Purdue rushing numbers on wrong side of history

Purdue’s issues running the ball are well-documented.

Through three games, the Boilermakers rank No. 128 out of 130 FBS schools in rushing, averaging 50.0 ypg. Only Akron (48.3 ypg) and Texas State (25.0 ypg) are averaging fewer yards rushing. Jeff Brohm is acutely aware of his team's rushing problems.

"We have to get more physical at the point of attack," Brohm said after practice on Tuesday. "The interior of the line has to knock people back. And drive some people.

"When you run 3rd and-one multiple times and can’t get a yard, that’s not good enough."

Purdue opened the season with 96 yards rushing on 29 carries in a 34-31 defeat at Nevada. And the ground game has regressed from there. In a 42-24 victory vs. Vanderbilt, the Boilermakers ran 18 times for 31 yards. In last week’s 34-13 loss to TCU, Purdue rushed 25 times for 23 yards.

"We just have to work on getting low, getting low and driving people off the ball," said junior left offensive tackle Grant Hermanns. "And getting attitude. If you look at all the good o-lines, all of them have attitudes. An attitude of being the meanest one on the field and not taking crap from anybody.

"We have it. We just need more of it. And we need more of it without someone punching us first. We need to deliver the first punch."

Add it all up, and the Boilermakers have 72 rushes for 150 yards, averaging 2.1 yards per carry with one TD. The 150 rushing yards is the lowest output of any Purdue team through three games dating back to 2000. The longest run of the season is a 13-yarder by Zander Horvath. The lone rushing touchdown was scored by a quarterback, Elijah Sindelar.

As a point of contrast, Purdue opponents have rushed 110 times for 526 yards and five touchdowns with a long run of 37 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry and 175.3 yards per game.

Several factors are hindering Purdue's inability to generate a representative ground game in the early goings of 2019. Chief among the issues is the line, which has struggled to get a consistent push. A lack of experience is the chief culprit. And now, the unit is without its most experienced blocker in fifth-year senior right guard Matt McCann, who has 38 career starts but is dealing with an ankle injury suffered vs. Vanderbilt that kept him out vs. TCU. It's not known when McCann will return.

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The only other veteran lineman is Hermanns, who has 18 starts. That’s almost twice as many career starts (10) as the the other four starting linemen combined: senior left guard Alex Criddle (3), sophomore center Viktor Beach (3), redshirt freshman right tackle Will Bramel (3), sophomore right guard Mark Stickford (1).

Exasperating matters is the absence of fifth-year senior running back Tario Fuller, who is still coming back from a broken jaw suffered in an August scrimmage. No doubt, he would add some juice and experience to a rushing game that has had to rely on Horvath, who leads the squad with 91 yards rushing on 31 carries (2.9 ypc). True freshman King Doerue may be coming on. He had a season-high and team-high 11 carries vs. TCU and has 17 totes for 37 yards (2.2 ypc) in 2019. Doerue is more dynamic than Horvath. Brohm said on Tuesday that junior wideout Jackson Anthrop is working out at running back, too. He ran one time for two yards vs. TCU. It's his lone carry of the season.

"We want to get the ball In his hands more," said Brohm. "He is a valuable player, he is unselfish, we want to try to get him more touches. We have had some packages with Jackson in the backfield and now we are gonna have a little bit more.

"Nothing against our running backs. We haven’t had a whole lot of holes at times. We have to be a little more creative and get better at just a few base things. And we need to get some running backs who wanna hit it up in there and bounce outside and make a few plays on their own. We knew we would have some issues (running the ball), but we have to work harder to figure out better ways to be productive in the run game."

Purdue's rushing attack may struggle all season. And, if that's the case, Brohm has said he isn't going to force the issue. He would like to have a balanced attack, but the most important thing is to score points. How you do it doesn't matter.

"Having balance, taking what they give you and not forcing the issue, we have to do as well," said Brohm. "That means you have to run the football, have some play-action, mix in some pass, some screens and misdirection."

One thing this offense has proven it can do well: Throw the ball.

Unable to run with consistency, Purdue has been forced to pass … a lot. That was OK the first two games of the season, when Sindelar was the signal-caller. Entering last week’s game, the fifth-year senior was pacing the nation in attempts (104), completions (68), yards (932) and touchdown passes (9). But he missed the TCU game with a concussion suffered in the win vs. Vanderbilt, forcing redshirt freshman Jack Plummer to make his Boilermaker debut. And, it wasn’t pretty.

Plummer completed just 13-of-29 passes for 181 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. And he was sacked three times and pressured countless others vs. a rugged TCU defense. It was a difficult circumstance for any quarterback to make his first start.

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