Here is what has us talking after Purdue's 35-31 loss vs. Penn State to open the 2022 season.
1 - Aidan O’Connell was just solid in his 2022 debut. On the night of his 24th birthday, he completed 29-of-58 passes (50 percent) for 356 yards with a TD. This is a guy who completed 71.6 percent of his passes in 2021. He was under some duress, but O'Connell had time to pass, for the most part. Penn State was playing tight coverage and bringing heat.
"I thought he was pretty sharp," said Jeff Brohm. "Made a lot of big plays in the throwing game. There were a few times in tight coverage where he was throwing it so quick that I don't know if we allowed (receivers) enough time to get open. So, I can't tell if that was due to a lot of pressure or he just wanted to get out of his hand quick."
2 - Say "hello" to Charlie Jones. The Iowa transfer showed out in his Boilermaker debut, making 12 catches on 19 targets for 153 yards (12.8 ypc) with a TD.
"We throw the ball and he wanted to go somewhere and showcase his talents and didn't think that was being used the right way," said Brohm. "So, we welcomed him with open arms and he's come in here and had a really good camp. And he's been able to showcase that."
He was the leader of a lush collection of Purdue wideouts that saw Tyrone Tracy, Collin Sullivan, T.J. Sheffield, Broc Thompson, Mershawn Rice, Elijah Canion and Deion Burks all play with eight different players catching passes. The receivers should be OK.
"We had a feeling that Charlie would be a go-to guy when we got him here, and he's had a really good camp," said Brohm. "Runs good routes. He understands football, he's got good hands. He's got a good chemistry with Aidan and that showed up today. They made a lot of plays."
3 - The run game had its moments with King Doerue sometimes running with aplomb. He finished with 57 yards on 15 carries. The senior bounced a run outside to notch a 3-yard TD. He also scampered in from two yards for a TD.
Credit the line. Purdue played four tackles, with Cam Craig (RT) and Eric Miller (LT) starting and Mahamane Moussa (LT) and Daniel Johnson (RT) seeing plenty action. Sione Finau also played (G) in addition to starters Gus Hartwig (C), Spencer Holstege (G) and Marcus Mbow (G). This front--eight deep--has potential.
Still, when Purdue needed to run to milk the clock with a lead in the fourth quarter, it failed with five rushes for minus nine yards.
4 - The big plays were lacking. And, that was a concern with David Bell off to the NFL a year early and Milton Wright an academic casualty. Purdue's long pass play was 30 yards; its long run play was nine yards.
Purdue had the ball with a 31-28 lead on two occasions and couldn't add points.
This offense should continue to evolve as the wideout unit settles in. Still, this offense bogged down in the fourth quarter, tallying 65 yards and 2.6 yards per play. The defense provided the lone points in the final 15 minutes on a pick-six by Chris Jefferson.
The last five times Purdue had the ball after Jefferson's TD it went punt, punt, punt, punt, clock expires/game over.
5 - The pass rush was largely ineffective, as the defense looks to replace George Karlaftis. Yes, at times, Purdue got some pressure and flushed Sean Clifford from the pocket. The staff made liberal use of its depth up front, rotating players liberally to keep bodies fresh. Still, the final stats show just one sack for Purdue, notched by Scotty Humpich.
"I do think really the second half we were much better up front, and it's something to build on," said Brohm.
6 - We didn’t see any Charlie Jones return magic. Penn State did a nice job largely negating Jones on kickoffs with several touchbacks, as he had three returns for 43 yards (14.3 ypr). And Jones was a non-factor on punt returns with one for no yards.
"They let me make the decision back there (on punts)," said Jones. "Today, I was thinking in certain situations when to be aggressive and when not to be. Today, it didn't go the way that I wanted in the return game."
7 - Purdue needs to work on its tackling, which typically is an issue for teams early in the season as full-contact is rare in camp as programs want to avoid injuries.
"We're going to have to make sure we drill that more and look at ways to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Brohm.
The missed tackles were costly and led directly to Penn State's spirit-crushing 67-yard TD catch before halftime and the 29-yard TD grab in the fourth quarter that gave it a 28-24 lead. Gotta feeling the defense will hear about this in practice this week.
"I thought at times we played pretty well (on defense)," said Brohm. "We gave good effort. We're able to make some plays.
"They were on the field for quite a bit and we weren't able to close it on offense. So, we didn't come through for them on offense."
8 - Payne Durham was largely a non-factor on this night. The Mackey Award candidate was targeted nine times and made three receptions for 43 yards. No. 2 tight end Paul Piferi didn’t see much action. No doubt, Purdue missed Garrett Miller.
9 - Penalties hurt Purdue all night. Pass interference, roughing the passer, defensive holding … Drive killers and drive extenders. The final tally: nine penalties with five coming on defense and four on offense. This was the least penalized team in the Big Ten in 2021. Lots to clean up.
"We were really good at (not getting penalties) last year," said Brohm. "And we stress it, we talk about it. ... there are some costly penalties.
"You have to try to win the turnover battle and you definitely can't have that many penalties. So, we gotta get it cleaned up."
10 - Remember, the Boilermakers were 3.5-point underdogs in this game. This loss isn't a killer and it doesn't throw Purdue off its goals. The team is still set up for a 3-1 start with the next three games looking winnable: Indiana State, at Syracuse, Florida Atlantic. That would give Purdue mojo as it would begin a make-or-break October that starts with road games at Minnesota and at Maryland. No time to panic. Lots to build off following this tough defeat.
"Every loss hurts," said Brohm. "And we had this one right where we wanted it with a chance to seal the game with one more first down and the game's over. And we weren't able to get that. So, that's what is disappointing. That's what stings. I am proud of the fight they showed."
Purdue plays host to FCS Indiana State next Saturday.
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