Let's take a Deep Dive ...
1. Purdue’s defense appeared to turn a corner in the second half at Penn State back on October 5. After falling behind, 28-7, at the break, the Boilermakers came out more aggressive on defense. It worked, as the Nittany Lions tallied just seven points in the second half.
Here is a look at Purdue’s defensive numbers since the second-half at State College, Pa. (The last four-and-a-half games or 18 quarters):
Penn State: 185 yards (126 rush, 59 pass), 7 points
Maryland: 403 yards (185 rush/218 pass, 14 points
Iowa: 362 yards (102 rush/260 pass), 26 points
Illinois: 268 yards (242 rush/26 pass), 24 points
Nebraska: 375 (128 rush/247 pass), 27 points
The comes to the following averages:
174.0 rushing yards allowed (163.4 season average)
180.0 passing yards allowed (244.6)
354.0 total yards allowed (408.0)
21.8 points per game allowed (28.4 ppg)
As you can see, the post-Penn State-halftime defensive numbers are better than the season averages in each category except for rushing. Well done, Coach Holt.
2. Slowly but surely, King Doerue is developing. The true freshman from Amarillo, Texas, took over the No. 1 running back spot from Zander Horvath in the Minnesota game, Purdue’s first Big Ten contest. And Doerue hasn’t left the lead back role. The 5-10, 210-pound Doerue isn’t a go-the-distance back, but he has shown nifty moves and power. He leads the team with 360 yards rushing on 107 carries (3.4 ypc) with a squad-high four rushing touchdowns.
“I think he works hard,” said Jeff Brohm. “He runs hard. He's got some physicality to him. I think we've been a little more committed to trying to get the running game going, which we still will do that, if not more.
“So, you know, got a bright future. Came in here with a lot of confidence. Has made some big plays for us. If you give him some space, he'll run hard. That's what he's got to continue to do, making sure he trusts the hole, trusting there's going to be one; if not, occasionally you have to ram it up in there. A couple times we may have bounced some things out a little too much yet a few times did he and he made some plays.”
Here is a look at Doerue’s game-by-game rushing statistics:
Nevada: 1 carry; 1 yard; 0 TD
Vanderbilt: 5-9-0
TCU: 11-27-0
Minnesota: 20-94-2
Penn State: 11-26-0
Maryland: 19-69-1
Iowa: 10-26-0
Illinois: 15-37-0
Nebraska: 15-71-1
3. Alan Karpick and others have been scratching their heads for days trying to figure out if a walk-on ever has started at quarterback for Purdue. And, it appears it never has happened--at least not in the last 60 years. But, it will this Saturday, when sophomore Aidan O’Connell makes his first start ever with Jack Plummer and Elijah Sindelar both out with injury.
It has been rare for a walk-on signal-caller to even take a snap. Aaron Banks is the last to do so. He played vs. Indiana in 2015. And he hit his lone pass, going for four yards. Austin Parker—the son of 1970s Boilermaker basketball star Eugene—played in 2012 and completed a pass. Chris Bennett played in 2008. Now, O’Connell this season.
And get this: Purdue will have a walk-on center in Sam Garvin snapping to a walk-on quarterback in O’Connell.
One last O'Connell nugget: He has completed 12 of his last 14 passes for 129 yards with a TD. Just sayin'.
4. Speaking of quarterbacks … the backup situation is VERY iffy. True freshman Paul Piferi is the No. 2 man behind Aidan O’Connell. The only other healthy signal-caller is junior walk-on Danny Carollo. (Remember: sophomore Nick Sipe recently retired from football because of a back issue, further depleting the depth chart.)
Should something happen to O’Connell, perhaps Purdue would opt to use a wildcat-type quarterback. True freshman defensive backs Jalen Graham and Cam Allen were outstanding signal-callers last season in high school. Junior Jackson Anthrop may be another option. The staff has trusted him to throw the ball in the past. Anthrop completed a pass to quarterback David Blough for 24 yards vs. No. 8 Michigan in 2017.
Regardless, I think it would behoove Purdue to develop a package of 10-15 players for a quarterback of this ilk. And use him for a series or so even if O’Connell is healthy.
This fresh-faced kid would grow up to be a Big Ten starting QB.
5. More Aidan O’Connell … turns out, football wasn’t his first love as a kid—baseball was. In fact, football was No. 3 on the pecking order for young Aidan, with baseball No. 1 and basketball No. 2.
