Abandoning the run

[bonefish1]

Like DAG said earlier, I'm more disappointed than mad about this loss (OK, I'm lying....I'm still pretty pissed). The W was there for the taking. I think it came down to a handful of plays (every close game does) but it was the timing of those plays.
1) fumble: Purdue was driving, at minimum, getting 3 pts and going into the half either up 17-14 or down 14-13. Fumble, missed tackles and boom, down 21-10.

2) Late in the 4th, P converts a 3rd/10, (or maybe 2nd n 10?) with a 15 yrd completion to Durham. Called back for a chop block. You'll only see that called a few times the entire year.

3) AOC underthrowing Sheffield on 3rd/long late in the 4th. Complete that and it's game over. Which brings me to.....

WHY THE HELL WERE WE THROWING LOW COMPLETION % PASSES WHILE TRYING TO RUN THE CLOCK!?

We actually showed some semblance of a run game and completely abandoned it while trying to burn clock. King was running hard, finding some holes, getting a few tough yards. OK, let's say they load the box to stop the run and force you to pass... then throw high % passes that are easy to complete and keep the clock moving. RB/WR screens, bubble screens, shovel pass, anything but trying to attack a 1st round DB playing press coverage.

 

[Pu71indy]

We abandoned the run because we can't run....

 

[ANDY597]

It seemed penn st could hold, tackle, what ever they wanted wrs all game. But down the stretch not good on any front.

 

[jmohlman]

We abandoned the run because we can't run....

I think what he is saying is we actually showed we can run the football. We were running the football with decent results and then completely abandoned it and it doesn’t necessarily make any sense. We seemed quite a bit better than past years last night but then gave up on it

 

[bonefish1]

We abandoned the run because we can't run....

King was averaging 4.4 yards/carry. That's being able to run.
But, even if the team can't run, you throw balls (short, high %) that act like a run.

 

[NashvilleBoiler]

King was averaging 4.4 yards/carry. That's being able to run.
But, even if the team can't run, you throw balls (short, high %) that act like a run.

Brohm gets pot-committed. Not a good OC from that standpoint. You run those last two plays on the second to last drive, and you take away the middle of the field for a crappy QB. Game over. Also, if you choose to ‘die by the sword’, quit throwing at #9!

 

[AgainstDaWind]

Why is AOC throwing against Joey Porter late in game?. Thought play calling was piss poor late 4th Qtr. Did Purdue's DL play well or is PSU OL bad?

 

[bonefish1]

Why is AOC throwing against Joey Porter late in game?. Thought play calling was piss poor late 4th Qtr. Did Purdue's DL play well or is PSU OL bad?

That's a great question. Commentators were asking the same thing. Porter is a potential 1st round draft pick. You usually want to throw away from those guys.
But even more questionable, is why not throw really high completion % passes. When PSU brought in that freshman, they didn't ask him to throw a deep out. His first throw was a WR screen.

 

[pu1985]

Brohm gets pot-committed. Not a good OC from that standpoint. You run those last two plays on the second to last drive, and you take away the middle of the field for a crappy QB. Game over. Also, if you choose to ‘die by the sword’, quit throwing at #9!

I kept hoping our 6th year qb would recognize that and adjust/audible out…oh well.

We had so many instances of the play clock running down to nothing - O’Connell needs to take control and own the offense in my opinion.

 

[purduepat1969]

We abandoned the run because we can't run....

We attempted one run in the last 6 minutes of the game. That's absolutely when you want to run the ball. Doerue was actually having good success. Then for some reason we're trying to complete high risk passes with 4 minutes left. It's just not good decision making.

 

[Purdue Grad in Texas]

King was averaging 4.4 yards/carry. That's being able to run.
But, even if the team can't run, you throw balls (short, high %) that act like a run.

Or perhaps something of misdirection or disguised......thought we'd maybe see a wheel route late......oh well. With all the mistakes, still was there with the deep shot (that's probably the one O'Connell would like back) or if Payne comes down with that great attempt. Penn State is becoming the similar head/heart ache as Wisconsin, just not on the schedule every year.

 

[SDBoiler1]

I think what he is saying is we actually showed we can run the football. We were running the football with decent results and then completely abandoned it and it doesn’t necessarily make any sense. We seemed quite a bit better than past years last night but then gave up on it

Run the ball when they have 8-9 people in the box? We ran a couple of times against that and they got TFLs.

 

[BoilerTom90]

King was averaging 4.4 yards/carry. That's being able to run.
But, even if the team can't run, you throw balls (short, high %) that act like a run.

and you don't throw to the receiver being covered by Porter. He's too good.

 

[bonefish1]

Run the ball when they have 8-9 people in the box? We ran a couple of times against that and they got TFLs.

