Purdue can still turn their season around as they start the conference season against a Minnesota team that wasn't projected to do spectacular but would go on to open 9-0 and then beat Auburn in the Outback Bowl.
Elijah Sindelar would come back from a concussion, but suffer yet another injury in the first half which would end his football-playing career. If you remember, he goes down the exact same play as Rondale Moore. What a season.
I mentioned in the Nevada rewatch that that might have been the game that sealed Nick Holt's fate. Well, if it wasn't, this game sure as hell did. Purdue looked dumbfounded on some of the most basic of plays. I'll try to look at what happened.
For whatever reason, Minnesota themselves have uploaded this game to YouTube and label it a Gopher Classic. OK then. There is a small chunk of the 3rd quarter strangely missing, so I caught that section on BTN Plus.
Notable Stats
MIN QB Tanner Morgan: 21/22, 396 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs - Player of the Game
PUR QB Jack Plummer: 23/41, 245 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
MIN RB Rodney Smith: 22 carries, 115 yards, 1 TD
PUR RB King Doerue: 20 carries, 94 yards, 2 TDs, 4 recs, 32 yards, 1 TD
MIN WR Rashod Bateman: 6 recs, 177 yards, 2 TDs
MIN WR Chris Autman-Bell: 3 recs, 97 yards, 1 TD
MIN WR Tyler Johnson: 8 recs, 73 yards, 1 TD
PUR WR David Bell: 8 recs, 114 yards
This is going to sound weird, but if you take away the 35 points in free TDs we spotted Minnesota the defense actually made some plays. Not counting the final penalty Minnesota only converted 3 of their 8 3rd downs, and none of them in the second half. When Purdue was in position and had their shit figured out they looked alright. Several times a quarter there would be a Minnesota receiver wide open way down the field, and it took until the 4th quarter to figure that out. You just can't win when you allow devastating plays so frequently.
Purdue had more time of possession, more rushing yards, less penalties, better 3rd down conversion, plus two converted 4th down plays, and +7 in points off turnovers if you count recovering an onside kick as a turnover (and why don't they?). If Purdue limited their own defense to just 4 blown coverage plays instead of 5, which would still be an abysmal showing, then this game probably goes into overtime. With no Rondale Moore, Elijah Sindelar, or Markus Bailey. Against a team that went 11-2! Whose QB had a >95% completion %! Such a bizarre game.
Additional random observation: Viktor Beach was pretty consistently snapping the ball low for Plummer. Plummer had to reach down to handle the ball pretty often, and it would sometimes throw off his rhythm imo.
Kenneth Major, who just transferred, was benched after the opening drive. I'll keep an eye out for how much he plays going forward. I know Trice would later have a huge game against Maryland.
Elijah Sindelar would come back from a concussion, but suffer yet another injury in the first half which would end his football-playing career. If you remember, he goes down the exact same play as Rondale Moore. What a season.
I mentioned in the Nevada rewatch that that might have been the game that sealed Nick Holt's fate. Well, if it wasn't, this game sure as hell did. Purdue looked dumbfounded on some of the most basic of plays. I'll try to look at what happened.
For whatever reason, Minnesota themselves have uploaded this game to YouTube and label it a Gopher Classic. OK then. There is a small chunk of the 3rd quarter strangely missing, so I caught that section on BTN Plus.
Notable Stats
MIN QB Tanner Morgan: 21/22, 396 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs - Player of the Game
PUR QB Jack Plummer: 23/41, 245 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
MIN RB Rodney Smith: 22 carries, 115 yards, 1 TD
PUR RB King Doerue: 20 carries, 94 yards, 2 TDs, 4 recs, 32 yards, 1 TD
MIN WR Rashod Bateman: 6 recs, 177 yards, 2 TDs
MIN WR Chris Autman-Bell: 3 recs, 97 yards, 1 TD
MIN WR Tyler Johnson: 8 recs, 73 yards, 1 TD
PUR WR David Bell: 8 recs, 114 yards
- 15:00 1st - Purdue's coverage problems are evident from the first play of the game, a 20 yard completion to Rashod Bateman. The route is entirely off-screen so I can't tell you what happened, but he was covered by Kenneth Major. Later on the drive on 2nd and 12 Major bites hard on the RPO leaving Bateman wide open for a 20-yard gain. Next play is another 25-yard pass, this time to the TE. He just runs right by Navon Mosley and Ben Holt, they just kinda let that happen, I don't know if they thought Jalen Graham was on him but he wasn't. Minnesota pounds the ball on the ground a couple of times for a TD. Just an awful opening series for the defense.
