Purdue finds answers on defense; more notes

More: Purdue working on plan without Young

A week ago, Purdue couldn’t stop Maryland’s option offense, to the tune of 400 yards rushing.

So when Illinois drop-back passer Wes Lunt was knocked from Saturday's game in the second quarter Saturday, the Illini had to go to option QB Chayce Crouch full-time. And that might have brought up bad memories for the Boilermakers.

Yet rather than panic, the Boilermakers adjusted. And whereas they struggled vs. Perry Hills’ Maryland attack, they succeeded vs. Crouch and the Illini.

“I thought Coach (Ross) Els had some good answers,” Darrell Hazell said Monday, two days after Purdue’s 34-31 overtime win at Illinois. “The previous week when we played Maryland, one of the problems we were having was that the (safety) we were bringing down into the front, he was getting so close to the line of scrimmage that he couldn’t handle the cut-back runs. So he might as well have just taken a knee.

“We were keeping him a little farther off the line of scrimmage (vs. Illinois), so that if the ball cut back, it could be another second-level defender to be able to make the tackle.”

It worked.

After giving up 209 rushing yards in the first half, Purdue locked down in the second, allowing only 106 on 24 carries, an average of 4.5 per attempt. And only two of those 24 went for double-digit yardage, an 18-yard rush by Crouch and a 13-yarder by the QB in overtime.

“What happens is when you knock a quarterback out, your whole plan changes,” Hazell said. “So you’re planning for one type of quarterback and he leaves (in the second quarter), so you have to adjust to all the running things that had hurt us in prior weeks. That’s where the adjustments came.”

Purdue’s defense was far from perfect — it allowed 499 yards, including 315 on the ground — yet it got stops when needed, as well. In the fourth quarter and overtime, the Boilermakers forced consecutive punts, held the Illini to a field goal, which was missed, and caused an overtime fumble that allowed the offense to win the game.

“They played well enough when they had to,” Hazell said. “Obviously, you want to make all those tackles you need to make — we missed a couple tackles, not sure exactly how many — but when they had to step up and make the plays, I thought they did. They did a nice job and I was proud of them.”

Purdue’s offensive game plan was excellent, in that the Boilermakers were able to move the ball without as much worry that defensive pressure was going to blow them up.

David Blough wasn’t sacked, nor was his pressured much. The scheme involved more pre-snap motion, a mostly horizontal, quick-throw passing attack, occasional rollouts and a solid running game.

“I thought the No. 1 thing going into the game last week was to control and neutralize No. 91 (Dawuane Smoot) and No. 6 (Carroll Phillips), so the game plan was kind of crafted around those two guys and I thought our offensive staff did a good job of making sure we were chipping those guys or blocking those guys with two guys on every pass play that was a drop-back.

“(Malone) also had it in the plan to run nakeds and to run right at them, and those were the things that we thought could slow those guys down.”

Purdue gained 459 yards, almost perfectly balanced between passing and rushing, with 34 points scored. Perhaps, though, they could have been even better had Blough been a bit more accurate. He completed 22-of-35 balls for 220 yards with a touchdown and two picks, but missed other opportunities at times.

“He missed a couple easy ones that he has to hit,” Hazell said. “We missed a flat throw on a big third down to Brycen (Hopkins). We missed a, for lack of a term, an out cut to (DeAngelo) Yancey on their sideline, and a couple other easy ones. But I felt like he was calm the entire day, just missed them. I like where he is, but he’s got to hit those shots.”

Purdue earned a couple of Big Ten awards this week, with Brian Lankford-Johnson being named the conference’s freshman honoree and J.D. Dellinger the special teams.

Lankford-Johnson had 139 yards of offense, including his 127 yards on 18 attempts on the ground, plus a touchdown. He did so while filling in for the injured Markell Jones.

“Lankford-Johnson had to step up in Markell’s absence and I thought he really did a good job of some patience in the hole and being able to make a couple bursts and made some guys miss,” Hazell said. “I thought he ran physical enough for us and he did a good job stepping in.”

Dellinger hit two field goals against the Illini, a 37-yarder in the third quarter, then a game-winning 28-yarder in overtime, which was also the first such field goal in Purdue history.

“J.D., can’t feel more happy about that guy,” Hazell said of Dellinger, who had made only 2-of-5 this season before Saturday. "He’s had some struggles this year already and he went out there and hit that last one with a lot of confidence, hit it right down the middle. He was jacked up after that kick.”

Although he couched the comments by noting it’s only Monday — rather than his usual Tuesday presser in which he might have more injury information — Hazell thought Jones and Ja’Whaun Bentley could be back for the Iowa game Saturday.

“We probably will have them,” he said.

Purdue was good without Jones, with Lankford-Johnson and Richie Worship combining for 187 yards and a couple touchdowns. But having Jones back would be helpful.

“I think we use Markell the way we need to,” Hazell said, “whether it’s 25 carries or 30 carries. But what Saturday did for us is give us assurance that we can use those other guys and not feel like we’re going to lose too much in the running game. Those guys did a good job coming in. Richie pounding them really good and Lankford was able to make some of those big runs for us.”

Purdue has some other injury-related issues, as well. Cornerbacks Tim Cason and Myles Norwood had to leave Saturday’s game early, leaving inexperienced David Rose to pick up the remainder of the snaps.

“They’re both clearing up pretty good, but we’ll see where they are,” Hazell said of the two corners. “It’s a day-by-day thing.”

But Hazell says Lankford-Johnson, who had a shoulder sprain, and linebacker Markus Bailey, who briefly left to have a finger examined, are fine.

And more on Domonique Young here.

Purdue picked up a couple roughing penalties Saturday, when Danny Ezechukwu and Eddy Wilson hit the Illinois quarterbacks late.

Wilson exacerbated his when he also knocked Crouch’s helmet off with his foot as he stood up to walk away. Wilson was taken out afterward, replaced for the last series and overtime by Lorenzo Neal.

“Obviously, he crossed the line a little there, so Coach (Randy) Melvin pulled him out and held him out,” Hazell said. “He was in for one play, the field goal block, but (Neal) came back in. And then we took care of some things last night as a team for those types of things.”

Hazell said his players need to be smart. At least, however, the problem didn’t rise to the level of Illinois, which was called for four unsportsmanlike penalties in a six-minute span from the third quarter to fourth.

“They have to understand, which they do, that the white hat (referee) is going protect the quarterback at all costs,” Hazell said. “If it’s close, they’re going to call it. That’s been the talk the last two-and-a-half years, in all the officials’ meetings and Big Ten head coaches’ meetings. They’re going to protect the quarterback. So if there’s ever any doubt, you have to pull off. That’s what you have to do better.”

• Purdue will wear its gold helmets and pants, with black jerseys, on Saturday.

• No change with offensive lineman Martesse Patterson, who was charged with battery on Sept. 29 and hasn’t played since the Sept. 10 game vs. Cincinnati game.

Hazell said he’d continue to monitor the situation day-by-day, which has been his stance since the situation came to light two weeks ago.

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