist
As a reminder, Purdue FNF (Fan NonFiction) is a new column that I’ll be writing intermittently throughout football and basketball season to provide you with some commentary from a Purdue fan. While I am a Purdue fan, I do try to remain unbiased and at times will throw accolades or criticism as I see fit as these opinions are my own, it’s okay if you disagree and I welcome friendly conversation if whether you agree or disagree. These opinions are related to the sport and games; in no way are a reflection of how I view a person’s character – in fact, one of the proudest aspects I’ve had of Purdue sports is their high standard of character for coaches, players, and staff (with very rare exceptions over the course of my lifetime). That said, I will try to be as respectful as I can in my musings and I hope you enjoy this content, exclusively on ISL.
Purdue football now finds its season two thirds complete and in the basement of the Big Ten West along with Northwestern. The Boilers currently hold a two-and-six record (1-4 in conference) with their only wins today being against Vanderbilt and Maryland. I thought about just copy-pasting my first article as much of what I wrote then still holds true now (minus any potential optimism about making a bowl game), but we’ll just dive deeper into what I feel the current state of the program means for Purdue’s future.
Let’s get the easy part out of the way, Purdue is not going to be going to a bowl game this year, for the first time under Head Coach Jeff Brohm. They’re not mathematically eliminated yet, but Purdue would need to go undefeated to earn bowl eligibility or at a minimum finish the season on a three-to-one run to have a sniff at making it if there aren’t enough eligible programs. Neither of those scenarios seem remotely plausible given Purdue’s performance to date. But for the eternal optimists out there, to run the table, Purdue would have to defeat Nebraska and Indiana at home along with Northwestern and Wisconsin on the road. I could argue for two wins in that grouping, but three or four would be a monumental turnaround for the current state of this roster.
Speaking of the roster, injuries have plagued the team so much so that as of the last game, the average starter’s experience is just over two years and the offense is slightly more experienced than the defense. That means, on average, Purdue is starting a sophomore at every position – which isn’t true, because Purdue is actually starting a number of freshman, many of which are at the coveted skill positions. I think everyone realized this was a very inexperienced team, but the numbers are starker than one might have expected and Purdue is, by far, starting the youngest team in the Big Ten. For a more detailed look at how the Big Ten stacks up in starter experience, check out this tweet from @ISC_PU.
So while a loud minority (and fans from other schools) might be blaming poor coaching or bad recruiting on the current state of the team, the more realistic take is this team is just too inexperienced and a lot of that is due to how thin Purdue was to start the season – something recruiting can only help over time. I’m not one to buy into recruiting rankings often, but the law of averages will be right more often than not and it’s not a stretch to say the level of talent Brohm has brought into Purdue is exponentially higher than previous classes, meaning that as long as there aren’t a lot of misses in those ranks, this inexperienced roster getting loads of playing time early can only help bolster the team in future years.
That doesn’t mean everything except experience has been ideal, though. There have been clear and obvious missteps in coaching decisions and execution throughout the season, from throwing a game away at Nevada, to being too conservative with offensive play calling, to playing it too safe on defensive coverages for fear of exposing a young team… which ironically exposed the entire team. All in all, though, I still have faith in Brohm and while my faith in Defensive Coordinator, Nick Holt, is waning it hasn’t vanished yet. It was nice to watch Brohm calmly chat about the drive with, freshman quarterback, Jack Plummer after each series against Illinois. Brohm didn’t scream or yell, but clearly was trying to coach his young slinger so that he could continue to get better. Holt took a little longer to come around, but it’s hard to blame him when basically every key piece and coach-on-the-field the defense has is out with injuries, but he’s begun to play more man coverage or dial up more pressure from time to time while helping put freshman rusher George Karlaftis in the right spots to make plays.
Purdue scored high marks for how it handled homecoming this year, in addition to the team handling Maryland. Purdue chose that game to wrap up the 150th anniversary of the school as well as throw a nod to the 50th anniversary of, alumni, Neil Armstrong first stepping foot on the moon. Purdue invited its astronaut alumni to the game, donned moon-themed uniforms with all-white pants and jerseys, but the highlight was the helmet. The lids were white matte that featured a block P with moon craters in the background, footprints from the moon as the stripe down the middle, a space-mission themed patch sticker on the back, and a sticker that read 2|25|64 (for the number of alumni that have stepped on the moon, been in space, and space missions completed, respectively).
SECOND TRIMESTER GRADES –
Brought to you by Betty’s Heritage
Offense: C
Purdue has regressed slightly here, having absurdly poor performances at Penn State and against Illinois in a downpour, but they performed admirably in a blowout of Maryland and on the road at Iowa. Against Illinois, things turned for the worst when Plummer was pulled not once, but twice for walk-on Aidan O’Connell. While anticipation of the return for running backs Richie Worship and Tario Fuller was high, results have been underwhelming to nondescript; which highlights just how overmatched the offensive line has been this season for the Boilers.
Defense: C-
Not much more to say here. Karlaftis has continued to shine. Purdue has forced four turnovers in the past four games, which needs to be higher for Purdue to overcome its deficiencies, but the pair of picks by Cory Trice against Maryland was a bright spot.
Special Teams: B
Nothing especially heinous nor amazing here, but the fact that Purdue has only landed 25% (6 of 24) of their punts inside the 20 yard line emphasizes the struggles Purdue’s offense has in not only scoring, but also in sustained drives just to flip the field.
Coaching: B-
As mentioned, I’ve appreciated how Brohm has handled Plummer’s inexperience with understanding and pointed coaching rather than screaming frustration. A few more trick plays have also been reintroduced into the playbook to help counter some of the shortcomings Purdue currently faces.
Fading Star: Jack Plummer
It’s been a bit of a roller coaster for Plummer where he was restricted by training wheels early, but when things have gone badly for him they’ve gone badly as culminated by his two turnovers against Illinois which directly resulted in 14 points for the Illini. Plummer still has a ton of promise, but the rocky rookie campaign is far from what anyone had hoped.
Emerging Star: David Bell
Take away a bad Illinois game for the entire offense and Bell is on fire since Rondale Moore went down with an injury. The true freshman had back-to-back games of over 100 yards receiving and picked up three touchdowns over the past four games while trekking nearly 14 yards per reception, including a long of 54 yards at Iowa.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While this season is basically a throw away at this point in terms of wins and losses, there is so much for this team to continue to gain just by being on the field. Similar to men’s basketball Head Coach Matt Painter’s first year with Purdue, it’s going to be a rough one, but the lessons learned and experience gained from these new “Baby Boilers” is one that could prove increasingly significant in years to come. Speaking of basketball, the first (exhibition) game is tonight in Mackey Arena against Southern Indiana. Stay tuned to FNF for my take on how Purdue football finishes out the season and how Purdue basketball starts a new chapter, sans Carsen Edwards.
