Offense struggles again as Purdue takes 'two steps back' in loss
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PDF: Purdue-Rutgers stats
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Jeff Brohm probably didn’t even realize he was doing it.
But with each word, his right hand pounded the lecturn he was standing behind.
He was emphasizing the point.
The one he made to his Purdue team after a 14-12 loss to Rutgers Saturday.
“As I told our team after, for six games, I think we won the battle of toughness and playing hard. We did not win it today. So we didn’t deserve to win,” he said.
And then came the flash of fire.
“Our team has to understand that’s our only chance of winning, especially now that we’re in the conference, is finding a way to play harder, tougher and smarter,” said Brohm, punctuating the three areas with pounds. “And we lost all three this game. All three of them.”
The Boilermakers had seemed to turn a corner in the first half of the season, learning to handle a moderate level of success after winning three games and competing closely in all of their first six.
But, apparently, there’s still more maturing to do.
Though Brohm has stressed a one-game season — he did not want a single person on the team looking ahead because he knew this team couldn’t afford that lack of focus — apparently that point faded a bit leading into Saturday’s game in which Purdue was favored on the road in the Big Ten.
The Boilermakers (3-4) had won only twice in their previous 18 conference road games, but they, apparently, thought No. 3 was guaranteed.
At least that was what players said afterward.
“Da’Wan Hunte was very passionate after the game, and I think he hit the nail on the head: We lost our day-by-day, practice-by-practice, rep-by-rep focus,” fellow captain David Blough said. “People are looking ahead. Doing things, looking at things that don’t pertain to us that we shouldn’t be looking at. We lost our focus a little bit. I think we need to hold each other accountable, especially as leaders. Grab people that aren’t focused. You have to make sure your stuff is tight if you’re going to jump somebody else. We have to stay on top of all of our stuff.”
And yet, even with that, Purdue still had a chance in the end.
Though the offense struggled to generate points, it didn’t struggle to move the ball. The Boilermakers finished with 474 yards, and they finally sustained a drive on the last one, trailing by eight when they got the ball back with 2:20 to play.
Purdue drove 70 yards for the touchdown, capped by Anthony Mahoungou’s one-handed catch with 25 seconds left. But the Boilermakers would need the two-point conversion to force overtime.
On the two-point conversion, Purdue lined up in a 2x2 formation, and Blough rolled right on the snap. No receivers appeared to break free, so Blough was forced to just zip the pass into the end zone, hoping for a miracle.
It did not come.
After seeing the pass deflect off at least one pair of hands and then harmlessly to the turf, Blough’s hands went to his head and stayed there, part frustration, part disbelief.
“It’s tough because those defensive guys are playing so well. It feels like we are just letting them down,” said Blough, who was 8-of-15 for 57 yards in relief of Elijah Sindelar. “We have to come out, play tough, play smart, do the little things well, take care of the football and help those guys out. We’ve got to find ways to get into the end zone. It’s going to happen. We’ve done it before. Nobody is making excuses for anything. We’ve just got to make it happen.”
Purdue’s defense was wounded, largely, by two big plays.
On the third play of the game, Gus Edwards somehow bounced out of a seeming tackle near the line to streak down the left sideline for a 67-yard touchdown. Later in the third quarter, Purdue was in man coverage and Danny Ezechukwu didn’t cover running back Raheem Blackshear quickly enough out of the backfield on a wheel route, and safety Navon Mosley didn’t attack Blackshear in the open field, allowing a 35-yard touchdown.
In the end, Purdue allowed only 217 yards. But, for the first time all season, it didn’t force a turnover.
“We shouldn’t give any points,” said linebacker Markus Bailey, who had a team-high eight tackles. “We’ve got to play a little better on defense.”
Brohm was pointing squarely on the offense — and himself — afterward, though.
Purdue narrowly avoided going two consecutive weeks without an offensive touchdown, and that’s not acceptable for the play caller who has built a reputation for explosive offenses. Brohm, simply, is hand-cuffed a bit at Purdue with a receiving corps that can’t generate big plays and an offensive line that can’t generate enough consistent protection for the QB. And those QBs, they’ve struggled at times, too. Sindelar had two interceptions Saturday, and at least one of them Brohm said afterward Sindelar should have not attempted the pass.
“Any time you lose, it’s not fun, but this was disappointing because I thought our performance was very subpar and lackluster. That starts with me,” Brohm said, likely referencing the offense. “I didn’t do a good job getting our guys ready. I thought we had numerous opportunities early on to sustain drives and didn’t make it happen, and then it kind of snowballed from there.
“Sometimes you take a step forward. Sometimes, you take two steps back. This was two steps back for us. It’s adversity you’re sometimes going to run through, and we’ve just got to find a way to work through it and keep working hard to get better and continue to fight and scrap and see if we can find a way to win the next one.
“We don’t have a whole lot of margin for error on our team. We’ve got to find a way to get better.”
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