The Good and Bad From Purdue's 24-17 Victory Over Illinois
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For the first time in Barry Odom's two seasons at Purdue, the positives outweighed the negatives in a Big Ten game. The Boilermakers picked up their first Big Ten win of the season on Saturday, defeating Illinois 24-17 in Champaign to improve to 2-3 on the year.
Saturday's win also ended a 19-game losing streak to Big Ten opponents and a 23-game skid against Power Four foes.
What went right and what went wrong for Purdue against Illinois in Week 5? Let's look at the good and bad from Saturday's victory.
Good: Key defensive stops
Purdue's defense came up with some key stops throughout Saturday's win. The Boilermakers set a bit of a tone early, when they got a third-down stop in the first quarter and forced the Illini into a field goal. That attempt was off the mark, and the Boilermakers were able to keep Illinois off the scoreboard.
In the second half, Illinois had to punt on its first possession, then had a turnover on downs on its second drive. In the fourth quarter, Purdue's Charles Correa and Keyshawn Burgos accounted for a sack on quarterback Katin Houser, forcing a punt. Later in the quarter, John Slaughter intercepted a deep pass to essentially seal the victory. It was the best performance of the year for the defense.
Defensive coordinator Kevin Kane deserves a lot of credit for his game plan against the Illini.
Bad: Red zone offense
Once again, Purdue was perfect in the red zone. The Boilermakers scored on all four trips, but had to settle for field goals three times. Getting points on the board is certainly better than not scoring, but the Boilermakers have to be more productive when they get deep in enemy territory.
Purdue was inside the Illinois 10-yard line on each of its first two possessions against Illinois, but was forced into field goal attempts. If the Boilers punched the football across the goal line early, the Boilers might have cruised to an easy victory.
Good: A late aggressive drive
With Purdue owning a 16-10 lead in the fourth quarter, you could understand why the Boilers might want to go conservative with their offensive play-calling. Offensive coordinator Josh Henson didn't go that route, though, instead allowing quarterback Ryan Browne to go out and win the game.
On that final drive, Browne completed 4-of-5 passes, including a 31-yard pass to Chauncey Magwood to get the Boilers on the goal line. Antonio Harris crossed the goal line two plays later and the Boilers took a 24-10 lead late in the game. That type of aggressive play-calling is a big reason why Purdue left Champaign with a win.
Bad: 3rd down stops
It may not seem like it because Illinois only scored 17 points and Purdue came up with important stops in critical situations, but the third-down defense was still a problem on Saturday. The Illini converted on 7-of-13 attempts in the contest.
Opponents are now converting 51.72% of their third-down attempts this season against the Boilers. That's not a number that will win a lot of football games. It was good enough to beat Illinois over the weekend, but it's something that needs fixed quickly.
Good: The wide receivers
Some of Browne's improvement should be credited to the wide receiver room. We've known Purdue has seen a massive upgrade at this position, but that was demonstrated again in Champaign. Four different receivers caught at least three passes, and several came up with big receptions.
Asaad Waseem hauled in a 61-yard catch in the first half, part of his three receptions for 98 yards. Tra'Mar Harris finished with three catches for 52 yards, which included Browne's lone touchdown toss of the afternoon from 21 yards out. Magwood totaled 53 yards on four receptions, including that impressive 31-yard snag with just over five minutes to play. Xavier Townsend had four catches for 24 yards.
This has been Purdue's most improved position group, and the unit made plenty of big-time plays on Saturday.
Good: Jacobo Echeverria Lozano
Not enough positive things are being said about Purdue's true freshman kicker. Echeverria Lozano is now 11-of-12 on field goal tries this season after going 3-of-3 in Champaign. Purdue needed each of those kicks, too.
As I've already mentioned, Purdue has to figure out ways to get the football across the goal line when it gets deep in enemy territory, but having a reliable kicker allows the Boilers to walk away with at least three points on each trip. He was a true asset again over the weekend.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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