They didn't play 8-9 in the box very often. They blew up at least 1 run because they had a run blitz set up and everyone on the entire OL missed their block. But PSU wasn't necessarily stacking the box and daring AOC to throw.
And....even if they were, you gotta find better options than targeting an NFL level DB.

 

[purduepat1969]

Run the ball when they have 8-9 people in the box? We ran a couple of times against that and they got TFLs.

In the last six minutes of the game, prior to Penn St scoring, we ran the ball once and threw 13 or 14 times. I get the 8 or 9 guys in the box. But you gotta take time off the clock, especially when there's 4 minutes left. We didn't, and that ended up costing us.

 

[SDBoiler1]

In the last six minutes of the game, prior to Penn St scoring, we ran the ball once and threw 13 or 14 times. I get the 8 or 9 guys in the box. But you gotta take time off the clock, especially when there's 4 minutes left. We didn't, and that ended up costing us.

What really cost us was the fumble on the jet sweep by Sheffield before the half, the subsequent poor tackling on the TE by Kane and Allen where he rumbled for 56 yards and the later poor tackling by the IU transfer DB which allowed another TD run.

I don’t disagree that Purdue should have tried to milk more clock with a few runs and force PSU to use their TOs sooner.

 

[Matt Tiger]

What really cost us was the fumble on the jet sweep by Sheffield before the half, the subsequent poor tackling on the TE by Kane and Allen where he rumbled for 56 yards and the later poor tackling by the IU transfer DB which allowed another TD run.

I don’t disagree that Purdue should have tried to milk more clock with a few runs and force PSU to use their TOs sooner.

You said it.That potential 14 point swing in PSUs favor at the end of the half killed us.I was afraid that Purdue couldnt overcome an eleven point halftime deficit.Dang,why did I have to be right?That being said,I was proud to see the Boilermakers play so hard to retake the lead in the third quarter.If only they could have held it.

 

[AgainstDaWind]

What really cost us was the fumble on the jet sweep by Sheffield before the half, the subsequent poor tackling on the TE by Kane and Allen where he rumbled for 56 yards and the later poor tackling by the IU transfer DB which allowed another TD run.

I don’t disagree that Purdue should have tried to milk more clock with a few runs and force PSU to use their TOs sooner.

Lets not overlook Broc Thompsons drop deep in PU territory. PSU scored on their next possession.

 

[boilerdug]

I kept hoping our 6th year qb would recognize that and adjust/audible out…oh well.

We had so many instances of the play clock running down to nothing - O’Connell needs to take control and own the offense in my opinion.

That is not on O'Connell when the play clock is running down. They are taking too long to get the play in. A couple of times you can see him get frustrated that the play call was not there.
After the play comes in, then it takes time to go through pre-snap reads.
Play should come in with 15 seconds to go. A lot of times he was getting the call with 10 seconds or less.

 

[SDBoiler1]

Lets not overlook Broc Thompsons drop deep in PU territory. PSU scored on their next possession.

Very true. PSU got a short field and scored.

 

[bonefish1]

Very true. PSU got a short field and scored.

I'm not going to put too much weight into our drops. PSU had more drops and at least 1 that would have been a TD. Yeh, the Broc drop was big, but that wasn't the game.
I think we lost the game because we continued to throw when we should have been burning clock. Gotta find a way to keep the clock running in that situation.

 

[PaBoiler78]

I'm not going to put too much weight into our drops. PSU had more drops and at least 1 that would have been a TD. Yeh, the Broc drop was big, but that wasn't the game.
I think we lost the game because we continued to throw when we should have been burning clock. Gotta find a way to keep the clock running in that situation.

my concern is that we are still trying to be too cute on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1. TJ's fumble reminded me of Orton's, had the ball in the wrong arm.

 

[bonefish1]

my concern is that we are still trying to be too cute on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1. TJ's fumble reminded me of Orton's, had the ball in the wrong arm.

I agree. A B10 team, playing man on man blocking, with a B10 RB, should be able to get a 1-2 yards if not against a stacked box.
Running wide, (even thought Sheff had the first down before fumbling) against the kind of DBs PSU has is a bad matchup.

 

[ImRonBurgandy?]

The way PSUs DBs were jamming us at the line, those short throws weren't really there.

I keep coming back to that missed throw to Shef late. That to me was a good call, and Aiden simply threw too late/underthrew.

On a side note, can Canion actually play or does he just look the part? We need that guy on a couple of jump balls per game.

 

[PaBoiler78]

I agree. A B10 team, playing man on man blocking, with a B10 RB, should be able to get a 1-2 yards if not against a stacked box.
Running wide, (even thought Sheff had the first down before fumbling) against the kind of DBs PSU has is a bad matchup.

did the same sh#t vs RU in a home loss

 

[purduepat1969]

The way PSUs DBs were jamming us at the line, those short throws weren't really there.

