Location:Â West Lafayette, Indiana.
Coach:Â Jeff Brohm (8-9, second season).
Record:Ìý1-3.
Rankings:Ìý±·´Ç²Ô±ð.
OFFENSIVE RATING: 7
Offensive averages / national rank
Points
28.3 / 79
Total yards
483.5 / 31
Rushing yards
165.3 / 82
Passing yards
318.3 / 16
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DEFENSIVE RATING: 4
Defensive averages / national rank
Points
26.0 / 73
Total yards
413.5 / 95
Rushing yards
138.3 / 54
Passing yards
275.3 / 106
SPECIALISTS RATING: 4
Special-teams averages / national rank
Kickoff returns
19.1 / 87
Punt returns
5.4 / 98
Net punting
40.7 / 31
Why you may need Rolaids
1. Rondale Moore is terrifying, Jeff Brohm knows it, and Purdue's offensive wizard of a head coach is plenty adept at scheming up ways to get his true freshman receiver the ball. Moore nearly broke Purdue's school record for total yards in his first 30 minutes of college football, and the four-star recruit who turned down offers from Ohio State, Alabama and Florida State, is perhaps already the most electrifying athlete in the Big Ten.
2. For the first time in a while, Purdue's quarterback position is settled. David Blough has been lights-out the last two games, throwing for a school-record 572 yards against Missouri and following it up with 296 more against Boston College. The Big Ten's leader in passing yards two seasons ago, Blough was turned loose against Missouri and responded.
3. Purdue is just about as confident as a 1-3 team can be after shellacking Boston College 30-13 last week. That came after three weeks of losses by four, one and three points. The Boilermakers are legitimately a few plays away from being 4-0 with a league win and a victory over an SEC opponent, and now face a reeling Nebraska program.
Why you might chill
1. Despite a dominant defensive effort last week against Boston College, when it held the Eagles to 37 yards of offense in the first half and 229 overall, Purdue's defense is still in the bottom half nationally in most relevant statistical categories. The Boilermakers have yet to prove they can stop a spread offense after Northwestern hung 31 on them in the first half of the season opener, and Missouri scored 40 while piling up 608 total yards.
2. Purdue may have gained some confidence from beating Boston College, but this is still a team that lost to Northwestern, Eastern Michigan and Missouri at home. Jeff Brohm is a great coach who has the Boilers going in the right direction, but that's not exactly a murderer's row of opponents. Nebraska in its current state isn't either, of course, but like Scott Frost, Brohm is still trying to establish the culture he wants early in his second season in West Lafayette.
3. Speaking of playing at home, Saturday's game will be the first road contest this season for Purdue. Now, Memorial Stadium hasn't exactly struck fear into the hearts of opponents over the last couple of seasons, but the Boilermakers are 1-3 at home, and many thought they would be 0-4 in the week leading up to the Boston College contest.
By the numbers
4
The number of school records Purdue has broken on offense through four games this season. Quarterback David Blough has set new benchmarks for passing yards (572), total offense (590) and completion percentage (.709) in a game, while receiver Rondale Moore broke the school record for all-purpose yards (313) in his first collegiate game.
136
Total inches, in height, of Moore (5-foot-9) and running back D.J. Knox (5-foot-7). The duo has combined for eight of Purdue's 13 touchdowns, 66 percent of the team's rushing yards and 30 percent of the team's receiving yards. Moore has a team-high 372 receiving yards. Knox has a team-best 303 rushing yards.
2011
The last time Purdue defeated a ranked opponent before last weekend. Before knocking off No. 23-ranked Boston College 30-13, Purdue's last win over a ranked opponent came against No. 23 Illinois on Oct. 22, 2011.
Press coverage
Mike DeFabo covers Purdue for a number of newspapers throughout Indiana.
What switch was flipped with David Blough over the last couple of weeks? Is this offense more dangerous now that there doesn’t seem to be much of a quarterback controversy?
The last two games, Blough has played the best football of his career. The crazy thing is, if everything went as planned, he wouldn’t be playing at all.
