Purdue 38 UCLA 52: Trouble Bruin?

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We are in season 3 of the Big Ten money grab that was adding four teams from the west coast and that means Purdue, a team that is located in the Eastern time zone, had to start a game at 11:07 PM ET. I know I took an afternoon nap in order to stay up for this game. The Purdue offense looked like they did too as they scored 35+ points against a Power 4 opponent for a second week in a row. The Boilermaker defense, however, looked like it was snoozing as UCLA got anything they wanted on offense, especially on the ground. We are going to break this game down by the phases of the game rather than by drive this week so let’s dive in:

Purdue Offense

It seems clear that Ryan Browne is meant to be the starting quarterback for this Purdue team. Browne finished the night by eclipsing his career high in yardage for the third straight game this season, passing for 378 yards and 3 touchdowns against 1 interception (his first of the season). Browne very obviously has a great connection with his top trio of receivers, Asaad Waseem, Xavier Townsend, and Chauncey Magwood, who combined for 16 catches, 338 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Outside of those 3 though, only 4 other Purdue receivers caught a pass or were even targeted throughout the game, including Antonio Harris on a fake punt. But if Browne has 3 good options in the passing game, he clearly can do damage, especially considering that Purdue receivers had 263 yards after the catch. Browne needs to get the ball out of his hands and let his receivers go to work. It was very effective against UCLA.

Almost predictably after a strong performance last week, the UCLA defense locked in on Fame Ijeboi and did not let the RB get going at all. Despite rushing for 2 scores, Ijeboi eclipsed less than 50 yards rushing for the first time since becoming a Boilermaker and Fame averaged less than 3 yards per carry. Of course, Purdue was playing from behind for a majority of the game, so the Boilermakers needed to focus on passing the ball. But for the first time this season, Purdue was not balanced on offense.

Offensively, there were several mistakes that need cleaning up. Given the inability of the defense to get stops, Purdue’s offense needed to play a mistake-free game to keep up. 3 turnovers and 1 effectively acted as a 17 point swing in favor of UCLA. Both Purdue fumbles led to UCLA touchdowns (but what didn’t in this game) and an illegal formation wiped a Purdue touchdown off the board which led to a field goal. This doesn’t include the final nail in the coffin that was the Ryan Browne interception since UCLA ran the clock out to end the game.

Ultimately, despite mistakes, Purdue’s offense did really well. Ryan Browne is definitely the guy Purdue wants at the helm and if the running game only had an off-night, then the offense has a lot of potential.

Purdue Defense

I’m not going to beat this dead horse too much. Purdue’s defense was terrible against the Bruins. We are only 3 games into the year but Kevin Kane’s seat is already on fire. Purdue’s defense was daring UCLA to throw the ball in the second half since Nico Iamaleava was banged up. UCLA would rush for 262 yards in the second half. All told, UCLA finished with 645 total yards of offense including 369 on the ground. The Bruins were 11 of 14 on third down and overcame 12 penalties for 103 yards to still score 52 points. The best stretch of the game for the defense was in the second quarter where the Boilermakers allowed 3 points (which could have been 6 if UCLA made its other attempt) across 3 drives. The other 3 quarters were where the issues were.

Purdue Special Teams

The special teams did a good job in this one. Dylan Drennan threw a good ball on a fake punt to Antonio Harris for a long catch and run and Drennan had 2 good punts. Jacobo Echeverria Lozano was perfect on PATs and field goals. Kickoff and punt coverage was good. Nothing to complain about on special teams.

Stats

Highlights

Outlook

If Purdue’s defensive woes don’t get corrected, a new DC will be on the filed for the Boilermakers sooner rather than later. A team that puts up just short of 500 yards on offense should not be beaten by 2 touchdowns. Of course, Purdue was not perfect on offense as 3 turnovers were backbreakers. The Boilermakers head home to prep for Notre Dame next week and Ross Ade is bound to be full even if it’s full of Fighting Irish fans. Hopefully the defense shows up and the offense continues to roll. Until next week, Boiler Up.

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