I keep coming back to that missed throw to Shef late. That to me was a good call, and Aiden simply threw too late/underthrew.

On a side note, can Canion actually play or does he just look the part? We need that guy on a couple of jump balls per game.

Canion looked pretty good IMHO. He drew a PI on Porter and should have had another when he couldn't rein in that jump ball. I think he'll be just fine...

 

[jmohlman]

Run the ball when they have 8-9 people in the box? We ran a couple of times against that and they got TFLs.

So 8 to 9 people in the box and we could not complete a pass? So we should not have run the football? To run the clock? Just checking for a friend

 

[PaBoiler78]

The way PSUs DBs were jamming us at the line, those short throws weren't really there.

I keep coming back to that missed throw to Shef late. That to me was a good call, and Aiden simply threw too late/underthrew.

On a side note, can Canion actually play or does he just look the part? We need that guy on a couple of jump balls per game.

would have liked to see a pass w/ a pump fake by AOC.

 

[pb1941]

would have liked to see a pass w/ a pump fake by AOC.

Jump pass,if he can`t run are you sure he can jump?Need mobile quarterback at Purdue

 

[Tommaker]

What really cost us was the fumble on the jet sweep by Sheffield before the half,

Ding.

 

[mryankee2397]

poor tackling and one fumble cost us the game. make those plays and we would have won easily. big turn around at the end of the first half. it was bad enough fumbling deep in penn state territory but giving up a long td due to bad tackling was the killer

 

[purduepat1969]

What's it gonna take for this program to produce and actually utilize a respectable running game? It doesn't seem like it should be as hard as it's been, especially since Brohm's been talking about it all off-season.

I thought Doerue was running pretty well and the OL was getting a semblance of a push. So why not actually use it? It made zero sense last night during the 4th quarter...

 

[boilermaker75]

I kept hoping our 6th year qb would recognize that and adjust/audible out…oh well.

We had so many instances of the play clock running down to nothing - O’Connell needs to take control and own the offense in my opinion.

I wanted O'Connell to say **** it once and just call his own play.

 

[Purdue Grad in Texas]

I wanted O'Connell to say **** it once and just call his own play.

a lost art for both coaches and QB's.

 

[bonefish1]

Saw some stats what when we were up 3 with the ball twice with under 6 mins, we had 14 pass and 1 run play.

 

[purduepat1969]

Saw some stats what when we were up 3 with the ball twice with under 6 mins, we had 14 pass and 1 run play.

I was nearly screaming at the TV saying RUN THE BALL...it was mind boggling what they were doing...

 

[PaBoiler78]

I was nearly screaming at the TV saying RUN THE BALL...it was mind boggling what they were doing...

guess Coach wanted to stay aggressive, live and die by the sword. Milkdud (psu) got aggressive before the half and it paid off for them along w/ our lousy tackling.

 

[Inspector100]

A trend I have noticed in the tenure of HC JB is that we get a lead into the 4th and have trouble maintaining it. If we don't loose and then loose the game, it becomes a struggle to finish out the game with a win. I also remember the year the brother was the acting head coach against Iowa, a game we won. We got into that position and didn't have any trouble finishing the game. The difference is we ran the ball a lot in the 4th against a pretty good Iowa team, controlled the clock and got the win. I have my opinion on this, but you experts go ahead and continue to break it down in the unlimited number ways you do. Popcorn in hand.

 

[ehuffma1]

I was nearly screaming at the TV saying RUN THE BALL...it was mind boggling what they were doing...

I agree. Nobody thinks that Purdue OL is more physical than the PSU front. IMO you still have to probe it and keep them honest. We should have definitely run the ball a few more times in the 4th quarter.

Also, having SOME mobility at the QB position really helps. AOC gets the ball out quick. That’s what keeps him healthy. The PSU QB killed us a few times by scampering out of our pressure.

lastly, we just need a better RB. PSU had no fear of us breaking a big one. KD is fine. I just think if we had a legit threat of getting 20 yards, it just makes a huge difference.

 

[boilermaker75]

A trend I have noticed in the tenure of HC JB is that we get a lead into the 4th and have trouble maintaining it. If we don't loose and then loose the game, it becomes a struggle to finish out the game with a win. I also remember the year the brother was the acting head coach against Iowa, a game we won. We got into that position and didn't have any trouble finishing the game. The difference is we ran the ball a lot in the 4th against a pretty good Iowa team, controlled the clock and got the win. I have my opinion on this, but you experts go ahead and continue to break it down in the unlimited number ways you do. Popcorn in hand.

If JB does ever leave, I would be all for giving the brother the gig.