One Major Challenge Purdue's Defense Faces Against Wake Forest
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Explosive plays didn't kill Purdue in its season opener against Indiana State, but the struggle to get stops in pivotal situations was a bit concerning. The Boilermakers have a full week to address those issues before playing a much more dynamic Wake Forest offense on Saturday.
Purdue had trouble containing dual-threat quarterback Elijah Owens last weekend, as he accounted for 60 of Indiana State's 66 total rushing yards. Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez can cause even more problems for the Boilers.
Containing the veteran quarterback is the biggest challenge Purdue's defense faces in Week 2.
"Gio is another guy who is very mobile," defensive coordinator Kevin Kane said. "I think we're going to see a lot of those guys this year. We can burn our hand on the stove and come out with a victory; it'll teach our guys how to rush the passer and how we've gotta play in coverage with a scrambling quarterback."
Lopez put up big numbers in Wake Forest's season-opening win over Akron. He completed 21-of-32 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 39 yards on seven carries, which included a long rush of 15 yards.
Purdue's defensive line, which Pro Football Focus graded as a top-10 unit from Week 1, pressured Owens on Friday, but when the pocket collapsed, he scrambled for chunk yardage. The Boilers have to be more disciplined at all three levels to prevent Lopez from converting in those situations.
Kane's defense was more effective in the second half against Indiana State, forcing consecutive three-and-outs to start the third quarter. But doing that against Wake Forest will be a greater challenge.
Purdue must eliminate explosive plays
Even if two of them came in the fourth quarter, Purdue surrendered too many explosive plays against Indiana State. It was a problem for the Boilermakers all last season, and it's still a concern as they prepare for Week 2.
Wake Forest scored three of its four touchdowns on explosive pass plays. Lopez's first touchdown pass was a 27-yard strike to Kam Shanks. He followed that up with a 72-yard throw and a 78-yard toss for touchdowns to Antonio Meeks and Carlos Hernandez, respectively.
Last week, Purdue's defense surrendered three pass plays of 40-plus yards. No other team in the Big Ten allowed more than one.
"We've got to solve our explosive issues. That's how they live; they want explosive, chunk plays," Kane said. "I think their wide receiver group is a good group. We have to continue to keep everything in front of us ... Their scheme matches their personnel very well."
Kane has studied the film from Purdue's 44-19 win over Indiana State and assessed what went wrong defensively. It was primarily eye discipline and a lack of execution that allowed the Sycamores to hit on some of those plays.
"Obviously, that's how offenses score nowadays, right? You've got to limit the explosives," Kane said. "If we go back and look at the film as to why those happened, it's simple fixes."
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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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