Blough and junior Elijah Sindelar have been competing in a unique quarterback competition/two-quarterback system that dates all the way back to last season. Purdue planned to start Sindelar Week 3 against Mizzou and likely would have played him the vast majority of the snaps. But when Sindelar went down with a practice injury, Purdue was forced to change starters midweek.
A big factor is that coach Jeff Brohm has been willing to take more shots downfield. During the first two games (both losses), Blough only attempted two passes of 10 yards or more. In the Mizzou game alone, he threw more than 25 passes of 10-plus yards. The Boilermakers knew they needed to turn the game into a track meet to compete with Mizzou quarterback Drew Lock and the Tigers’ high-octane offense. Even though they lost, 40-37, I believe they found their formula for success this year.
I imagine most people thought Rondale Moore was going to be pretty good, but did anyone expect what he’s been able to accomplish so far?
Moore came to Purdue with a ton of hype. He was a high school All-American and a high four-star prospect, rated as the Boilers’ top ranked recruit in the 247 Sports Era. He was once committed to Texas and had Alabama, Ohio State and Florida State in his final four. Brohm landed Moore, in large part, because he attended the same high school in Louisville, Trinity.
Even with all of that build up, no one could have imagined the instant impact he’d make at Purdue. His first quarter at Purdue, he turned a jet sweep into a 79-yard touchdown and caught a 34-yard touchdown pass. The Boilers’ previous record for all-purpose yardage was 312. Moore racked up 302 yards in the first HALF of his first college game. He broke that record and it’s probably only a matter of time before he breaks it again this year.
How was Purdue able to turn it around last week, against a ranked opponent, after the way the first few weeks of the season had gone?
The first step was Purdue stopped beating itself. The Boilermakers lost the first three games by a combined eight points. Purdue really could have won any of those games. But they made so many costly mistakes in critical moments that they really didn’t deserve to win any.
The Boilers were one of the most penalized teams in the country through three games. They turned it over way too much. And they struggled to turn red-zone trips into touchdowns. Against Boston College, the Boilers were significantly better in all three areas.
The other big factor was the matchup. Purdue’s young defense is built to stop the run. Against a run-heavy team like Boston College, the Boilers couldn’t have asked for a better situation. Now, the next test for Purdue is to prove the defense actually has grown up and can defend a balanced offense.
What leaders have emerged on Purdue’s defense in place of the graduation losses from last year?
Junior linebacker Markus Bailey is the best player on Purdue’s football team, period. He’s smart, instinctual and versatile. Last week, he tallied 10 solo tackles. He’ll play Sam and Will linebacker and will likely be playing on Sundays eventually.
Safety Jacob Thieneman is another playmaker on defense. He’s a former walk-on and engineering major who earned his starting spot last year partially because he was intelligent enough to quarterback the defense. He was voted a team captain this year, showing how far he came from the start of his career.
In terms of young guys, Purdue made a switch at corner and has started redshirt freshman Kenneth Major the last two weeks. He’s intercepted two passes, so I’d expect the staff to keep giving him opportunities. The Boilers also have a pair of sophomore starting at linebacker. Cornel Jones is a big, old-school Mike linebacker. Derrick Barnes played the Willl backer spot and has also been used recently as a hybrid defensive end/ linebacker. It’s given the Boilers’ pass rush a nice (and much-needed) jolt.
It might be strange to even ask this, but is there any concern of a letdown coming off a big win and coming to Lincoln as a favorite?
I don’t think so. Somehow Purdue players and coaches have turned Scott Frost’s comments about “next week we get a game we can win†into bulletin-board material. Personally, I don’t get it. I think Frost was more so trying to refocus his team after a demoralizing loss to Michigan. But coaches will look for anything they can to get their players focused. For some reason, they’ve latched onto this and it’s working.
The other factor is Purdue has zero margin for error. The Boilers already lost three games and have three more ranked teams on their schedule (Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin). If they want any chance to make it back to a bowl game for a second straight season, this weekend is a must-win. I think the Boilers will approach it as such.
That said, Nebraska is better than the 0-3 record suggests. Purdue doesn’t have a big margin for error, and Nebraska should be desperate. I’d anticipate a tight game for sure.