COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Purdue’s defense finally rallied to create turnovers Saturday.
Just turned out not to matter all that much because its offense couldn’t convert them into true game-changing moments.
Maryland hadn’t committed a turnover all season entering the game, but on its third play, linebacker Markus Bailey snatched Perry Hills’ pass for his first career interception. Early in the third quarter, Jake Replogle pounced on a fumble.
Both turnovers set up Purdue’s offense near or inside the red zone. And Purdue got zero points.
After the Bailey INT wasn’t turned into points, Darrell Hazell said it “kind of spiraled from that point on.”
Bailey didn’t even seem to care much about his play.
“We were kind of playing a match concept, and I let the first one go back to middle linebacker and I just sat right there. The quarterback threw it right to me and I just happened to make a play,” Bailey said. “But, overall, that didn’t seem to change the course of the game. We have to do better defensively. Just because we had a turnover doesn’t mean we played good or that was a good job at all. We have to do better.”
• Hazell didn’t have an injury report after the game. But Purdue had key players that finished the game on the sidelines without shoulder pads on, namely starting running back Markell Jones and starting right guard Jordan Roos.
Jones, playing with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder, left the field with his arm dangling after a carry in the third quarter. But he came back into the game on Purdue’s next series. He left for good after he caught a ball in the flat, spun away from a defender and then took a big hit.
“I’m not sure to what degree he’s hurting,” Hazell said after the game. “His shoulder is hurting again. Same issue, so we’ll see.”
Roos wasn’t a full participant in practice leading into the game because of what Hazell called back spasms. But Roos, the tough competitor he is, hung in through three quarters. But with the game out of hand by then — Maryland led 36-0 — he took a seat to start the fourth and had ice on his side/back for the rest of the game.
Afterward, Roos only would say he was “all right” and not expound.
Starting center Kirk Barron, too, has been nursing foot and ankle injuries, and Matt McCann played despite a right ankle injury.
“We’re going to be fine,” Roos said when asked if the personnel issues up front made it tough to produce.
• Jalen Neal lasted only 10 plays at left tackle before Cameron Cermin shifted to the left side from the right. Why the move?
“We were getting hurt, and that’s what we thought we could help,” Hazell said. “Put Cermin over there on the left side, move Jalen on the right to keep his blind side protected. But that didn’t work out either.”
• Freshman defensive tackle Lorenzo Neal started his first college game in place of Eddy Wilson.
• Maryland natives Ja’Whaun Bentley, David Rose, Wyatt Cook and Wes Cook all played.
Membership Information: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2016. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited
