Purdue 44 Indiana State 19: Forest Fire

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It has been written many times on this site and said many times on the Boiler Alert podcast: you don’t learn anything positive when playing an FCS team. It is obvious that negatives can be revealed in these games, but generally, these week 1 matchups should be all about getting into the swing of the season while taking your bought victory and ending the day without any injuries. In that regard, Purdue was successful as the Boilermakers took down in-state FCS foe, Indiana State. Unfortunately, there was plenty left to be desired at the end of the night for Purdue despite the 25-point victory. Luckily, Barry Odom and his staff have 8 days to review the game film, make some adjustments, and prep for a Wake Forest team that will pose a much bigger threat. Let’s look at some of that review now:

1st Quarter

To start the game, Purdue won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. It felt like a bit of a power move to show confidence. In the offseason, we were told this would be a new look Purdue offense which differs from the traditional Boilermaker air-attack and we saw it right out of the gate. Minnesota transfer, Fame Ijeboi [Fahm-aye E-jih-boy], took the first three handoffs for a combined 30 yards and showed off some real speed and shiftiness out of the backfield. Following a late hit out of bounds on a Ryan Browne keeper, Purdue was set up inside the ISU 30 before Ryan Browne had even even attempted a pass. The first two passes, however, were not so pretty. On first and 10 at the ISU 27, Browne eluded pressure in the pocket and tried to launch an off-script pass to TE George Burhenn in the near corner of the endzone. Luckily, the Indiana State defender in front of Burhenn dropped the interception. Following an Ijeboi rush of 4 yards, Browne would try and set up a WR screen pass on third down. The pass was completed but Browne had to throw high to get the ball over blitzing defenders so that former Iowa State and UCF WR, Xavier Townsend, could not catch and run. On fourth down and 4 at the ISU 21, kicker Jacobo Echeverria-Lozano nailed his first attempted field goal for Purdue, a 39-yard kick.

On the ensuing Indiana State drive, QB Elijah Owens showed off some dual threat skills as he first took an option play for 18 yards before completing passes of 17 and 24 yards, with the latter bringing the Sycamores down to the Purdue 17 yard line within 5 plays. Purdue would bend but not break on the drive forcing a 28-yard field goal from ISU which tied the game at 3 with 7:08 left to play in the quarter.

Getting the ball back, Purdue would settle down and consistently move the ball downfield. Ryan Browne completed passes to three different receivers on the drive: Xavier Townsend, FAU transfer Asaad Waseem, and UCF / UK transfer Chauncey Magwood. Purdue would also run the ball 7 times on the drive with Jackson State transfer RB, Travis Terrell Jr in what seemed like a designed rotation of the running backs by drive. The Boilermakers moved the ball with short throws and runs up the middle while converting on 3rd down 3 times (once by way of an ISU holding call) and culminated in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Browne to Chauncey Magwood just before the end of the quarter.

2nd Quarter

The second quarter started on a positive note as Purdue forced a 3 and out on Indiana State. The ISU punt to Purdue is where a concerning trend began as Purdue would be called for an illegal block in the back on the play. Following a bobbled deep-cross completion to George Burhenn (47 seconds into the highlights video in the below highlights section), Fame Ijeboi would take the next snap to the right sideline while making a beautiful cut back to get into the endzone for a 63-yard touchdown run, the longest for Purdue in years. But the yellow flag came out on the play and Purdue was called for holding. The first of 3 Boilermaker penalties on the drive was the biggest and although Purdue was still able to move downfield, a false start on 3rd and 2 at the Sycamore 2-yard line was the last blow that forced the Boilermakers to settle for a 25-yard field goal when they had multiple opportunities to start to break the game open. Instead, it was a 13-3 game with 9:16 left in the half.

ISU’s next drive was really marked by a single play. On 3rd and 9 from the ISU 38-yard line, Elijah Owens was forced to scramble to his right as Illinois transfer LB, Jojo Hayden applied pressure. Owens threw across his body to an open Tyler Nansel who ran deep into Purdue territory for a 41-yard gain. An ISU hold would derail their chance of scoring a touchdown on the drive but the Sycamores did nail a 47-yard field goal to make it a 13-6 ball game.

