David Blough's 'zone' results in narrative-changing performance
David Blough won't acknowledge the game plan against Missouri was much different than his previous two games.
But he was different.
It's amazing how aggressive a style of offense can look if the quarterback feels like he can't do much wrong and that's precisely the "zone" Blough says he was living in for that four-hour period at Ross-Ade Stadium.
"Reflecting on it, it felt different because I felt like I was in the zone personally," Blough said. "Pitchers talk about it and I think (football) players do too because when you're relaxed, it just flows."
During Purdue's 40-37 loss to Missouri, Blough completed 10 of his first 11 second-half passes to lead Purdue to a 14-play drive that would tie the game at 27 with eight minutes and 27 seconds left in the third quarter. In the first half, Blough proved to a Missouri defense willing to play man-to-man coverage for most of the opening quarter that he had the talent and confidence to complete the deep ball with connections of 24, 50, 14, 49, 16, 34 and 31 yards to five different targets.
From that moment on, Missouri defensive coordinator Ryan Walters had to respect the deep ball from a Purdue offense that hadn't showcased that element previously this season with Blough in his four previous quarters of action against Northwestern and Eastern Michigan.
"All he needed was that confidence boost that you saw," junior tight end Brycen Hopkins said. "Once he started sitting a little bit longer in the pocket and letting the play develop, he starting balling as the numbers showed. We're always behind David."
For Blough, part of his "zone" was visualizing his success before it happened Saturday night. He said he saw days before in his mind the three-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins just seconds before the end of the first half.
"We practice those things. I practice those things so I saw it happen," Blough said. "I've worked with a sports psychologist at Purdue in Dr. (Chris) Carr and I've continued it on my own a little bit. I threw five interceptions my sophomore year against Cincinnati and couldn't sleep then either. He worked with the Pacers players and he gave me some tools to let it go."
Over his first two games, which equated to four total quarters, against Northwestern and Eastern Michigan, Blough attempted just two passes of 10 yards or more, according to Pro Football Focus data. Blough attempted 25 such passes Saturday night and completed 13 for a total of 391 yards.
"I think he knew that we were going to be aggressive and wanting to take shots and standing there and making throws," Jeff Brohm said. "He hung in there and made throws and sometimes he hung in there longer than he has in the past and made throws, which was huge progress. So that was great to see."
Whether credible or not, the narrative coming into the 2018 season was Elijah Sindelar had the bigger arm and was more naturally talented to execute the vertical passing game Brohm wanted to emphasize in his second year at the helm with Purdue. With Sindelar injured and the coaching staff witnessing 572 yards against a Southeastern Conference defense, Blough has erased the early-season notion that he isn't capable of throwing the ball down the field against any scheme.
"There is no question that he doesn't have the arm strength that Elijah has," Purdue wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator JaMarcus Shephard said, "but he understands the timing of the routes and when to get it out and how to get it out on time. I don't think that was ever a thought for us. There was no extra ad-lib to it."
Even after breaking the school record for passing yards, Blough couldn't sleep following the loss to Missouri. On a night on which he threw for the second-most yards by any quarterback in the 2018 season so far, the fifth-year senior was restless about the plays he left on the field in a third straight loss.
"Because there was about seven plays where I left about a hundred more yards on the field and I'm being honest with you," Blough said. "There were touchdowns I missed and the interception I had so I'm just thinking, 'C'mon, you're better than this and you can be great on every play.'"
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