No panic for Ryan Walters and Purdue following week one setback

Ryan Walters' tenure at Purdue got off to a rocky start at Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with the Boilermakers dropping the season opener 39-35 against Fresno State. All the stars were aligned for Walters and Purdue to get off on the right foot in the head coach's eyes, with the preparation and atmosphere, but the Boilermakers just weren't able to execute.

"I mean, we lost. Obviously the atmosphere at Ross-Ade was everything that you wanted it to be, just the feelings of euphoria, [they] were all there. We gotta come away with wins. That's why we're here. That's not the standard and not the expectation to have opportunities to win, it's to win ballgames," Walters said.

Walters and the coaching staff have had the opportunity to look back on the film and after review, Purdue's head coach was frustrated with how his group performed with the game well within reach.

"After watching it, you're definitely frustrated because there were opportunities all over the place to win that football game. There were times we played clean and were explosive on both sides of the ball," Walters said.

Many of the Boilermakers' troubles came on the defensive side of the ball, which is Walters' calling card, giving up 39 points to Fresno State. At the heart of the struggles was Purdue's inability to get off the field on third down, which Walters believes was the story of the defeat.

"Defensively it felt like it was feast or famine. It was either, three and out or they were scoring points and a lot of that had to do with our third down efficiency. You look at the game in its totality and I think that that kind of told the story. Obviously time of possession was very heavily favored in Fresno State's direction and that was because they were 11 of 17 offensively getting third downs, and we were 2 of 12," Walters said.

The Purdue offense, led by quarterback Hudson Card, turned in an encouraging performance against the Bulldogs, having over 360 total yards and putting up 28 points on a stingy defense. While the group had some success, there are still several areas to improve on.

Walters referenced the Boilermakers' struggles in short yardage scenarios, pointing to at least four opportunities to extend drives with less than two yards to go and weren't able to capitalize.

"We gotta come up with a better plan just schematically and then we gotta play with confidence and pay attention to details so that we can execute from a player standpoint," Walters said.

After months of hearing Hudson Card cooking up something special in West Lafayette, Purdue unveiled its new signal caller on Saturday and the results were a mixed bag. Card had some good throws and made plays with his legs, but missed a few opportunities to have a better performance and lead Purdue to victory.

Card's head coach was encouraged by his debut outing, but admitted the Boilermakers need to do a better job of protecting him moving forward. Card was under pressure on nearly a third of his 34 dropbacks on Saturday afternoon.

"I mean, you saw flashes of what he's capable of doing both with his arm and his legs. We got to do a better job of protecting him and giving him an opportunity to stand in there and deliver accurate and confident throws," Walters said of his star quarterback.

The banged up offensive line could receiv a boost to help them do that on Saturday. Center Josh Kaltenberger, who went down in fall camp and missed the season opener, is on pace to be available against Virginia Tech according to Walters.

Despite the on-field troubles, Walters saw how his coaching staff handled adversity in its first go-around as a group. The new staff in West Lafayette stayed calm and composed on Saturday.

"You're always gonna find things to critique, to get better. But I thought the communication was clear. I thought we were pretty clean from a substitution standpoint," Walters said. "Nobody was panicking. Nobody was overly dramatic or anything like that."

While the first opportunity to show what they've got didn't go to plan, the Boilermakers aren't wavering in the face of adversity. Ryan Walters has seen teams improve drastically from week one to week two before and expects that to be the case with his group.

"You don't plan that out to go that way in your mind, but you also can't overreact and panic from one game," Walters said.

"If historical trends continue, then you do see a huge jump from game one to game two. I'm fully anticipating that to happen, like I said, there were times where things looked like they are supposed to look and look like how they've looked in practice and throughout fall camp," Walters said, "I'm fully confident that the consistency with which we need to play to win a game will start showing up more and more. Obviously we're all new together and we'll continue to improve as the as the season goes."

Purdue now shifts its focus to another tough task in week two as Ryan Walters and company travel to Virginia Tech to take on the 1-0 Hokies.

One of the best traditions in college football, Enter Sandman, has been a staple of the game day experience that adds to the atmosphere in Blacksburg. Walters shared that the team watched a clip of the Hokies' entrance to know what to expect on Saturday.

"Obviously, electric atmosphere. You know, we showed a clip of 'Enter Sandman' in our team meeting last night, the Virginia Tech intro. So it'll be the first time all of us are traveling together as a team and it's hard to do that on the road," Walters said.

In addition to what should be a hostile environment in Blacksburg this weekend, Purdue is also faced with challenges from a schematic standpoint that it'll have to solve against the Hokies.

That starts with an offense that is primed to show improvement over last season, surpassing the season-high point total from 2022 in the season opener in week one. Walters identified quarterback Grant Wells as a potential challenge for the Purdue defense during the trip to Blacksburg.

"Very balanced offensively in 11 and 12 personnel. Quarterback is a big guy that's a lot more athletic than you want him to be," Walters said.

Wells went for 251 yards and three touchdowns in a dominant win over Old Dominion on Saturday, leaning on a pair of talented transfer receivers through the air in Ali Jennings and Jaylin Lane.

When evaluating the Virginia Tech defense, Walters sees a unit that is big up front and has athleticism on the second level, particularly in the secondary. The Hokies held Old Dominion to under 300 total yards and forced three turnovers in their week one win.

"Very long team on both sides of the ball. You know, big up front, big on the perimeter. Defensively, you're gonna see a 4-2 shell, predominantly quarters and cover three on early downs. They got a defensive tackle, [Norell] Pollard is an explosive player, really long, tall and then the second level that are athletic and talented on the outside," Walters said.

Walters recognizes the challenges that Virginia Tech poses to the Boilermakers.

"Our work is cut out for us for sure. You know, got to pay attention to details and be confident in our technique and fundamentals and it'll be a huge challenge and an exciting one to go on the road," Walters said of the week two matchup.