“When I was a little kid, I really loved baseball,” said O’Connell, who was a center fielder. “Really loved baseball. When I got to middle school, I loved basketball. I wanted to play college basketball more than anything. … I played football all through my elementary years and school years. When I got to high school and got a taste of high school football under the lights, I really fell in love with it. My older brothers played, I watched them and I really fell in love ...”
O’Connell was a key hoopster for his Stevenson High squad, where one of his teammates was current Indiana Hoosier Justin Smith.
6. One of the most amazing stats I have seen in years: Purdue’s last 16 touchdowns have been scored by freshmen. The last non-freshman to score a TD for the Boilermakers? It was Zander Horvath on a 7-yard catch vs. Minnesota way back on September 28.
The only touchdown Purdue scored in the game before Minnesota—vs. TCU—was by a freshman: WR Amad Anderson on a 54-yard catch. So, 17 of the Boilermakers' last 18 touchdowns have been scored by freshmen.
Of Purdue’s 28 touchdowns in 2019, 19 have been scored by freshmen (68 percent).
Here is a look at Purdue’s last 16 touchdowns (11 by true freshmen; 5 by redshirt freshmen):
Nebraska
King Doerue 3-yard catch
*Payne Durham 16-yard catch
King Doerue 7-yard catch
David Bell 9-yard run
Illinois
*Payne Durham 11-yard catch
Iowa
David Bell 7-yard catch
*Payne Durham 1-yard catch
Maryland
David Bell 23-yard catch
King Doerue 4-yard run
Milton Wright 59-yard catch
*Cory Trice 37-yard interception return
David Bell 8-yard catch
Penn State
*Amad Anderson 15-yard catch
Minnesota
King Doerue 8-yard run
King Doerue 2-yard run
King Doerue 13-yard run
* denotes redshirt freshman
King Doerue has been part of the freshman touchdown party.
7. A look at Purdue’s secondary and linebackers reveals who has been targeted the most, per the metrics of Pro Football Focus. This is a look only at the players who have been targeted at least 10 times in 2019:
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Dedrick Mackey 49 targets; 24 receptions allowed (49 completion percentage)
Cory Trice 23 targets; 12 receptions (52.2 percent)
Kenneth Major 27 targets; 15 receptions (55.6 percent)
Simeon Smiley 27 targets; 18 receptions (66.7 percent)
Jalen Graham 27 targets; 21 receptions (77.8 percent)
Navon Mosley 15 targets; 12 receptions (80.0 percent)
LINEBACKERS
Ben Holt 27 targets; 12 receptions allowed (44.4 completion percentage)
Derrick Barnes 13 targets; 11 receptions (84.6 percent)
Cornel Jones 10 targets; 9 receptions (90.0 percent)
Jaylan Alexander 10 targets; 6 receptions (60.0 percent)
Markus Bailey 10 targets; 10 receptions (100.0 percent)
The most difficult Purdue DB to complete a pass against? It's Dedrick Mackey.
8. Ever wondered if Jeff Brohm scripts his plays at the start of the game? I asked him about it this week:
“Yeah, we will,” he said. “We'll script the first -- you know, always have at least eight. Sometimes we have more. Some games they work. Some games they don't. We're not afraid to go off of it. We're not afraid to continue on it. Normally, we'll have the next 20 plays that we like, as well. Doesn't mean we stay strictly to it.
“But from the first eight to the next 20, we kind of have those of what we like, and then based on kind of what we're seeing and how things are going and who is hot, we will adjust it.”
9. After last Saturday’s win vs. Nebraska, there was a lot of buzz about the game-winning reverse by David Bell that covered nine yards and hit pay dirt. In the post-game, Aidan O'Connell said the play was a new one. That got me wondering: How many new plays does Jeff Brohm install each week?
“Well, we carry quite a bit,” he said. “That play, we may have put in before, but was kind of off the shelf, and then we brought it back for this week and had it down in the plus-20 area as a reverse off the power and the speed sweep motion.
“You know, we liked it in practice. We only repped it a couple times. But you know, those type of plays, we make sure always rep on the Thursday practice before we play. We were comfortable with it. We worked with it quite a bit and they executed it appropriately.”
10. All Payne Durham does is catch TD passes. Of his eight receptions this season, four have gone for TDs. He attributes some of his ability to getting open to his lacrosse background.
"I think so," said Durham. "Kind of creating separation. In lacrosse, you have to get away from your defender. When you are out running a route, kind of the same thing. Cutting, changing direction, things like that I think translate over."
All hail Purdue's Mr. Touchdown! All hail Payne Durham!
Thanks for reading!
