Q: You seemed pretty excited to see Purdue's defense in the opener. After watching them in the game and for your breakdown story, what did you think? Did they look like what you thought they would?
A: Watching Nick Holt’s schemes for the first time in the spring, seeing how he’d use three-man fronts at times, use one-high or two-high safeties, bring pressure from all over the place, move linemen around, utilize the unit’s best players, yeah, I was excited because it seemed like a defense that would fit Purdue’s personnel. I think there are a couple studs on the D-line and, obviously, the linebacking corps has some talent. And playing mostly zone seemed to best-suit the limited experience/athleticism in the secondary.
And all of those things showed up in Week 1 against Louisville. More than that, it was an opportunity to see how physical this defense would be, how those new personalities (T.J. Jallow, Josh Okonye, T.J. McCollum) would be incorporated and what kind of attitude impacts they’d deliver.
For the most part, I really liked what I saw. I’m going to watch the game again later today, hopefully, and try to track Danny Ezechukwu’s movements because I didn’t do that upon initial review Sunday, but generally speaking, Holt seemed to be really versatile and consistent mix up looks and pressures. To me, Purdue has to do that because it’s somewhat limited on talent and certainly limited on depth and speed. So seeing defensive end Austin Larkin standing on the line sometimes, seeing Ezechukwu drop into coverage from his Leo/”end” spot, seeing nickel Navon Mosley and corner Okonye bring pressure from the edges, seeing Ja’Whaun Bentley and McCollum furiously coming in the A gap, seeing Markus Bailey slipping in from the edges from outside ’backer, all of that was so, so good and so, so necessary.
Much more needs to be proven, of course. There were missed assignments and cover breakdowns, and having 10 guys on the field for not one but two plays is unacceptable. But Holt seems confident those mental mistakes can be fixed. I’d hope that’s true. What I’m most interested to see next is how Purdue’s run defense fares against a more-traditional rushing team. Lamar Jackson is the most dynamic player Purdue will play this season — and probably the best it has in years — and a running quarterback who likes to run power and zone reads makes an interesting challenge. Ohio will run its QBs, too, but, from what I understand, it’ll also put a bunch of tight ends on the field and try to pound it. Holt’s defenses have had success recently stopping the run. Purdue’s haven’t. Will that change, finally? Want to see that.
Also, I’m still not sold on the secondary. It needs to be able to create turnovers and get its hands on passes, even though I know Purdue plays a lot of zone. We didn’t see that in the first week. Though I was encouraged that Purdue also didn’t let a play get over the top, which I thought would happen.
(We're making this a weekly deal this season, so please email me at sclardie@goldandblack.com or get me in a "conversation" on the board if you have questions for next week.)
A: Watching Nick Holt’s schemes for the first time in the spring, seeing how he’d use three-man fronts at times, use one-high or two-high safeties, bring pressure from all over the place, move linemen around, utilize the unit’s best players, yeah, I was excited because it seemed like a defense that would fit Purdue’s personnel. I think there are a couple studs on the D-line and, obviously, the linebacking corps has some talent. And playing mostly zone seemed to best-suit the limited experience/athleticism in the secondary.
And all of those things showed up in Week 1 against Louisville. More than that, it was an opportunity to see how physical this defense would be, how those new personalities (T.J. Jallow, Josh Okonye, T.J. McCollum) would be incorporated and what kind of attitude impacts they’d deliver.
For the most part, I really liked what I saw. I’m going to watch the game again later today, hopefully, and try to track Danny Ezechukwu’s movements because I didn’t do that upon initial review Sunday, but generally speaking, Holt seemed to be really versatile and consistent mix up looks and pressures. To me, Purdue has to do that because it’s somewhat limited on talent and certainly limited on depth and speed. So seeing defensive end Austin Larkin standing on the line sometimes, seeing Ezechukwu drop into coverage from his Leo/”end” spot, seeing nickel Navon Mosley and corner Okonye bring pressure from the edges, seeing Ja’Whaun Bentley and McCollum furiously coming in the A gap, seeing Markus Bailey slipping in from the edges from outside ’backer, all of that was so, so good and so, so necessary.
Much more needs to be proven, of course. There were missed assignments and cover breakdowns, and having 10 guys on the field for not one but two plays is unacceptable. But Holt seems confident those mental mistakes can be fixed. I’d hope that’s true. What I’m most interested to see next is how Purdue’s run defense fares against a more-traditional rushing team. Lamar Jackson is the most dynamic player Purdue will play this season — and probably the best it has in years — and a running quarterback who likes to run power and zone reads makes an interesting challenge. Ohio will run its QBs, too, but, from what I understand, it’ll also put a bunch of tight ends on the field and try to pound it. Holt’s defenses have had success recently stopping the run. Purdue’s haven’t. Will that change, finally? Want to see that.
Also, I’m still not sold on the secondary. It needs to be able to create turnovers and get its hands on passes, even though I know Purdue plays a lot of zone. We didn’t see that in the first week. Though I was encouraged that Purdue also didn’t let a play get over the top, which I thought would happen.
(We're making this a weekly deal this season, so please email me at sclardie@goldandblack.com or get me in a "conversation" on the board if you have questions for next week.)
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