Card, Purdue Offense Heads Into Ohio State Tilt Limping

Coming off a season-low point total in Saturday's 20-14 loss at Iowa, Graham Harrell and the Purdue offense have their fair share of issues to iron out at the halfway point of the season, which starts with how they are executing on first down.

The Boilermakers found themselves behind the chains on various occasions against the Hawkeyes, which proved to be a recipe for disaster against the sound Iowa unit.

"That was a frustrating thing about the other night. Iowa does a great job on defense and you can't have self inflicted wounds and expected to beat a team that does their job as well as Iowa," Harrell said. "Dropped exchange, the dropped snap, the snap that was snapped before [Card] was ready, penalties. You just can't do those kinds of things against a good football team," Harrell said.

"Shooting ourselves in the foot" has been a common phrase uttered by the Boilermakers this season and it was no different after the loss on Saturday afternoon. A pair of interceptions, several penalties in key spots, many of which were pre-snap, and taking unnecessary sacks resulted in another performance where Purdue was just unable to take the lid off of its offense.

"I think a lot of it was just us shooting ourselves in the foot with just critical mistakes on our part, not so much what the defense was doing to us," running back Devin Mockobee said. "We're moving the ball down the field and then all of a sudden we'd get a penalty or two penalties or just miscues on our assignments."

Quarterback Hudson Card was the guilty party on a number of those miscues against the Hawkeyes, struggling for the majority of the day and surrendering six sacks to a team that entered the game having just three on the year and none against Power 5 opponents.

Card addressed the off day for the offense and expressed his motivation to improve moving forward.

"I need to do a better job of getting rid of the ball and stuff like that," Card said. "I learned from it and just trying to incorporate that in practice and just trying to eliminate those unnecessary sacks, especially in that area of the field."

The Boilermakers' quarterback also came out of the game "pretty sore" after he initially got banged up in the win over Illinois two weeks ago. There was a question regarding whether Card would play against the Hawkeyes, but he ultimately suited up.

Harrell admitted that he thinks Card's ailments may have played a role in the signal caller's performance on Saturday, sharing that injuries can create some hesitation, which Card exuded in the 20-14 defeat. Harrell spoke about how much he thought the injuries impacted Card's play in the loss.

"I think that the best you can, you go out there and you try to compete and try to play your style of football and not think about it. Can you really do that or not is hard to say," Harrell said.

Card isn't the only Boilermaker injured on the offensive side of the ball, as starting right tackle Marcus Mbow and starting tight end Max Klare were both declared out for the season by Ryan Walters on Monday afternoon.

Running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. also went down in the loss and while his unspecified injury isn't season-ending, the Purdue offense is expected to be without its touchdown leader for at least a week, which is a big blow according to Harrell.

"I think losing a player like that you're always gonna feel the effects of it a little bit," Harrell said.

Harrell did share that he liked what he saw out of Devin Mockobee and Dylan Downing after Tracy Jr. came out of the game. The pair rushed for 128 yards and a score on 28 combined carries in what was one of the lone bright spots of the loss.

The overall rushing total was brought down by Card's -45 yards, which was a result of those six sacks, but Harrell believes the ground game did well otherwise.

"I think kind of the stats were kind of skewed because of how many negative big sacks we took. I really think those running backs did some good things with the ball in their hands and we were fairly effective running the football," Harrell said.

Purdue will need the running back duo to step up quickly as undefeated Ohio State comes to town on Saturday for what will be one of the Boilermakers' toughest tests of the season.

Ryan Walters said that his team couldn't focus on the brand of the Buckeyes and their success in recent memory heading into this weekend and the Purdue offense echoed those statements on Tuesday.

"They have a lot of talent. You know they've recruited at a high level for a long time, they're talented group. But, we gotta go execute and we gotta make some plays," Harrell said.

"They're really talented, but you know, we're just gonna focus on ourselves and try to eliminate the little detail mistakes and the stuff that's moving us behind the chains," Card said. "Then obviously be as prepared as we can be for Ohio State and what they do on defense."

Purdue has aimed to focus on itself amid a 2-4 start to the Walters era in West Lafayette, but Ohio State's defense has been better statistically than everyone the Boilermakers have played this season, including Iowa.

The Buckeyes are third in the nation in scoring defense (10.2 points per game), behind only Michigan and Penn State. Jim Knowles' group is also top six in passing yards allowed and top ten in total defense in the country through five games.

Purdue enters the week seven tilt having lost three of its last four and falling behind in the Big Ten West race. A National Championship contender does provide an opportunity for Walters and company to get back on track, however. Although, the Boilermakers are already large underdogs in the matchup.

Hudson Card says the team recognizes that this weekend provides a chance for Purdue to do something special in Ross-Ade Stadium, but the quarterback does not want to get too ahead of himself with a tall task in front of him.

"It's a big game for us but for me I'm just treating it like any other week. I'm kinda taking it day-by-day, not trying to think too far in the future, but obviously they're a great team and that'd be a big time win for us. So, it's obviously in the back of our minds," Card said.