10/19/2019 football Edit

Ten things you need to know about Purdue's 26-20 loss at Iowa

Tom Dienhart • BoilerUpload

GoldandBlack.com, Associate Editor

Ten things you need to know from Purdue’s 26-20 loss at Iowa:

1. David Bell is the real deal. As the season has progressed, he has gotten better. He enjoyed a breakout vs. Maryland with nine catches for 138 yards and two TDs last week. Today at Iowa, Bell was at it again with 13 receptions for 197 yards and a TD. The true freshman showed his skill-set on Purdue’s lone first-half TD drive, making four catches for 64 yards and a TD. He is money on third downs, too. Just wait until Rondale Moore comes back from injury to pair-up with Bell.

“David reminds me of a young Jerry Rice for the fact everything is smooth,” said Brohm. “He doesn't look like he’s gonna make the spectacular play, but he always makes the play. He’s solid and efficient, he runs good routes. Maybe it doesn't look like he’s running a 4.2, but he’s getting open … he’s going up and making the play when he has to. …”

2. Yes, today resulted in defeat. But this team still may make a bowl. Purdue (2-5 overall; 1-3 Big Ten) has games left at home vs. Illinois, Nebraska and Indiana. It also has a trip to Northwestern. See what I mean? Bottom line: The Boilermakers could go bowling for a third season in a row under Jeff Brohm. And if that happens, it would be among Brohm’s most impressive work when you consider the youth and injury he has had to deal with this season.

3. Antony Watts is one tough guy. Earlier this week, Jeff Brohm wasn’t optimistic about the prospects of the junior defensive tackle playing after hurting his right elbow at Penn State. But Watts gutted it out today. Impressive.

“I will give Anthony credit,” said Brohm. “He had a pretty severe injury. It doesn’t heal that fast. Our doctors were shocked. He even came up to me a week after he got hurt and said he was gonna be back faster than they say, which you always love to hear.”

3. The offensive line remains a work in progress. No shock. It showed progress last week vs. Maryland. But it took a big step up in competition this week at Iowa. The unit was whistled for four penalties in the first half and allowed lots of pressure to leak through and disrupt Jack Plummer, who was sacked just one time but harassed countless others.

4. The inability to run the ball really hurts this offense in tight spots. Purdue had to settle for field goals too often in the red zone as it attempted to chip away at the Iowa lead. This line and offense just lacks an edge and toughness to get it done in close quarters. Any trip inside the 20 almost seemed hopeless today, with Jack Plummer often running for his life or forcing throws to covered targets. Purdue ran 18 times for 33 yards vs. Iowa.

5. Is it time to take a look at backup QB Aidan O’Connell? Jack Plummer wasn’t at his best today, making several bad throws. Yes, he was under a lot of pressure. But, still … you wonder. Did Brohm consider making a switch today?

“We always do,” said Brohm. “Our backup is always ready to go and we’ll always have him ready to go. So, yes, there’s always thought of that when things are getting stale and we did. But Jack came through in the end and got us going.”

6. The Purdue pass rush is anemic. On this day, Iowa QB Nate Stanley enough time to make a sandwich and flip through TV Guide while picking out receivers. The Boilermaker secondary had no chance. Where was the rush? And—again—Stanley was rarely breathed on all day, getting sacked just once. As a result, he carved up Purdue, hitting 23-of-33 passes for 260 yards.

7. While the pass rush netted just one sack (thank you, George Karlaftis), the defense played well enough to win. Purdue limited Iowa to just 102 yards rushing on 33 carries. On most days, that would be good enough to earn a victory. But, again, the lack of pressure on Iowa QB Nate Stanley did in the defense on this day. Stopping the run was the game plan, according to DE Derrick Barnes.

"And when they pass the ball, get to the quarterback," he said.

8. After Purdue had cut Iowa’s lead to 19-13 with a field goal with 2:59 left in the game, Jeff Brohm opted for an onside kick that Iowa recovered. Why not just kick the ball, play defense and try to force a punt? Brohm still had three timeouts and his defense was playing pretty well. As it was, Iowa went on to score an easy TD to push its lead to 26-13 after it got the onsides kick. Game over.

“We thought about it before we kicked it deep and we never would have gotten the ball back,” said Brohm. “So, we wanted to at least give ourselves a chance to possibly get the ball. It’s not a high percentage to get the onside, but he wanted to try to get that done. Stop them there, like you would, they still are gonna have to punt, just like they would if they are back and you just have to drive it farther. Unfortunately, they took it and scored in I think three plays I think running the ball, so that didn’t work. But we wanted to give ourselves a chance to get the ball.”

9. Jack Plummer remains a work-in-progress who too often tries to make the big throw instead of taking easier options.

"I thought Jack was a little up and down," said Brohm. He hung in there like he always does. I think early on, he may have been trying to make a few too many big plays throwing and he had some lanes to run. I told him; 'Hey, you have to be able to scramble some. Don’t try to make the big throw and scramble backward.' He got better at that later in the second half. I think he has to make sure he stays smart. Sometimes. he tries to do too much, which I thought happened."

10. The defense kept Purdue in this game, bending-but-not-breaking time and again.The D has allowed just five TDs in the last 10 quarters. Not bad.

"I think our defense in general played hard," said Brohm. "They came ready to play. They took it down and drove it the first couple of times, but we at least held them to field goals. And then we kinda got on a role, got some stops and once again it’s being more efficient. We got beat at corner a few times when we shouldn’t in zone coverages when we shouldn’t, which was disappointing. We allowed him to scramble and throw it over our head."

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