What Went Right, What Went Wrong in Purdue Football's Victory Over Indiana State
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue football picked up its first win of the season Saturday in dominant fashion against Indiana State. After falling to 0-1 on the year in the season opener against Penn State, the team rolled to a 56-0 victory in Week 2.
Sixth-year quarterback Aidan O'Connell was near flawless in the first half, throwing for 211 yards and four touchdowns with just two incompletions in one half of play. The defense for the Boilermakers also made a pair of red zone stops to prevent the Sycamores from putting any points on the board.
Iowa transfer wide receiver Charlie Jones continued his stellar start to the season for Purdue by hauling in a trio of touchdown receptions. A 35-0 halftime lead spelled the end of the game for many of the team's starters, but the Boilermakers scored three more times before the end of the game.
"It was a good win for us. We needed to come out here and take care of business," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. "We understood that. It was about improving from our mistakes, correcting those and eliminating the silly things that hurt us in the last game.
"We just came out here and executed. I think our guys played hard. There were a few ups and downs in there, but we found ways to suck it up and prevent them from getting in the endzone."
Purdue now turns its attention toward an upcoming road matchup against Syracuse. The game will be the second of three consecutive nonconference opponents before the team returns to Big Ten competition against Minnesota on Saturday, Oct. 1.
Here's a look at some of the several things that went right for the Boilermakers against the Sycamores and a few things that went wrong:
What went right
1. Connection between O'Connell, Jones still strong
Jones, a sixth-year receiver on the third team of his college career, is far and away Boilermakers' leading receiver after two games. He posted 12 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown in the season opener against Penn State, and he hardly slowed down as Purdue thumped Indiana State.
In just one half, Jones made nine grabs for 133 yards while getting into the end zone three times. He's put up 286 yards through the first two games of the season and is on pace to quickly surpass all of his career-highs.
"I came here obviously for the offense, and I'm liking what I'm seeing so far," Jones said after the game. "So hopefully get back to it this week, go out next week and execute in all phases."
The exclamation point on Jones' performance on Saturday was a 36-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter, which made it a 28-0 game. It was his longest catch of the afternoon.
2. Purdue piles on a mountain of rushing yards
Against the Sycamores, the Boilermakers had several opportunities to put the running game on film. By the end of the game, Purdue amassed 232 rushing yards with seven different players contributing to that total.
Starting running back King Doerue had a short afternoon, garnering just three rushes for seven yards, but he punched in his third touchdown of the year from the 4-yard line to open the scoring in the first quarter.
A massive lead opened the door for backups like Dylan Downing to get some looks. The junior, who transferred to Purdue last season from UNLV, ran for 55 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
"Teams know we like to pass the ball a lot. We're going to do that almost all the time," O'Connell said. "I thought we did good in the first half last week too, establishing the run. We have some good run concepts that we feel good about, we have good players ... a good group of guys that trust the offensive line."
Redshirt freshman Devin Mockobee, who's earned praise for his efforts during the team's spring, summer and fall practices, earned 13 rushes and would lead the team with 78 yards on the ground. He also got into the end zone from 14 yards out in the fourth quarter.
"He just kind of has some elusiveness to him and a little bit of speed and quick twitch that's great to have," Brohm said of Mockobee. "So he needs to play a role, he's just got to continue to get stronger and understand the game a little bit better."
3. Defence builds confidence with a shutout
Indiana State mustered two drives into the red zone on Saturday, and despite giving up a handful of chunk plays in the passing game to wide receiver Dante Hendrix, Purdue held strong and didn't allow a score.
The Sycamores orchestrated a 13-play, 73-yard drive to get inside the 5-yard line during the first quarter. But rather than taking an easy field goal, they elected to try to punch the ball into the end zone. The Boilermakers made a goal-line stand to keep their opponent scoreless.
"You know, we gave up a couple plays there on the one drive and they got in there tight, and we found a way to blow it up and keep them out of the endzone," Brohm said. "It was really just great effort, wasn't anything magical other than just guys finishing it and trying to make the tackle and sprinting to the sideline."
Even in the second half as Purdue deployed its backups, the defensive unit executed at a high level. Indiana State had nine 3-and-outs and tallied just 145 yards of total offense.
"I think that just shows how detailed and locked in we were this game as a whole group," Purdue senior safety Cam Allen said. "Even the twos or threes getting in, you know they're doing their job.
"We love getting the ball back for our offense because of course when they get the ball, they're going to do their thing. Just having a shutdown on board gives us a confidence boost, we just want to keep it going."
What Went Wrong
1. O'Connell still hasn't spread the love
Brohm's offense was masterful in the first have with O'Connell under center, as expected. But the starting signal-caller targeted Jones on 10 of his 19 passing attempts.
The duo fueled the team's fast start, but I would have liked to see more players get involved in the passing game. Purdue finished the game with 12 receivers catching a pass, with nine of them having just one reception to their name.
Redshirt senior tight end Payne Durham, after seeing nine targets against Penn State, had the ball thrown to him once. His catch went for seven yards.
Tyrone Tracy was the second-leading receiver for the Boilermakers, bringing in four passes for 47 yards largely on designed plays to his direction. Wide receivers Deion Burks and Preston Terrell each registered a pair of receptions in the second half.
2. Returns a nonfactor through two games
Jones has been the go-to receiver for O'Connell so far this season, but the Iowa transfer made a name for himself in the return game where he garnered recognition as a first-team All-Big Ten return specialist by league coaches and media.
Through two games, Jones has fielded just three punts for a total of six yards. He's also only been able to bring out three kickoffs for 43 yards, an average of 14.3 yards per return.
When Jones came off the field against Indiana State in the second half on Saturday, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Andrew Sowinski was responsible for Purdue's only turnover. He muffed a punt in the third quarter, giving the Sycamores the ball with 7:40 on the clock.
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- Live Blog: Purdue football found its first win of the season Saturday against Indiana State inside Ross-Ade Stadium. Recap the action with our live blog from the game. CLICK HERE
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