No. 1 item on Purdue's to-do list: Learn how to finish games
Finish.
Jeff Brohm knows his team let one get away last Thursday night in Ross-Ade Stadium. He knows Purdue was primed to topple Penn State and notch a momentum-boosting season-opening victory in front of a national TV audience.
But, the Boilermakers failed to finish the job.
Purdue held a 31-28 lead late in the fourth quarter and watched the Nittany Lions march 80 yards for the winning touchdown in the final minutes when it couldn't milk the clock.
"Well, it's something that every team works on," said Brohm at his Monday press conference. "We work on it. ... "
The "it" is finishing. Purdue had the ball two times in the final 6:28 of the game while leading 31-28 with a chance to salt away a win.
• The first drive gained four yards on six plays and took 1:37
• The second drive notched 22 yards on six plays and consumed 2:06
Purdue needed to protect the lead by eating clock with first downs. The best way to do that: Run the ball.
Didn't happen.
Brohm's squad didn't even make a strong effort to run, calling one rush over the two aforementioned drives (4-yard gain by King Doerue.) So, 12 plays, 11 passes, one run ... and a loss.
"Well, I feel comfortable definitely with the short-passing game," said Brohm. "You know, at the time, they were committed to loading the box and pressing us across the board, so it's hard to get a whole lot of quick-passing game in when they were doing that because we tried that and they were draped on us; whether it was pass interference or not, we didn't get any calls."
Penn State finally seized the moment, getting the ball with 2:22 left and marching 80 yards on eight plays to tally the decisive TD with 57 seconds left to escape West Lafayette with a 35-31 triumph.
"It's a matter of if you're going to throw it, you have to work up the field more and get beyond them because they were sitting on all the short throws."
For the game, the Boilermakers ran 23 times for 70 yards, with Doerue carrying 15 times for 57 yards and two TDs.
"I think for the first three quarters, we had some balance and we were able to pop some runs in there," said Brohm. "The fourth quarter, we had a drive before we got the ball at six minutes left where we called two runs and it was third and six. And then we didn't complete the pass and that was a stop."
A game vs. FCS Indiana State (1-0) in Ross-Ade Stadium at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday may afford Purdue an opportunity to hone the rushing attack.
"We have just got to be smart," said Brohm. "We have worked hard at it. I've got to be committed to it to make sure that, you know, we want to score points and move the ball. And we've got to be able to run the ball in boxes that are not suited to run it a little bit more when we have to.
"So, we are going to continue to work at that, and I think we can get better."
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