Data Driven: Purdue's 56-30 loss to Notre Dame

Each week after Purdue football games, we’ll take a closer look back at the game through PFF data and analytics. Today, Purdue’s 56-30 loss to Notre Dame.

(Editor’s note: PFF data is just one organization’s interpretation of the happenings from Saturday’s game. It is not to be taken as gospel).

OFFENSE

Offensive snap counts:

Bradyn Joiner 70
Jalen St. John 70
Joey Tanona 70
Ethan Trent 70
Nitro Tuggle 63
Bakyne Coly 60
Ryan Browne 60
Michael Jackson III 59
Devin Mockobee 43
Arhmad Branch 32
George Burhenn 28
Jesse Watson 23
EJ Horton Jr. 22
Corey Smith 21
Rico Walker 19
Christian Earls 14
Antonio Harris 13
Malachi Singleton 10
Jude McCoskey 10
Malachi Thomas 9
Christian Moore 5
*note – a bunch of players saw one offensive snap, coming from the fake punt, which PFF counts as an offensive play*

Grades and notes:

• Top honors on Purdue’s offense went to Ryan Browne by a sizable margin. Following him? Lots of skill position players, including George Burhenn, who left the game with an injury in the second quarter
• Purdue’s starting offensive line struggled mightily with poor grades across the board. Bradyn Joiner turned in the top score on the O-line, but it was a fairly mediocre score
• The pass blocking grades came back much better than the run blocking grades, reflective of Purdue’s limited ability to run the ball
• Burhenn’s replacements at tight end scored poorly. Rico Walker and Christian Earls finished with the lowest grades on the offense
• Five penalties for the offense: three to Tanona, two to St. John

Ryan Browne’s passing chart:

• Clean: 18-28, 200 yards, INT
• Under pressure: 3-7, 50 yards, TD
• Not blitzed: 17-30, 212 yards, TD, INT
• Blitzed: 4-5, 38 yards
• Play action: 4-8, 40 yards
• No play action: 17-27, 210 yards, TD, INT
• Screen: 5-6, 28 yards
• No screen: 16-29, 222 yards, TD, INT

• Browne’s average depth of target: 8.4 yards, slightly more than a week ago. Purdue really pushed the ball downfield in the first two games of the season, but it’s done so less in the last two games against stronger competition
• Browne’s best games came when clean and when blitzed. When Notre Dame was able to generate pressure, per PFF’s interpretation, his grade dropped substantially
• Two “big-time throws” and two “turnover-worthy passes” for Browne
• Browne delivered an elite grade on his throws of 20+ yards downfield, where he went 2-3 for 55 yards
• But, Browne didn’t exactly grate terribly in any particular depth
• A major change: Purdue only used play action on eight of Browne’s 35 dropbacks. Purdue has used play action on roughly half of its dropbacks or more in the three previous contests
• Not helping matters, Purdue’s wide receivers dropped three passes: Branch, Watson and Walker

Running game:

• Adjusting for sack yardage, Purdue ran for a mere 3.4 yards per carry, including some gains by Malachi Singleton in garbage time, who led Purdue in rushing
• 68 of Purdue’s 84 rushing yards, sack-adjusted per PFF, came after contact
• Purdue forced a season-low two missed tackles. Notre Dame bottled up the run game well, evidenced by Mockobee gaining just 16 yards on 12 carries.
• Purdue did generate four runs of 10+ yards
• Nearly an even split of zone and gap blocking schemes by Purdue’s O-line.
• Similar to a week ago, a large amount of Purdue’s designed runs went to the right, 14 of 20.
• Four scrambles by Purdue’s quarterbacks

DEFENSE

Defensive snap counts:

Mani Powell all 64
Tahj Ra-El all 64
Charles Correa 55
Smiley Bradford 54
Hudauri Hines 49
Demeco Kennedy 43
Jamarrion Harkless 42
Myles Slusher 42
Traveon Wright 38
Tony Grimes 38
CJ Madden 36
CJ Nunnally IV 32
Alex Sanford Jr. 31
Breeon Ishmail 23
Crew Wakley 22
Ian Jeffries 17
Josh Burney 16
Trey Smith 13
Winston Berglund 5
Breylon Charles 5
Jamarius Dinkins 5
Drake Carlson 4
Ryan Turner 4
An’Darius Coffey 2

Grades and notes:

• Top honors matched the eye test, as Myles Slusher graded well while delivering 11 tackles
• Right behind him? The edge rushers: Nunnally, Ishmail, Madden in that order, though they all graded better in run defense than pass rush
• Purdue graded rather poorly in pass coverage. Grimes finished as the lowest-graded player on the defense with some rough numbers
• 15 missed tackles for Purdue, a tough pill to swallow after back-to-back weeks with just nine. Multiple missed tackles: Ra-El, Bradford, Powell, Hines, Grimes.
• Purdue did generate some pressure, totaling 11 pressures of Carr
• Only one pass break up – Traveon Wright

CJ Carr’s passing chart

• Clean: 10-10, 223 yards, 2 TD (elite grade)
• Under pressure: 0-2
• Not blitzed: 8-9, 194 yards, 2 TD
  • This matches the eye test – in situations where Purdue only brought three or four, it felt like someone was still wide open
• Blitzed: 2-3, 29 yards
• Play action: 1-1, 66 yards, TD
• No play action: 9-11, 157 yards, TD
• Screen: 1-1, 8 yards
• No screen: 9-11, 215 yards, 2 TD