T/G Cam Craig’s season (and career) are over with a bad back. And I have confirmed T Daniel Johnson is finished for the season with injury, too. So, Purdue is down to just six offensive linemen it feels comfortable playing: T Eric Miller, G/T Marcus Mbow, C Gus Hartwig, G Spencer Holstege, T Mahamane Moussa, Sione Finau. Moussa, Miller and Hartwig played all 80 snaps at Maryland. Finau played a season-high 53.
Can Purdue ride with those six OLs for the final six games? Injury could strike. The next men up would be G/C Jared Bycznski, T Nalin Fox and C/G Josh Kaltenberger. The staff also likes true freshman C Malachi Preciado, who looks like the future center cut from the same mold as Kirk Barron.
After catching 32 passes for 474 yards and 5 TDs the first three games, Charlie Jones has 18 catches for 129 yards and two TDs the last three.
Purdue still obviously controls its destiny in the West. In fact, the next five games are vs. West foes.
The last player to rush for 100 yards vs. Purdue? Tennessee’s Jabari Small, who ran for 180 on 26 carries in the Music City Bowl. The Boilers are allowing 97.0 rushing yards per game and have permitted just three rushing TDs. Want more? Purdue’s allowed only 11 runs of 10 or more yards and one run of over 20. No Big Ten team has allowed fewer.
Purdue is using different personnel to help in the run game. One way is to utilize walk-on FB Ben Furtney as a blocker. At Maryland, we saw Furtney—a former linebacker—make his first career catch. Purdue will also put TE Payne Durham in motion as a lead blocker. And the staff does the same thing with G Marcus Mbow. Purdue also uses T Mahamane Moussa as an extra lineman/de facto tight end.
Interesting that walk-on WR Andrew Sowinski played a season-high 17 snaps. He had only played offensive snaps in one other game in 2022: 14 vs. Indiana State. Sowinski caught a pass at Maryland and was targeted twice.
S/LB Jalen Graham played 62 of 67 defensive snaps (93 percent). Impressive for a guy who hadn’t played since Sept. 1.
Purdue was 5-of-5 in the red zone Saturday. It’s No. 2 in the Big Ten in the red zone (24-of-25) with 21 TDs and three field goals.
MLB Jacob Wahlberg got his first career start at Maryland, playing 34 snaps. He’s a good alternative to Kieren Douglas, who needs his time managed as he deals with bad knees. Douglas played 18 snaps Saturday. He has played a combined 28 snaps the last two weeks.
Saturday may have been a seminal moment in the evolution of NT Cole Brevard, who was Purdue’s second-highest graded defensive player at Maryland. It was Brevard’s best game of 2022. He's gonna be good.
LEO Scotty Humpich continues to be limited by stingers. He played a season-low eight snaps at Maryland. His last three game snap counts: 13, 16, 8.
DE Nick Caraway played a season-high 25 snaps on Saturday. He’s still raw but continues to get better.
With LB O.C. Brothers out, Clyde Washington played a career-high 35 snaps.
S/CB Chris Jefferson played a season-low 10 snaps. He usually eats up snaps.
Can Purdue ride with those six OLs for the final six games? Injury could strike. The next men up would be G/C Jared Bycznski, T Nalin Fox and C/G Josh Kaltenberger. The staff also likes true freshman C Malachi Preciado, who looks like the future center cut from the same mold as Kirk Barron.
After catching 32 passes for 474 yards and 5 TDs the first three games, Charlie Jones has 18 catches for 129 yards and two TDs the last three.
Purdue still obviously controls its destiny in the West. In fact, the next five games are vs. West foes.
The last player to rush for 100 yards vs. Purdue? Tennessee’s Jabari Small, who ran for 180 on 26 carries in the Music City Bowl. The Boilers are allowing 97.0 rushing yards per game and have permitted just three rushing TDs. Want more? Purdue’s allowed only 11 runs of 10 or more yards and one run of over 20. No Big Ten team has allowed fewer.
Purdue is using different personnel to help in the run game. One way is to utilize walk-on FB Ben Furtney as a blocker. At Maryland, we saw Furtney—a former linebacker—make his first career catch. Purdue will also put TE Payne Durham in motion as a lead blocker. And the staff does the same thing with G Marcus Mbow. Purdue also uses T Mahamane Moussa as an extra lineman/de facto tight end.
Interesting that walk-on WR Andrew Sowinski played a season-high 17 snaps. He had only played offensive snaps in one other game in 2022: 14 vs. Indiana State. Sowinski caught a pass at Maryland and was targeted twice.
S/LB Jalen Graham played 62 of 67 defensive snaps (93 percent). Impressive for a guy who hadn’t played since Sept. 1.
Purdue was 5-of-5 in the red zone Saturday. It’s No. 2 in the Big Ten in the red zone (24-of-25) with 21 TDs and three field goals.
MLB Jacob Wahlberg got his first career start at Maryland, playing 34 snaps. He’s a good alternative to Kieren Douglas, who needs his time managed as he deals with bad knees. Douglas played 18 snaps Saturday. He has played a combined 28 snaps the last two weeks.
Saturday may have been a seminal moment in the evolution of NT Cole Brevard, who was Purdue’s second-highest graded defensive player at Maryland. It was Brevard’s best game of 2022. He's gonna be good.
LEO Scotty Humpich continues to be limited by stingers. He played a season-low eight snaps at Maryland. His last three game snap counts: 13, 16, 8.
DE Nick Caraway played a season-high 25 snaps on Saturday. He’s still raw but continues to get better.
With LB O.C. Brothers out, Clyde Washington played a career-high 35 snaps.
S/CB Chris Jefferson played a season-low 10 snaps. He usually eats up snaps.