- 8:51 1st - On 3rd down Elijah throws the ball at Brycen Hopkins' knees and he's unable to make the catch. 3-and-out. Angry Jeff Brohm yelling at Sindelar on the sideline. Brooks Cormier booms the punt which gets downed at the 2 yard line, an NFL punt.
- 8:33 1st - Cory Trice in at corner for Kenneth Major. He starts 7 yards back from the line of scrimmage and Autman-Bell. Minnesota decides to test the freshman, an easy 5-yard gain. But Purdue stops Minnesota on the following two run plays, including a TFL for Cornel Jones, and Minnesota has to punt from their end zone. Trice remained in for Major for the rest of the game.
- 6:39 1st - Following a bad punt Purdue starts on Minnesota's 40. 1st play is a 15-yard gain to David Bell. 2nd play is 8 yards for Rondale Moore. Then 10 yards for Jackson Anthrop, Sindelar clearly responded well to Brohm's conversation like he did in the Vanderbilt game. On 1st and goal on the 5 Purdue runs, get stuffed. Then a pass to Rondale Moore gets tipped at the line of scrimmage so the DB gets his arms around Moore before the ball even gets to him, smart. Incomplete on 3rd down, Purdue settles for a FG.
- 3:47 1st - 70-yard TD pass to Autman-Bell. I don't know what to say other than he just ran past Dedrick Mackey. Mackey's head was looking at the QB during a possible RPO exchange, but he's so far removed from the play that why would it even matter to him if Tanner Morgan ran with the ball, especially with his receiver sprinting past him. Mosley is the only other line of defense but took a bad angle and doesn't even touch him.
- 3:05 1st - Elijah Sindelar, Rondale Moore done for the season. Sindelar was tackled borderline-late-ish maybe, but his head hits the ground and presumably gave him another concussion. Real smart for him to retire, that's just scary. Rondale Moore kind of tangled with a defender and his leg simply connected with the ground weird. Absolute freak play destroys any chance of Purdue turning around the season.
- 2:07 1st - 3rd and 14, the second play for Jack Plummer being in for Sindelar and he runs for 15 yards. Very scary though because he takes a multi-man hit for the 1st. Doerue then runs for another 15 on the next play, I think these two plays doubled the season run total lol. On 2nd and 10 King Doerue spins out of a tackle, then jukes a linebacker to run for 10 yards, wow. Jack completes a 20-yard pass to Jackson to put the ball at the 5 yard-line. On 3rd and goal Plummer hits Horvath for a TD. Incredible response for the offense.
- 14:49 2nd - First play for Minnesota, half of our defense bites on the RPO, leaving every receiver single-covered (if that). Easy completion for 30 yards. On 3rd down Derrick Barnes pushes the RG into Tanner Morgan for a drive-ending sack. Purdue's only down 4 and getting the ball back, but Minnesota makes an incredible play to down the punt on the 1.
- 8:54 2nd - Purdue is moving on this drive, but we call that double-reverse flea flicker that Minnesota has totally prepared for. Ends with Jack scrambling around for a 3-yard loss. The drive stalls after that. Maybe we should retire this three-year-old trick play.
- 6:55 2nd - How can a receiver have no defender within 10 yards of him, in the middle of the field, when he is only 15 yards past the line of scrimmage?
- 5:18 2nd - Rashod Bateman was single-covered by LB Ben Holt. Touchdown Minnesota.
- 3:47 2nd - King Doerue is moving the ball for Purdue, but DJ Washington is down after a 5-yard gain and I think his season ended up being over. Dear lord.
