A rainy night in West Lafayette set the stage for the Big Ten West matchup of the year as Purdue hosted Northwestern.
#23 Northwestern went into Ross-Ade Stadium and defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 27-20. Northwestern now sits atop the Big Ten West with a 4-0 record (2-0 in the division).
Going in, everyone thought the matchup would be Purdue’s high powered offense against a stout Northwestern defense. Unfortunately for the Boilermakers, they left the power in the locker room. The Northwestern defense held Purdue to 265 total yards and 20 points. The difference-maker was how well they contained the Purdue run game, allowing only two yards on the ground.
For Purdue, the defense was also their best unit today. Despite giving up 27 points, they were able to hold the Wildcats under 300 yards of total offense, force turnovers, and create stops when needed. With star defensive end, George Karlaftis, out due to injury, Bob Diaco’s group was able to step up big when needed.
Purdue:
Offense
The Boilermaker’s offense was about as one dimensional as one can be. Without the run game, quarterback Aidan O’Connell was forced to take a lot of shots downfield.
O’Connell struggled for most of the game and even brought up the question of if Purdue needed to go with a different look at quarterback. Coach Brohm responded after the game.
“There was a thought, Jack (Plummer) was ready,” said Brohm. “We thought about going with Jack to get the run going, give them a shock. We told Aidan to get a drive going and he did………Aidan has done a good job to this point but Jack will always be ready.”
All-American wide receiver, Rondale Moore, missed his third straight game due to an unknown injury which allowed for the Northwestern defense to key hard on David Bell. Bell came in averaging 11 receptions and over 100 yards receiving and the ‘Cats were able to hold him to nine catches for 78 yards. Something that most defenses are unable to do.
The bright spot in the passing game was running back Zander Horvath. Horvath had been explosive on the ground to this point but with the run game halted he made his living in the passing game. Horvath looked great in space and was able to lead the team in receiving yards with 100.
Defense
Bob Diaco’s group could not have played a better game. Cam Allen came up big with a first-half interception that led to Purdue’s first touchdown of the game. DeMarcus Mitchell and Derrick Barnes combined for 5.5 tackles for loss and 21 total tackles. They gave the offense every chance to win the game, coming up with two big stops late in the fourth quarter. If they can find a way to put pressure on the quarterback, this could be the best Purdue defense since 200.
Northwestern
Offense:
If Peyton Ramsey could play Purdue every week he would be a Heisman finalist. The former Indiana quarterback torched the Boilermakers last season in the Old Oaken Bucket game and picked up right where he left off. He threw for 212 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception but his mobility played more of a roll than the box score will show. Ramsey was able to extend plays with his feet that helped the Wildcats make conversions on multiple crucial third and fourth down plays.
It was going to be important for Purdue to shut down the run game and they did exactly that. Northwestern only rushed for 80 yards but somewhere in that gameplan, they forgot to account for Ramaud Chiaokiao-Bowman. Chiaokiao-Bowman brought in eight receptions for 86 yards and all three of Northwesterns touchdowns. If you can somehow add him to your fantasy teams, he is a must start.
Defense:
Coming in, the Northwestern defense hadn’t allowed a single second half point all season. That streak came to an end tonight giving up 10 second-half points to the Boilers.
Despite losing the streak, the defense was clicking on all cylinders. They completely shut down the Purdue run game and held Purdue to 4-17 on third down. Typically doing both of those is going to win you a lot of football games.
David Bell might be the best receiver in the Big Ten and the Wildcats were able to take him out of the game almost completely. Coach Brohm credited their secondary with being physical and not being afraid to grab, tug, hold, and whatever else they needed to do to prevent the completion. Bell himself gave credit to the Wildcat secondary saying, “they watched their film on me, they knew every move I was going to make before I made it.”
Outlook
For Purdue, they’re sitting at 2-1 going into Minnesota next weekend. Jeff Brohm’s play calling was very suspect at times in tonight’s game. You can credit part of that to the Northwestern defense for making the Boilermakers so one dimmensional. Purdue needs to figure out how to get the ground game going if they want to be succesful. King Doerue made his return from injury today so expect him to be more involved in the weeks to come. The return of George Karlaftis should also help improve the Purdue pass rush which was virtually nonexistent today. Then there’s the burning question of “when will Rondale Moore come back?” Coach Brohm said he does expect Moore to play this season but he won’t put him on the field until he’s ready.
Take the good with the bad but there are a lot of questions that need to be answered in West Lafayette.
For Northwestern, everything seemed to click. There’s not much else you can say. Pat Fitzgerald has his guys back in a familar position atop the division. They’re fast, they’re physical, and they come to play every week.
The Boilermakers return to action next Friday night in Minnesota while the Wildcats return home for a showdown against Wisconsin.