If the alarm bells were not going off in Purdue fans’ heads already, the following drive may have switched them on. On the first play of the drive, a Ryan Brown pass to RB Jerrick Gibson from Texas went for a big gain but once again, holding was called on the play. The hold occurred downfield so it still ended up being a 5-yard gain but following a 4-yard Gibson rush, Purdue was set up with a 3rd and 1. Ryan Browne could not escape pressure and was sacked to force a Purdue 3 and out. On the ensuing punt, another Purdue penalty gave 5 additional yards to ISU after the return.

Indiana State was unable to capitalize on any momentum as Elijah Owens was sacked on 3rd down by junior DT, Ian Jeffries, for Purdue’s first sack of the game. Following the sack was the 2 minute timeout but we were all taken by surprise when Otis Day and the Knights came onto the scoreboard and Shout played. This would leave us wondering for nearly 45 minutes, what would replace Shout at the end of the 3rd quarter? We were also slightly terrified that Shout would simply play again but to this point in the game, it felt like one of the more exciting bits, which is saying a lot.

Starting their next drive at their own 30 while Shout’s successor was still on our minds, Purdue went into their 2-minute offense. Again, moving the ball with efficiency, the Boilermakers took 2 plays to get into ISU territory and 6 plays to get down to the ISU 7-yard line with 27 seconds left. Back to back incomplete passes left Purdue with a 3rd and goal from the 7 with 20 seconds remaining. The following play was a bit of a head scratcher as Ryan Browne took what appeared to be a designed QB run forward for 2 yards and was tackled at the 5. Purdue let the clock drain down to 4 seconds before taking a timeout and allowing Echeverria-Lozano to kick his 3rd field goal of the half as time expired (1 second was correctly not added to the end of the half).

Purdue went into halftime up 16-6 but a lot of meat appeared to be left on the bone. Ryan Browne was 16-22 for 172 yards and a touchdown at halftime while Fame Ijeboi had 65 all-purpose yards, but 6 Purdue penalties amassed 45 yards while also taking a 63-yard touchdown off the board.

3rd Quarter

It’s hard to imagine that the Purdue coaching staff took the first half lightly as Purdue came out of halftime looking like a new team. Indiana State began the half with the ball and immediately helped Purdue as the ISU center hit his butt on a snap, causing a fumble and loss of 3 yards (1:11 mark in the highlights video). Following an incompletion and short gain, the Sycamores were forced to punt.

The opening Purdue offensive drive was their best of the night. Purdue drove 62 yards in 5 plays that included a 12-yard agility test by Fame Ijeboi. a 20-yard tiptoe rush by Ijeboi and a diving catch just short of the goal line by George Burhenn.

This led to a wildcat rush by Ijeboi to score his first touchdown as a Boilermaker. The drive took 2 minutes and 35 seconds to get Purdue a 23-6 lead.

On the second Indiana State drive, the Sycamores again stalled right out of the gate as an Elijah Owens rush of no gain was followed by 2 incomplete passes to force the second 3 and out of the half for ISU. On the punt, WR transfer out of Penn, Bisi Owens, was able to get a fingertip on the ball and blocked the punt which dribbled down to the ISU 48-yard line before being downed.

Purdue would also replicate their first drive of the half as the Boilermakers now only took 3 plays to score a touchdown: a Fame Ijeboi catch and run of 19 yards, a deep sideline pass to Asaad Waseem for 22 yards, and a goal line curl to sophomore WR, Tra’Mar Harris. Purdue was now up 30-6 about midway through the 3rd quarter.

For the first time in the half, Indiana State would get a first down on their third drive. Following a rush of no gain, Elijah Owens would rush for 10 yards and the next play, a pass interference penalty on Colorado / Tennessee transfer DB, John Slaughter, moved the ball to midfield. Purdue would force a 3rd and 11 but a missed tackle on an Owens scramble allowed for a 26-yard gain down to the Purdue 25 yard line. Indiana state was called for an ineligible man downfield, negating a 7-yard pickup and following an incompletion on 1st and 15, Purdue would sack Owens twice in a row, first by the combo of junior DE Trey Smith and UCF / UNC DT transfer, Rodney Lora (2:05 mark of highlights video) followed by a CB blitz by FIU transfer, Mister Clark. The second sack pushed ISU back to the Purdue 41-yard line and forced a punt rather than a long field goal.