- 1:39 2nd - On 3rd and 7 for Minnesota Ben Holt again finds himself having to cover Rashod Bateman (all they did was put him in the slot, nothing fancy) and Bateman easily gets himself open for the first down. Minnesota would casually move down the field for a touchdown right before halftime. Tanner Morgan did throw his first incompletion on this drive, Minnesota should consider a QB change.
- 0:09 2nd - Plummer overthrows Amad Anderson who tips it into a defender. Luckily Minnesota would miss the 51-yard field goal they were given.
- 15:00 3rd - Purdue opens the 2nd half with back-to-back 15-yard runs for King Doerue. Plummer shoots for the end zone to Amad Anderson who had beaten the defender so the defender holds his jersey to stop the touchdown. After the penalty King Doerue drags defenders 10 yards for a touchdown run. This is a great game for King Doerue, and Purdue needed a quick score to stay in the game. First rushing TD that wasn't a QB sneak, halfway through game four lol.
- 12:36 3rd - This is an unfortunate play for the Purdue defense. Navon Mosley actually has Rashod Bateman well-covered, but Bateman just kind of fights for the ball and is able to snatch it over Mosley. 40 yards, but at least he wasn't wide open I guess. Purdue does end up holding Minnesota to a field goal this drive.
- 8:44 3rd - Plummer gets slammed to the ground, and in slow-mo you can see his head bounce off the turf. Same thing that just ended Sindelar's career an hour or so ago. Except this time it was after the play had been blown dead. No flag.
- 6:27 3rd - Karlaftis pressures Tanner Morgan (finally, that 400lb tackle has kept him quiet) but unfortunately Dedrick Mackey stumbles a bit after getting beat and left Rashod Bateman open deep for a touchdown. Just a lot of embarrassing plays that led to easy Minnesota scores all day long.
- 5:00 3rd - Karlaftis lines up on the other side and is able to not just sack Tanner Morgan but lay a pretty good hit on him. Cornel Jones had a TFL the previous play, so the defense gets off the field.
- 1:37 3rd - Purdue is moving the ball down the field, but Plummer forces a throw into a LB here. Plummer has looked pretty solid otherwise, I guess you can expect some inconsistency with a freshman QB.
- 6:05 4th - King Doerue gets his second TD of the game on a goalline run. Purdue down 14.
- 6:01 4th - A well-executed onside kick. If you were allowed to advance an onside kick recovery Horvath would have gained an additional 25 yards.
- 5:01 4th - On 4th and 4 Plummer under throws Amad Anderson, but he's able to adjust and get the ball while the defender had his back turned. 20 yard gain.
- 4:07 4th - King Doerue gets his third TD of the game on a 15 yard catch-and-run. Purdue is somehow only down 7.
- 3:10 4th - 3rd and 6, Minnesota throws it downfield to Tyler Johnson, but Simeon Smiley gets flagged for interference. I remember this being some kind of controversy on here but replay clearly shows Smiley tugging on some jersey. It's a pretty easy call imo. Minnesota runs the ball and runs out the clock, game over.
This is going to sound weird, but if you take away the 35 points in free TDs we spotted Minnesota the defense actually made some plays. Not counting the final penalty Minnesota only converted 3 of their 8 3rd downs, and none of them in the second half. When Purdue was in position and had their shit figured out they looked alright. Several times a quarter there would be a Minnesota receiver wide open way down the field, and it took until the 4th quarter to figure that out. You just can't win when you allow devastating plays so frequently.
Purdue had more time of possession, more rushing yards, less penalties, better 3rd down conversion, plus two converted 4th down plays, and +7 in points off turnovers if you count recovering an onside kick as a turnover (and why don't they?). If Purdue limited their own defense to just 4 blown coverage plays instead of 5, which would still be an abysmal showing, then this game probably goes into overtime. With no Rondale Moore, Elijah Sindelar, or Markus Bailey. Against a team that went 11-2! Whose QB had a >95% completion %! Such a bizarre game.
Additional random observation: Viktor Beach was pretty consistently snapping the ball low for Plummer. Plummer had to reach down to handle the ball pretty often, and it would sometimes throw off his rhythm imo.
Kenneth Major, who just transferred, was benched after the opening drive. I'll keep an eye out for how much he plays going forward. I know Trice would later have a huge game against Maryland.
