Plummer on debut: "I felt good going into the game. I really did."
Purdue-TCU statistics | Ten things you need to know about Purdue's 34-13 loss to TCU | Final thoughts | Gold & Black Radio Express: Purdue-TCU | Blog: Let down under the lights
Jack Plummer had been waiting for this day. The redshirt freshman had been wanting to take the lid off of his Purdue career. That day arrived on Saturday night in Ross-Ade Stadium vs. TCU. And, it didn’t go well.
The Gilbert, Ariz., native hit just 13-of-29 passes for 181 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Worst of all: Purdue lost, 34-13, to fall to 1-2.
“I thought I prepared well,” said Plummer. “I watched a whole bunch of film for this. So, I guess when the lights come on, you have to perform. There is no excuse for it, really. I got the first (start) out of the way. Hopefully, next time, it will go better.”
Plummer got the start because fifth-year senior Elijah Sindelar was out with a concussion suffered in the Vanderbilt game. Plummer says he found out he would start the day before the game.
“I think it was Friday,” said Plummer. “Elijah didn’t pass the protocol and sent me a nice text message saying he was behind me.”
Brohm was happy with Plummer.
“Jack hung in there,” said Jeff Brohm. “I knew this would be a tough matchup for him. First start out of the gate. First interception, he put it where we need to put it. Didn’t catch a few breaks. We didn’t make any breaks early on. It wasn’t a good performance by our best players. A lot of pressure was on him. But he hung in there. He’ll be better. But we have to get better around him, as well. We have to go back to the drawing board.”
No doubt, Plummer’s cause wasn’t augmented by an offensive line that sprung some leaks. He was sacked three times and pressured countless others. But he wasn’t gonna point fingers after the Boilermakers generated just 204 yards and went 4-of-15 on third downs.
“There was a little bit of pressure,” said Plummer. “I didn’t get sacked a whole lot … I put it on me. Offense starts with the quarterback. I gotta get better.”
What was the game plan?
“We pretty much knew what they were gonna be in,” said Plummer. “So, we were gonna kinda run our normal stuff, run stuff to beat the coverage we knew they were gonna be in. They got the best of us.”
And Plummer was hurt by the effective work TCU did containing Rondale Moore, who made just three catches for 25 yards. His long catch? Thirteen yards.
“They were pretty much doubling him the whole game, bracketing him,” said Plummer, who thought Sindelar watched the game from the press box. “Whenever he was inside, they slide a safety or nickel over him. We put him outside and they put a cloud on him. They did a good job. Some of those passes he dropped, I could have put them in a better spot.”
The next time out should be better for Plummer.
“Honestly, I thought I was gonna be more nervous than I was,” he said. “Today, I wasn’t really that nervous, honestly. I felt calm going into the game. I was confident in the first couple of plays we were running. I felt good going into the game. I really did."
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