On their third drive of the quarter, the Purdue offense was moving. 2 short runs by Travis Terrell set up a 3rd and 7 for the Boilermakers when Ryan Browne threw a tunnel screen to sophomore WR Jesse Watson who could drive a truck through the hole. Watson took the screen 50 yards before the ISU defender could catch him on the perfect angle (2:13 mark of the highlight video). Following a Terrell 9-yard rush to get the Boilers into the redzone, Ryan Browne pump faked and threw his third touchdown of the day to a wide-open Asaad Waseem in the endzone to put the Boilers up 37-6 in the waning seconds of the 3rd quarter.

The excitement of the quarter would culminate with the replacement of Shout as the clock hit zero’s to end the third. Rather than the typical Purdue-great speech leading into the half-hearted 48-year old song from Animal House, Purdue fans were greeted with the familiar electro-beat of Darude’s Sandstorm to which fans performed the famous ‘Lance Dance’ while clips of dancing and excitement from pop culture played on the scoreboard. I will give my opinion on the change in the game notes but spoiler alert, I quite enjoyed it.

4th Quarter

Indiana State would open the fourth quarter with a familiar face at QB. Former Boilermaker (and Louisville Cardinal under Jeff Brohm), Brady Allen came in and had an inauspicious start to his ISU career as he threw an incomplete pass on his first attempt and a 35-yard interception returned for a touchdown to Utah / Texas A&M transfer CB, Don Saunders.

Brady Allen’s second drive went much better for the Sycamores as Allen had a pass for 17 yards that was bolstered by a Purdue unsportsmanlike conduct and a 45 yard touchdown pass up the middle just over the Purdue defenders head. ISU would miss the point after attempt and the score sat at 44-12.

On the following kickoff, Purdue again squandered a great play as an illegal block in the back negated a 72-yard kickoff return from Travis Terrell. This was Purdue’s 9th penalty for 85 yards on the day but that does not include the 135 yards negated from the Ijeboi run and the Terrell return. Being up 32 with under 13 minutes remaining, Purdue turned to the backups for their next drive. QB Evans Chuba worked under center and often handed the ball off to Jerrick Gibson. The Boilermakers dinked and dunked down the field (the drive started at the Purdue 12), setting up a first and 10 at the ISU 44. It was here that the drive stalled and on 4th and 6 with 6:12 left in the game, Purdue went for it. Chuba was sacked on 4th down to give the ball back to Indiana State.

In his third drive of the night, Brady Allen nearly turned the ball over with a fumble on a 2nd down handoff (2:52 mark below) to set up 3rd and 14 following an ISU timeout. Allen then, for the second time, reared back and fired a deep pass over the middle to his receiver for a 55 yard pass down to the Purdue 1-yard line. RB Max McCool would take a handoff into the endzone the next play to score the final touchdown of the night and create the eventual final, 44-19.

Obviously, Purdue did not score for the rest of the night but the Boilermakers did keep moving the ball, often by handing it off to junior RB, Antonio Harris. The final drive lasted 7 plays which took the remaining 4:05 of the game and sealed the up and down victory for Purdue, their first in 363 days since defeating another FCS team, Southern Illinois, last season.

Stats

Highlights

Outlook

As the cliche goes, it was a tale of two halves in this one. Purdue came out of the gate and looked sloppy on both sides of the ball against an overmatched foe. Sure, the Boilermakers scored on 4 of 5 possessions in the first half, but what probably should have been 24 points was reduced to 16 due to self inflicted damage. I really think the coaching staff laid into the players at halftime because the third quarter (and first 21 seconds of the 4th) was played as we expected coming in. Purdue forced 3 punts, one of which was blocked, scored 3 touchdowns in 13 offensive plays that amassed 190 yards and put the game out pretty much of reach. Then to start the 4th, the game was put to bed with the pick six. Yes, Indiana State had two big plays in garbage time from the quarterback who was once said to be the answer for Purdue football. They were nice throws but only affected the spread of the game (sorry to those that had Purdue covering). All told, there is a lot to clean up for Purdue but at least the second half shows that the players and coaches are perceptive enough to make adjustments as needed.

