FNF: Purdue Football Falls Short of Baker’s Dozen in Injury Marred Season
By Keith Carrell (@BoilerColts)
ISL Purdue Columnist
As a reminder, Purdue FNF (Fan NonFiction) is a 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 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.
For the first time since Head Coach Jeff Brohm stepped on campus, he lost to Indiana University. For the first time since Brohm became a Boilermaker, the football team will not compete in a bowl game for a baker’s dozen 13th game. Think about that, in his first two years, Brohm took a program – one that had nine combined wins in the four years prior to two consecutive bowls before an unfathomable bout of injuries doomed his third season at the helm. Brohm had gotten so well at getting everything out of his players that folks expected to go bowling for a third straight season, but fate had another idea. The injuries became so impactful that the Purdue finished the season with their fourth string quarterback, a walk-on, for the final three plus games. That walk-on? Aidan O’Connell.
But even in disaster, Brohm showed that he can be a magician. That walk-on quarterback I mentioned, he became the third quarterback this season at Purdue to have a game where he threw for over 400 yards (Elijah Sindelar and Jack Plummer both accomplished the feat prior to getting hurt for the year). The trio of quarterbacks each threw for at least 978 yards too (Sindelar the only one not to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark). O’Connell also managed to earn two wins, the first a game-winning drive against Nebraska in relief for Plummer, after he was injured during the game, and then the following week at Northwestern in his first start.
Adding to the magic, true freshman Zander Horvath ran for 164 yards and two touchdowns on Senior Day against rival Indiana. Although Purdue would lose that game in double-overtime, they fought back from a 28-to-ten deficit in a game where it appeared the defense would never stop the Hoosiers. In fact, Purdue finished the game with more first downs and yards than Indiana, but they also committed more turnovers (one interception, one fumble, and three failed fourth down conversions).
Third and Final Trimester Grades-
Brought to you by Betty’s Heritage
Offense: B
This is where I start grading on a curve. When you’re down to your walk-on quarterback as well as missing a number of key receivers and running backs, it’s unfair to expect perfection. That said, while the Boilers continued to put up points (30 points per game against Nebraska, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Indiana) they also committed too many turnovers (7) in that span. When you’re stretched as thin as you are from a depth perspective the margin for error is too little to commit nearly two turnovers a game. In post-season awards, Brycen Hopkins was named the Big Ten Tight End of the Year and First-Team All-Big Ten. David Bell won the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award (the second consecutive win for Purdue there as Rondale Moore earned that honor the year prior) and Second-Team All-Big Ten.
Defense: D+
Grading on a less forgiving curve here, but Purdue allowed two opponents to score more than 40 points against them in this stretch and often played conservatively to a fault. That might be coaching, that might be talent available, but the result was disastrous more often than not. Indiana’s inability to hit field goals kept Purdue in that game more so than consistently good defense (though it was nice to see more pressure dialed up in the second half). The plus side here is the experience gained from underclassmen on both sides of the balls can only help Purdue in the next few seasons. In post-season awards, true freshman George Karlaftis earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors while Ben Holt, Derrick Barnes, and Cory Trice each earned honorable mention.
Special Teams: B
Punting was largely unspectacular, but J.D. Dellinger made five of his six kicks in the last four games, including a game winner at Northwestern and to give Purdue its only lead against Indiana with his kick in the second overtime (before the Hoosiers responded with a Touchdown to win). Dellinger also was announced as honorable mention in the All-Big Ten awards.
Coaching: B
What this staff did with the sheer volume of underclassmen is nothing to sneeze at, but you’d still like to see more here. With each injury on offense, Brohm got increasingly conservative with his play calling – highlighted by the choice to go for the extra point rather than a two-point conversion attempt for the win against Indiana in the first overtime. Although Brohm got more conservative, the defense was overly conservative for most of the season with a majority of snaps played with a soft zone that many quarterbacks took advantage of over and over and over and … you get the idea. Defensive Coordinator, Nick Holt, did finally start dialing up the artificial pressure in the second half against Indiana, but waiting until the final half of the final game to try to get creative was too little too late.
Fading Star: Health
I can’t think of any single player or coach that truly felt like they started to crash and burn, so I’m taking the easy way out and just saying health as it seemingly got worse each game. Hey, it’s my story, my rules, so get over it.
Emerging Star: O’Connell
I’ve spent the majority of this column speaking to what O’Connell was able to do for Purdue so I won’t write a ton more on it, but it was way more than any reasonable person could have expected. My hats off to the walk-on for not just playing, but leading this offense to the finish. I don’t think he’ll be starting for Purdue next year; not when Sindelar could return if he requests and is granted a medical redshirt, not when Plummer showed glimpses of his high ceiling, and not when other youngsters like Paul Piferi will be sitting in the wings as well.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While it wasn’t the season that any of the fans were looking or hoping for, the fact that Purdue still managed four wins through the adversity (Purdue played 33 freshmen this year, 13 of which started) it faced speaks volumes of Brohm’s ability to coach and, in my opinion, shows me more about where Purdue can head than the prior two seasons – the ceiling is exceptionally high. The lack of post season play allows the coaching staff to fully focus on recruiting where they desperately need help in the trenches on both sides of the ball. While the offensive line got better throughout the season, an upgrade is still needed and depth is a must. The defensive side of the ball will undoubtedly get some help from Lorenzo Neal who recently announced he’d be returning to Purdue for his senior campaign, in his fifth year, next season. But even with Neal returning, Purdue will still need help in recruiting, and probably from the transfer market for immediate support. I couldn’t be more excited to see what next year brings and I hope everyone else keeps their excitement from this season where Purdue saw its highest average attendance (54,021) since Joe Tiller was coaching and have increased attendance by 57% since 2016. With 2020 early signing day right around the corner, December 18th, we’ll start to get a glimpse into what the future of Purdue football looks like, and I’ll be looking for who we sign in the trenches. I’d be remiss to ignore that Ross-Ade’s field will be branded next year (Rohrman Field) as local auto-dealer Bob Rohrman donated $15 Million for that honor. While a named field such as Tiller Field might sit better with fans, a donation of that magnitude will certainly help keep Purdue’s facilities up to snuff in the collegiate arms race (with improvements such as the $10 Million video board being installed this offseason). Purdue opens the season at Nebraska on September Fifth next year and until then, I’ll see you in Mackey (and you can follow my FNF column through basketball season too, first first iteration of that will be posted soon).
