Rutgers, an 11 point underdog, moves to 2-4 after a 37-30 win over Purdue in West Lafayette.
As expected, this game was a shootout from start to finish. Both teams took advantage of nonexistent defenses to beat the over by six and a half points.
Defensive Struggles Continue
For Purdue, defensive struggles continue to plague them. Coming in they’d only forced three sacks and only added one today (a safety in the first quarter by Branson Deen). The lack of pressure has given opposing quarterbacks enough time to do their homework while in the pocket.
Rutgers backup quarterback, Arthur Sikowski, started the game in place of Noah Vedral and didn’t have to do much in order to be successful. Sikowski only threw for 145 yards but his two first-half touchdowns were enough to keep the Scarlet Knights hanging around.
This is the second straight week where Bob Diaco’s defense has looked like it slept in. How do you sleep in for games starting at 4 pm and 7 pm? Beats me. Many Purdue fans are already calling for Diaco’s job halfway through his first season on the job. Is it the scheme? Is it a lack of talent? Head coach Jeff Brohm said in his postgame presser that it’s “probably a combination of the two.”
Whatever the problem is, Rutgers exposed it. In the last nine minutes of the game, Purdue had the ball for three plays. In those nine minutes, Rutgers threw the ball twice. The ground game was more than effective for the Scarlett Knights with Johnny Langan rushing for 93 yards and Isaih Pacheco rushing for 63 on their way to a combined team performance of 173 yards. Rutgers totally controlled every aspect of the game in the second half. That’s a sentence people aren’t used to typing.
Lack of Creativity
The Purdue offense seemed to be rolling for the first two quarters. With the Scarlett Knights keying on star receivers David Bell and Rondale Moore, Brohm relied heavily on running back Zander Horvath to carry the load.
Horvath had himself a day, rushing for 101 yards and a touchdown but post-game said it wasn’t enough. “….I made some plays but I needed to make more.”
With the ground game rolling it’s puzzling why Brohm abandoned it late in the game. His once creative and innovative playcalling has disappeared for much of the 2020 season and that was no different tonight. On a crucial third and long late in the game down seven points, Brohm decided to call a quarterback draw with Jack Plummer that went for a big loss and forced a punt. It’s hard to imagine not putting the ball in the hands of Horvath, Bell, or Moore in that situation.
Plummer played well, 20-35, 237 yards, and two touchdowns, but just like last week, threw a crucial interception late that all but sealed Purdue’s fate.
Rutgers is America’s Team
Hats off to Rutgers. They might be the scrappiest team in the country. These guys do not quit and they do not go away. Greg Schiano has himself a fighting bunch and for the first time in a long time, there is reason to be excited in New Brunswick.
They executed well in all three phases and took advantage of every Purdue mistake. Their post-game celebration looked like they just won a national title but when you’ve been in the cellar for as long as they have, you celebrate every win like it’s for a ring. Rutgers is America’s team and they’re only going to get more exciting.
What’s Next?
That’s three straight losses for Purdue and yet another game Jeff Brohm had no business losing. Brohm is now 0-2 against Rutgers and Purdue is the only Big Ten school Rutgers has a winning record against since joining the conference.
I had season tickets during a four yeat span where Purdue only won four games and yet somehow the state of the program feels worse now than it did then.
There are a lot of questions to be answered in the coming week before the Boilers host Nebraska in West Lafayette. Follow me on Twitter for more Purdue Football takes and reactions throughout the week.