Game Notes

• A quick note on paratrooping into the stadium: it scares the hell out of me. Being in the press box and seeing a guy fly down straight in front of us without being able to previously see him by looking up made it seem like he was aiming straight for the ground in a splat. Of course, this is a professional and he made a 90 degree turn just in time, but it definitely got the heart pumping before the game.

• A few shoutouts need to be given out considering the fact that this was one of the hottest games in Purdue history. At kickoff, the field temperature was announced to be 93 degrees and felt like 105. Despite the sweltering heat, over 49,000 fans showed up to the game and the entire student section was full. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen for a team that has won 7 games in their past 3 seasons, so shoutout to the students and fans for coming out to support the team and staying past the dicey bits of the first half. Lastly, shoutout to the All-American Marching Band for still performing in the heat. Could you imagine lugging around a sousaphone in the hot sun for multiple performances and throughout the game? I couldn’t so great job AAMB!

• I feel the need to mention that it felt like the field itself was incomplete. Sure, the Progressive logo was there across the field from the B1G logo but the endzones felt bare to me without being filled in black. Last season, the lettering itself was black with a gold border, which was ok, but gold letters with a black border in the end zone feels incomplete without the black fill.

• Ahh yes, it is time to discuss Shout and its successor. For years, we have been saying that Shout needed to be replaced. I personally have suggested Crazy Train by Ozzy Osborne to be a suitable replacement but nonetheless, each season, we have been subjected to the same experience where I would venture to say 90% of the students (or anyone under the age of 30) don’t even know what movie Shout is from. Animal House came out in 1978 so it’s old enough to be president. Moving Shout to the 2-minute timeout is a fantastic move because it’s no longer tied to a built in excuse to go grab a beer or use the restroom. Also, it’s worth noting that Oregon also plays Shout after the 4th quarter because Animal House was filmed on their campus and unfortunately, that football program is in a much better spot right now. So it’s nice to not have to be mentioned as a copycat of Oregon even if Purdue started playing Shout 4 years prior to the Ducks. But here’s the best part. Shout’s successor was a tried and true song and dance that had its own unique Purdue lore. Sandstorm accompanied by the Lance Dance has been a staple at Purdue for years now (the dance got its name in 2024 for Lance Jones but it’s been around for more than a decade at Purdue) and while it was normally shown prior to the start of the second half kickoff, moving it to the start of the 4th quarter capitalizes on the most widely known fan experience at Purdue. Students learn the dance at orientation, older fans know the dance from being at a slew of sporting events, and kids can do the dance easily in their seats by following along. This move actually gives me more hope for the athletic department oddly enough and it’s because the decision to move to a Purdue-laden dance may start a unique tradition. Will it top Enter Sandman at West Virginia or Jump Around at Wisconsin? No. Is Purdue the first school to feature Sandstorm? No, and quite honestly, South Carolina’s version is really cool. But here’s the thing: the athletic department is moving forward to make the fan experience better and it means they are listening to us. Obviously, the next step is to improve the experience by improving the product on the field, but you have to start somewhere and pick the low-hanging fruit.

• Going along with the above point about the athletic department moving forward, it was nice to see Tommy McClelland deeply involved in the gameday activities and tweeting / quote tweeting along the way. Football is going to be the money-maker for the athletic department and the AD is going to have to be entrenched. So far, so good.

Next Up

Purdue will stay at home and take on Wake Forest on Saturday, September 12th at Noon ET. The Boilermakers will try and match its win total from last year against the 1-0 Demon Deacons. We will provide analysis on the game throughout the week and will see you in Ross Ade Saturday. Until then, Boiler Up!

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