More: Purdue creates TOs but can't cash in; notebook | Post-game blog ($) | Postgame video analysis ($)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — David Blough stalked the sidelines, towel draped over his shoulders, football wedged into the nook of his right arm.
He was fuming.
And he had nowhere to go, walking down the length, from the edge of the defensive bench to the edge of the offensive bench, eyes not focusing on anything.
He’d gotten so used to scrambling on the field, by the time he’d gotten pulled in the fourth quarter — more for health reasons than anything — Purdue was getting crushed, and he still couldn’t stop moving.
This loss, may more than any other in Blough’s short career as starter, burned.
With another chance to win back-to-back games, the Boilermakers may have played one of their worst games of the Darrell Hazell era, getting blasted 50-7 by the Terrapins at Maryland Stadium.
Isn’t Purdue supposed to be over historic beatdowns by this point? By Hazell’s 40th game as head coach?
Instead, Purdue rushed for only 10 yards. Its porous offensive line allowed six sacks. It had eight penalties, after coming into the game as one of the nation’s least-penalized teams. Its defense, one game after not allowing even 100 rushing yards, was gashed for 400. Four hundred.
“I thought they executed better than we did. That’s what it came down to,” Hazell said. “It was a matter of being able to stop them, and we weren’t able to stop them. It was a matter of being able to move the ball, and we struggled, obviously, moving the football.”
The defense actually started fast when Markus Bailey intercepted a pass on Maryland’s third play, setting up Purdue near the red zone.
But, in an indication of what was to come, the Boilermakers fizzled.
Jalen Neal, starting at left tackle for the second consecutive game and second time in his career, clearly was overmatched.
On a first down from the 12, Neal didn’t keep blocking, allowing Blough to get hit as he threw, a ball that went incomplete. On second down, Neal got beat to the outside, and Blough got sacked. On third down, Neal got shifted to the right side, as Cameron Cermin moved from right to left tackle, but Blough threw incomplete in the end zone, forcing Purdue to settle for a 35-yard field goal.
Freshman J.D. Dellinger missed it.
Not much else went right on offense.
Markell Jones could not find any holes, and he left the game in the second half, injured left shoulder dangling, and finished the game on the bench with a towel over his head and ice on the shoulder. He had only 23 yards on 12 carries.
Blough rarely was able to set himself in the pocket, as Maryland brought pressure Purdue couldn’t contend with or simply won one-on-one matchups that flushed Blough from the pocket. He completed only 18-of-41 passes for 132 yards.
Purdue tried to change its line, eventually benching Neal and putting in not-fully-healthy Matt McCann, who missed last week’s game with an ankle injury and appeared not up to 100 percent Saturday. McCann struggled to move laterally, meaning more trouble on the right side. Cermin, too, struggled at points. By the second half, starting right guard Jordan Roos left the game, though he probably would have fought through his back issues had the game been close. But it wasn’t. And a lot of that had to do with the O-line.
“We didn’t do what we were supposed to do on the offensive line,” said Roos, a captain who wouldn’t even address his injury afterward. “We gave up too many sacks and didn’t move the ball, and that affects the rest of the game. We had a huge turnover (by Bailey) in the first quarter and weren’t able to capitalize on it and that definitely had a negative effect on the flow of the game. Turn that around, and I think it’s a little bit different.
“We can, without a doubt, compete in the Big Ten. Up front, physically, they just were better than us (Saturday). In just one-on-one matchups, you’ve got to beat the guy in front of you. That didn’t happen most of the time (Saturday).”
Blough tried to pin the blame on himself, saying he should have “helped” the offense more. He said he could have gotten rid of the ball quicker, could have thrown the ball away more often, could have found his checkdowns. Later in the game, Purdue tried to get Blough on the move on purpose on bootlegs, but it was too late to generate enough momentum.
Purdue finished the game with only 205 yards after having three consecutive games of at least 400. Its 10 rushing yards, which includes sack yardage, were the fewest since having only four yards against Ohio State in 2007.
“We have to get better everywhere. That’s at running back, at quarterback, at receiver, on the offensive line,” Blough said.
Same could be said on the opposite side of the ball.
Maryland’s option heavy offense was, simply, unstoppable.
The Boilermakers figured Maryland QB Perry Hills throwing the ball couldn’t beat them. But he never had to.
The Terps were dominating on the ground, piling up more yards rushing than any Purdue opponent since Indiana had 401 in 2013.
Purdue players appeared out of run fits, at times, and they were unable to tackle, at times. And that meant the Terps ripped off big play after big play. Maryland had rushes of 48, 62 and 76 yards. Ty Johnson needed only seven carries to nearly outgain Purdue’s team — he had 204 yards rushing.
“It hurt,” senior tackle Jake Replogle said of the big plays. “It’s guys not being where they’re supposed to be. But, again, you have to give them a lot of credit. They came out and made the plays we weren’t able to stop.
“We obviously didn’t execute, didn’t get off blocks the way we were supposed to. We didn’t come out and execute the way we were supposed to.”
And, again, Purdue is left floundering after a victory.
The Boilermakers have never won back-to-back games under Hazell. But it’s so much worse than that. Purdue hasn’t even competed in games after victories. This blowout pushed the overall margin of defeat after wins to a whopping 22.3 points.
Well after the game, Blough still was angry and “rightfully so,” he said. But he and his teammates need to do something with that anger.
“They scheduled us for Homecoming, and they did what they were supposed to do, right? We’ve got to take it personally a little bit because it is,” Blough said.
Because if not …
“(We need to) make the improvements where we need to make those improvements, that’s the key. If we don’t, you know, it could get worse, right?” Hazell said. “But we’re not going to let it get worse.”
Membership Information: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2016. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited
