Walters and Purdue look to "right the ship" in rivalry week vs. Illinois
Ryan Walters and the Boilermakers suffered its second consecutive loss on Friday night, falling to Wisconsin in Ross-Ade Stadium. Purdue's head coach identified the Boilermakers' poor start as one of the key factors that led to the defeat.
"Obviously came out super flat, which was surprising to me just given the history of that game in particular and what was at stake, and in the weeks preparation leading up to kick off. Then came out at halftime and started the way I thought we would have started the game," Walters said.
Wisconsin got out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter before ultimately holding a 21-3 advantage going into halftime, which was too deep a hole for the Boilermakers to dig themselves out of. A third quarter surge helped Purdue cut the lead to just 10 in the third quarter as Hudson Card and the offense hit their stride, but the Badgers' lead proved to be too much to overcome.
Slow starts mixed with inconsistency have been the Achilles heel of this Purdue team through four games of the Ryan Walters era, failing to put together a complete performance yet this season. Walters shared that the Boilermakers are the first half team that found themselves down three scores and the second half team that clawed its way back into the contest.
The key will be getting Purdue to a place where its that third quarter team all the time.
"If we choose to consistently be who we were post halftime which was aggressive and competitive and all the things that you want in a competition, then we have a chance to be a good football team. If we don't, if we are cautious and try to feel the game out with the rest of the schedule that we play, it's gonna be hard to win a game," Walters said.
Purdue now sits at 1-3 and 0-1 in Big Ten play, stuck with the worst record in the conference through four weeks. As Walters has said all along, he and the Boilermakers aren't panicking, but the group needs to find fixes for several issues and find them fast.
"You don't want to panic with this start, but you definitely want to urgently fix the things that you need to fix. So, we're doing that currently right now. You know, not wholesale changes, but like tweaks here and there to continue to improve the program," Walters said.
Walters did reference that he thinks his team has improved in its understanding of the scheme and limiting mental errors. The Boilermakers' head coach also pointed to the grueling schedule to start the year, which features the three teams Purdue has lost to holding a combined record of 11-1.
Ryan Walters and company have put the early year struggles in the past and now shift their focus to rivalry week in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers will take on Illinois for the Cannon Trophy game on Saturday.
The history of Purdue’s Cannon has been well documented after its inception all the way back in 1905 when Purdue students brought the weapon to Champaign with the intention of setting it off after a Boilermaker victory. A group of Illinois students stole the cannon and it did not reemerge for nearly 40 years.
The Cannon Trophy was given to the winner of the Big Ten rivals for the first time in 1943 when the Boilermakers defeated Illinois 40-21 in West Lafayette. It has been a competitive battle between the two longtime Big Ten members, with Purdue holding a 41-30-2 advantage in the Cannon Trophy era. The Boilermakers took that lead in the series with their recent domination of the Illini, winning 14 of the last 18 meetings and six of the last seven.
Purdue aims to continue that success over Illinois with its new leader, who already has experience in the rivalry game. Ryan Walters was, of course, the Illini’s defensive coordinator for two years before getting his first head coaching role with the Boilermakers this off-season. Walters discussed the rivalry, which was protected under the Big Ten’s new scheduling format coming in 2024.
"Anytime there's a trophy involved, it's a big deal. You're planning for something more than just a mark in the win or loss column. That's something that we've talked about and we preach like the Cannon has to stay here. We will do everything we can to make sure that happens," Walters said.
Walters will go up against his former team for the first of potentially many games as the Boilermakers’ head coach, and while the core is still intact in Champaign, it's not going to be a carbon copy of the program he left 9 months ago.
"They're still there's a lot of familiarity, like I can tell you what I'm seeing on tape and obviously I got to go against Coach Lunney every day in practice," Walters said. "There are some similarities there but there are also a lot of new faces in that program as well that I wasn't there for."
Offensively, the Illini feature a new man under center in Ole Miss transfer Luke Altmyer, who has had mixed results during his time in Champaign. The mobile quarterback has a Big Ten worst seven interceptions on the year, but did just produce the first 300 yard passing game of the season against FAU.
Altmyer's supporting cast has shown promise, however, particularly wide receiver Isaiah Williams and running back Reggie Love III. Williams is second in the conference in receiving yards with 333 and just three yards behind Marvin Harrison Jr. while leading the Big Ten with 24 catches.
Love III is finally getting his opportunity with Chase Brown off to the NFL, rushing for 248 yards and a score through four games this season. Altmyer leads the Illini with three scores on the ground, however, which will pose a challenge to a Purdue defense that has struggled to contain mobile quarterback this season.
After turning Illinois into a defensive powerhouse in 2022, Walters’ former unit has not had the same success despite adopting the newly coined “Air Strike” system. Illinois ranks second to last in the Big Ten in points allowed per game (27.3) and dead last in total defense (422.8 yards allowed per game).
The defense lost a trio of NFL caliber defensive backs to the NFL this off-season, which in turn has impacted the once suffocating Illini defense. The group does return All-Big Ten level performers across the defensive line in Keith Randolph Jr. and Jer'Zhan Newton.
Regardless of Walters' association with Illinois, the Purdue head coach knows that Saturday's matchup is a game that his team needs to have after a poor start to the year.
"You never know when greatness is around the corner. You never know when a streak starts. Every great team, every great program has had a beginning of something special. There is some outside and added storylines because of the nature of the history between myself and Illinois. But at the end of the day, we just need to win a game and we need to win a game at Ross-Ade. We need to win a Big Ten game to right the ship and start turning the tide in our favor," Walters said.