Ten things you need to know about Purdue's 24-6 loss to Illinois

1. The quarterback spot is struggling … to say the least. After saying he considered pulling Jack Plummer last week at Iowa, Jeff Brohm did today. Plummer had issues with his decision-making, throwing a costly pick-six in the second quarter. He hit 8-of-20 passes for 71 yards with the aforementioned interception. Sophomore walk-on Aidan O’Connell get tapped on the shoulder to assume command. He struggled, too. And Plummer was reinserted—then pulled again in the third quarter. O'Connell finished the game.

“We need to be more productive at that position,” said Jeff Brohm. “I understand the elements were tough. I get it. I understand we have to play better around him. I understand that, as well. But we aren’t playing good enough at that position. It’s an open competition and we’ll figure it out at the end of the week.”

Embed content not available

2. Back to the quarterback … Aidan O’Connell was put in a tough situation when he was inserted into the game at the 9:58 mark of the second quarter following Jack Plummer’s pick-six that gave Illinois a 10-0 lead. O’Connell ran six plays in two series and the offense gained one yard before Plummer was put back in the game. O'Connell finished 7-of-13 passing for 65 yards with a touchdown.

“I thought Aidan did some decent things,” said Brohm. “His decision-making early on was suspect as well. But he can throw the football. He works hard. We’ll open up the competition and see who wins it by the end of the week.”

3. Look, Purdue’s offense isn’t built to operate in the monsoon conditions that engulfed Ross-Ade Stadium today. And it showed. The rain impacted Purdue big-time, and not Illinois—which is built to run the ball. The Boilermaker rush game never got traction with 135 yards rushing on 44 totes (3.1 ypc). Meanwhile, Illinois had little trouble finding its footing, time and again ripping through the Boilermaker defense for big gainers en route to rushing for 242 yards on 53 carries (4.6 ypc).

“I think both teams wanted to run the ball,” said Brohm. “It’s hard to pass the ball in those elements. If you can’t run the ball, you probably aren’t gonna win the game. And we weren’t effective running the ball.”

Embed content not available

4. As mentioned, the rain impacted Purdue’s passing game. The aerial attack struggled to get going in the water-logged conditions. There were four dropped passes that only exasperated the situation. Can’t recall Brohm’s offense looking so pedestrian since he got the job in 2017. Boilermaker quarterbacks hit 15-of-33 passes for 136 yards with a touchdown and pick.

5. Lost amid this quagmire is this fact: Purdue’s bowl hopes are on life support. They were faint when the day began, as Purdue (2-6 overall) needed to go 4-1 down the stretch to reach six triumphs. Today’s loss really complicates the Boilermakers’ postseason hopes. Purdue must win-out (Nebraska, at Northwestern, at Wisconsin, Indiana) to reach six wins. Gonna be tough to do.

6. Is this the nadir under Jeff Brohm? Perhaps. But the horrendous weather conditions must be considered. Brohm has suffered some dubious defeats while in West Lafayette (at Rutgers, Eastern Michigan, Nebraska, at Michigan State, at Minnesota, Auburn). But this loss stings. This was a game Purdue had to win. And, not only didn’t that happen, but the Boilermakers failed miserably.

“It’s very disappointing,” said Brohm. “I thought we’d come ready to play. I’ll take the blame. But it was a bad performance and it’s something we have to do a lot of soul-searching and figure out how we wanna fix it. We got exposed in many areas. A bad day.”

Embed content not available

7. David Bell was a non-factor. Didn’t look like Illinois was doing anything special vs. the Bell. But, he was largely ineffective. Bell was targeted seven times and made five catches for 18 yards. This after he had been the Big Ten Freshman of the Week each of the last two weeks.

“They did absolutely nothing special,” said Brohm when asked how Illinois defense Bell. “They played us quarters coverage in first and second down. Cover 2. Really, kind of the same things Iowa (did), you’re gonna have to run the ball to beat us. They pressed and bailed. The conditions made it a little tougher to throw, without question. And when we did, we dropped it at receiver, we dropped it at running back. I can’t think of anything that went correct, to be honest with you."

8. No doubt, the absence of Rondale Moore was felt big-time today. The offense was designed to feature No. 4. And, without him for the last four games, the attack has been inconsistent—at best. Purdue was able to generate few big play and sustain any drives when the outcome of this contest was still undecided. The ground game didn’t work. The pass game didn’t work. Nothing worked.

"You have to be able to run the ball in these conditions," said Brohm. "We worked with wet balls over the last three days. Still didn’t matter. We didn’t throw or catch it. So, you have to run the ball. Anybody that plays in these elements knows that you have to have a running game. You have to be physical up front. You gotta stop the run. You can’t allow big runs and big creases as well. And then, of course, in these conditions, you can’t turn it over, especially an interception for a touchdown really changed the momentum of the game and put them in the driver’s seat. And it was not good from there."

9. The only other significant rain game I can recall that Jeff Brohm has coached in at Purdue was vs. Eastern Michigan last season. And that resulted in a stunning 20-19 loss. That day, the Boilermakers had 476 yards of total offense with 135 passing, as Purdue lost on a last-second field goal. The Boilermakers finished with 271 yards (135 rush; 136 pass).

10. This was the “Jackson Anthrop Game.” The junior slot receiver was the featured player on the Purdue offense. He was targeted a team-high eight times and made three catches for 51 yards with a drop. He also ran three times for two yards while returning three kicks for 48 yards.

Embed content not available

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast