Data Driven: SIU

Each week after Purdue football games, we’ll take a closer look back at the game through PFF data and analytics. Today, Purdue 34, Southern Illinois 17.

(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:

Ryan Browne all 79
Bakyne Coly all 79
Bradyn Joiner all 79
Jalen St. John all 79
Joey Tanona all 79
Ethan Trent all 79
Devin Mockobee 57
Nitro Tuggle 52
Michael Jackson III 44
EJ Horton Jr. 42
Christian Moore 37
George Burhenn 36
Arhmad Branch 29
Christian Earls 26
Jesse Watson 22
Corey Smith 21
Malachi Thomas 13
Antonio Harris 9
Jude McCoskey 5
Luca Puccinelli 2

Grades and notes:

• Top honors on Purdue’s offense went to quarterback Ryan Browne, who nearly turned in an identical grade to last week
• As expected, a very nice grade for Devin Mockobee, who touched the football 34 times
• Good mark for George Burhenn, too. The athletic tight end led the Boilermakers in receiving and flashed the potential that has folks buzzing in West Lafayette
• Largely mediocre grades came back for most of the offensive line. Not much of a difference between pass blocking and run blocking. Both grades looked pedestrian.
• Some tough grades for the wide receivers. Arhmad Branch scored alright, but the rest of the numbers weren’t pretty

Ryan Browne’s passing chart:

• Clean: 13-19, 154 yards, 2 TD, INT
• Under pressure: 0-3
• Not blitzed: 8-14, 107 yards, 2 TD
• Blitzed: 5-8, 47 yards, INT
• Play action: 8-13, 106 yards, 2 TD, INT
• No play action: 5-9, 48 yards
• Screen: 2-2, 9 yards
• No screen: 11-20, 145 yards, 2 TD, INT

• Browne’s average depth of target: 12.1 yards, reflective of Purdue looking to push the ball downfield. Purdue really challenged Southern Illinois deep early on, but after Browne’s interception to open the second half, Purdue really committed to the ground game
• Browne turned in a really nice grade when kept clean and when not blitzed
• One “big-time throw” and one “turnover-worthy pass” for Browne
• Browne’s best grade came on passes 10-19 yards downfield, where he returned an elite grade for the second straight week
• Half of Browne’s dropbacks utilized play action (13 of 25)
• Two drops for Purdue wide receivers: Tuggle and Jackson III

Running game:

• Adjusting for sack yardage, Purdue ran for 4.1 yards per carry. With a veteran group on the offensive line and a multidimensional rushing approach, Purdue likely hoped for better against an outmatched opponent
• 150 of Purdue’s 215 rushing yards came after contact
• Purdue forced 11 missed tackles on the day: six by Mockobee, four by Browne, one by Thomas
• Purdue ran between the tackles more than it did a week ago, when over half of its rushing attempts went outside the tackles. This week, 23 of the 53 attempts went outside.
• Of Purdue’s 53 carries, five went for 10+ yards. No fumbles on the day.

DEFENSE

Defensive snap counts:

Tony Grimes all 60
Tahj Ra-El 58
An’Darius Coffey 54
Mani Powell 50
CJ Madden 49
Trey Smith 46
Charles Correa 43
Myles Slusher 41
Hudauri Hines 40
TJ Lindsey 35
Demeco Kennedy 25
CJ Nunnally IV 24
Smiley Bradford 23
Chops Harkless 23
Ryan Turner 20
Crew Wakley 19
Ian Jeffries 16
Breeon Ishmail 13
Alex Sanford 12
Breylon Charles 8
Richard Toney Jr. 1

Grades and notes:

• A mixed bag across the board on defense, but CJ Nunnally IV took top honors after recording a pair of sacks
• Another transfer defensive end, Breeon Ishmail, finished with a rough grade, the lowest on the defense. He took a 15-yard personal foul in the second half.
• Not a ton of great grades on the defense in any aspect
• After 15 missed tackles in the opener, just nine in this one. Myles Slusher and Tahj Ra-El were the only players with multiple.
• 15 pressures and four sacks of DJ Williams with eight hurries in there. Purdue really got to him in the second half.
• All-in-all, not a dominant showing from Purdue’s defense as one might have hoped against FCS competition, albeit a strong FCS team

DJ Williams’ passing chart

• Clean: 18-30, 194 yards, TD
• Under pressure: 2-4, 8 yards
• Not blitzed: 11-18, 79 yards
• Blitzed: 9-16, 123 yards, TD
• Play action: 4-6, 74 yards, TD
• No play action: 16-28, 128 yards
• Screen: 9-10, 57 yards
• No screen: 11-24, 145 yards, TD