As Quan Wilson crossed the end zone for his 99 yard interception for a touchdown, Purdue was looking up at the scoreboard wondering how all of this happened. A 63-7 loss left a stain on a year that was one of the most special seasons in program history just one month ago.

Purdue's blowout loss to LSU in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl was the cherry on top of a chaotic and wild month in West Lafayette.

The catalyst behind the downward spiral that led to Purdue's performance in Orlando was of course former head coach Jeff Brohm.

"There has been no contact."

Jeff Brohm said he had not heard from Louisville at Purdue's Citrus Bowl announcement press conference on December 5th. Just two hours earlier, Scott Satterfield took the head coaching job at Cincinnati, leaving the Louisville job vacant.

Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski reiterated that they knew what was going on in the college football world, but there was nothing to say about it.

The writing was on the wall however. Everyone who follows college football knew the minute Louisville opened up, Jeff Brohm was going to be the number one target at his alma mater. That proved to be true as less than 48 hours later, Brohm was headed south to make his hiring official.

It was a move that felt inevitable after the former Purdue head coach nearly departed for home back in 2019 before ultimately turning the job down. He had given his word to several players, most notably star wide receiver Rondale Moore, that he was staying at Purdue and did not want to go back on that.

Fast forward four years later, Brohm left the program in a state of flux heading into bowl season. The decision started a snowball effect that left the program scrambling to try and finish the season on a high note despite all of the events that had taken place.

In today's age of college football, roster changes in the month of December are usual and Purdue is an example of just how much it can impact a program. When Aidan O'Connell, Payne Durham and Charlie Jones opted-out of the Citrus Bowl, Purdue was in some trouble. To add insult to injury, Purdue's two best defensive players in defensive backs Cory Trice and Jalen Graham followed suit.

Suddenly, the team that had made it to the Big Ten Championship game was a shell of its former self. Opt-outs have become a part of the sport in recent seasons, but Purdue had never dealt with it to this extent.

Last season, David Bell and George Karlaftis opted-out of the Music City Bowl and a number of players entered the transfer portal before the game. However, it simply does not compare to the 2022 roster turnover that happened in the blink of an eye.

It's possible that the opt-outs were going to happen regardless of the coaching situation, but it felt like a large portion of the program was looking into the future as opposed to the current moment.

Not only was Purdue without its top contributors, but the coaching staff was ravaged by several departures as well. Ron English, Chris Barclay, Garrick McGhee and Ryan Wallace all made the trip down to Louisville to start anew with the Cardinals.

Staying behind to coach the Citrus Bowl were Brian Brohm and Mark Hagen, but each of them knew they would be heading to Louisville shortly. It was a one foot in, one foot out situation for those two.

The staff was in enough flux that Drew Brees felt he needed to step in to assist the Boilermakers over the last couple of weeks of the season. It was a king gesture by the future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, but it showed just how much the program was reeling following all of the recent changes.

It was an unusual situation of trying to stay focused on the task at hand while also preparing for the future. Purdue was stuck somewhere in the middle and did not have a common direction until after the bowl game concluded.

Early in the second quarter, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels found Mason Taylor for a 32 yard touchdown pass against the Boilermakers' defense. As Purdue found itself in a 21-0 hole against the Tigers, the game was all but over at that point.

The recent changes within the program left Purdue short handed going into the Citrus Bowl. Purdue felt the effects of everything that had transpired in recent weeks down in Orlando and was overpowered by LSU from the opening kickoff.

Jayden Daniels and the LSU offense marched up and down the field at will against a compromised Purdue defense. Any way the Tigers attacked, they succeeded.

There were shades of the 2019 Music City Bowl that saw the Boilermakers get run out of Nashville after giving up 56 first half points to Auburn. It took LSU more time to get there, but the result was the same. A disappointing bowl game loss to cap off the season.

Players filling in for the departed stars of the team were not ready for their new roles as the team just never got on the same page.

That being said, you have to give a lot of credit to the players and coaches that didn’t just pack it in. The players who were in Orlando stayed true to their commitment to the program.

It was an odd situation as many believed Purdue had a slim at best chance to knock off the SEC West division champions in Orlando. Purdue entered the game embracing the underdog role in a big time matchup, but was not able to create magic and contend with one of the best programs in the country.

Purdue now has to pick up the pieces and take the sour taste of Monday's loss into the offseason for a program that looks massively different than it did just a year ago at this time.

After one of the most embarrassing losses in recent memory, Purdue football now has to move forward. New head coach Ryan Walters will look to put this last month of chaos in the rear view mirror as he officially takes over the program this month.

In the middle of everything happening during the month of December, Purdue the hired 36 year old Walters to lead the program.

After six years of Jeff Brohm, Walters provides a different type of leadership in West Lafayette. He is the opposite of his predecessor, being nearly 20 years younger, embracing a defensive mentality, and showing more personality.

Leading a top ranked defense last season at Illinois, Walters' defensive mindset is something Purdue hasn't seen since before Joe Tiller arrived to West Lafayette. It is a change of pace that could pay dividends in the future.

Could Walters be the leader that can make Purdue a Big Ten contender year in and year out? It seems as though he checks all of the boxes, at least on paper.

A young and energetic coaching staff around Walters fits what the makeup of the team is right now. At the moment, the oldest coach on staff is 41 years old in wide receivers coach Cory Patterson. Other assistant coaches, Kevin Kane, Graham Harrell, Grant O'Brien and Joe Dineen are all in their 30's but have had a lot of experience for coaches their age.

At this time, Purdue is set to lose half of the starters from the Big Ten West championship season assuming no other surprising departures happen. The group returning to West Lafayette is a solid core that can help usher in a new era of Purdue football.

The roster is littered with a mixture of young talent and veteran leaders for Walters' debut season with the Boilermakers. Players like Devin Mockobee, Nic Caraway, Marcus Mbow, Mahamane Moussa, Khordae Sydnor and others make up an intriguing group of young up and comers that are the future of the program.

Veteran returners Gus Hartwig, Sanoussi Kane, Cam Allen, TJ Sheffield, Kydran Jenkins and Broc Thompson provide a solid group of dependable seniors that will lead what could be a young Purdue team into 2023.

Walters has also alluded to diving into the transfer portal for other impact players this offseason, something he has already delivered on with former Texas quarterback Hudson Card committing to the Boilermakers last week. As the transfer portal period is in full swing, more commitments will follow Card to West Lafayette in the coming weeks.

The new age of Purdue football has a foundation to build off of moving forward. Although it could take some time with all of the changes happening, the pieces are in place thus far to keep the momentum of the program going in the right direction.