It feels like a matter of what can go wrong, will go wrong for Purdue football this season. As the Boilermakers fell to 1-7 on Saturday, losing their seventh-straight game, they found yet another way to add to a growing loss column.

The struggles this fall have become a not-so-fun game of finding out not if, but how Ryan Walters and company would find a way to falter each week. The now two-month long trend has had common threads, namely an anemic offense and a defense that has failed to stop even the most lackluster attacks, but the manner in which the Boilermakers have lost has differed from week to week.

They've been dominated, getting stomped by Notre Dame, Oregon and Wisconsin.

They've let winnable games slip away after second half collapses against Nebraska and Oregon State.

Now, the Boilermakers have been plagued by questionable decisions by their head coach in two of the last three games.

Saturday's defeat presented a new chapter in the evolving story that is Purdue's nightmare 2024 campaign. After a Hudson Card-led offense orchestrated a 14-point comeback on the heels of a 17-3 halftime deficit, the Boilermakers went into overtime time tied with Northwestern at 20-20.

That is where Ryan Walters took a gamble and wound up walking out of Ross-Ade Stadium with nothing to show for it.

Facing a 4th and 5 from the Northwestern 20-yard line, a potential 37-yard field goal attempt by Spencer Porath stood between Purdue and its first lead of the day. A timeout was used to mull over the decision, but Walters decided to leave his offense on the field and put Purdue's fate in the hands of quarterback Hudson Card.

"From that distance and that hash, it's been a struggle for us in the kicking game. So, you know, I had a discussion, and that's why we called time out, to really thoroughly process the situation and what decision we should make," Walters said after the game. "Just felt like from a percentage standpoint, we had a higher probability of getting that first down than we did kicking that field goal."

Card dropped back and fired a pass over the middle of the field to CJ Smith that fell to the Ross-Ade Stadium turf and handed Northwestern a golden opportunity on the subsequent overtime possession. The Wildcats took just two plays to score the game-winning touchdown, crushing Purdue's hopes of just one Big Ten victory in its home stadium this season.

It's the risk that comes with those gutsy decisions. Unfortunately for the Boilermakers, Ryan Walters' gut hasn't done them well in such situations.

Perhaps Purdue's best chance for a win this season, at least on paper, fell by the wayside after having an opportunity to give this team the slightest glimmer of hope and just one game where they could celebrate a victory.

Saturday becomes the second game in the last three that Purdue had its chance to win, but couldn't execute in the clutch, when its head coach bet that it could.

"We didn't capitalize on some opportunities and didn't execute in some critical moments," Walters said.

Walters has taken big swings to turn around what has been a nightmare season for the Boilermakers and potentially save himself from looking for a new coaching gig less than two years after he was hired as Purdue's head coach. Between firing Graham Harrell, taking over play calling duties, and down the list, those swings just haven't panned out.

While the close losses have given Purdue fans more entertainment than the other six games combined, they've also presented a new question mark, Walters' decision-making in key moments.

With two overtime losses to Illinois and Northwestern in mind, Walters proclaimed that his team is growing and is close to getting back on track.

"I went to locker room and told them, 'You know, I know it doesn't seem like it at times. I know it's hard to hear right now, but we are close.' You know, there's two of the last three games have went to overtime, and so you're right there," Walters said.

"You got a young team that's played two overtime games in the last three against really good opponents, and you're right there. So, you know, I don't care what anybody says or anybody thinks, just keep working."

At 1-7, it's tough to sell close losses as a reason for optimism. Although, the Boilermakers have shown signs of life in recent weeks, but close games and not wins, have become the bar for development.

If the endings to the Illinois and Northwestern games had gone different, it would put Purdue at 3-5 on the season, which isn't something to cheer gawk over, but still would provide some form of optimism.

That's a fairytale land, however, as the Boilermakers remain at the bottom of the Big Ten and now have just three teams beneath them in all of college football, Kent State, UTEP and Florida State.

The reality is, Purdue has hit rock bottom this season.

Purdue was close, in two instances, but the other five losses? Those were by an average of 35 points per game. Nothing about those games suggests Purdue is anything other than what they've shown, a bad football team.

Still, Walters does not think his team and players have taken the easy way out, and quit on the season. By all accounts, the energy is still flowing through the building, but how much longer will that be the case?

"When it's at its hardest, and the noise gets the loudest, and adversity is staring at you straight in the face, and you feel like you're back against is against the wall, like it is human nature to want to cave in and succumb to the to the pressure, succumb to the noise," Walters said.

Walters remains committed to getting the Boilermakers back on track, but with matchups against Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana still looming, he may not have much more of a chance.