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Football notebook: Purdue needs to fix penalty problem

On3 imageby: Tom Dienhart14 hours agoTomDienhart1
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(David Banks/USA Today)

Purdue has a penalty problem.

How bad is it? The Boilermakers were flagged eight times for 98 yards in last week’s numbing 19-0 loss at Northwestern.

But that’s not even the worst of it. In a 27-20 loss at Minnesota, the Boilermakers were flagged a season-high nine times. On and on it has gone.

Since opening the season with just three penalties vs. Ball State and two vs. Southern Illinois, Purdue has been flagged five or more times in each game. The average over those five games? It’s 7.4. On the season, Purdue is averaging 6.0 penalties. Only three Big Ten schools are averaging more.

The Boilers have had seven or more penalties each of the last four games. And often, the flags have been ruinous–none moreso than two face mask penalties late in the Minnesota game that kept a Gopher drive alive.

“Penalties are never good,” said Barry Odom in the aftermath of the NU loss. “I think we would look at every single one of them and identify the reason that it happened. We coach and we teach it, and then eventually the team has got to understand how important it is not to commit those mistakes. And that takes self discipline, and we’re not there yet.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Purdue has committed 19 penalties on defense and 18 on offense. S Tahj Ra-El (4) and CB Tony Grimes (3) have the most on defense. T Joey Tanona (8) and T Bakyne Coly (3) lead the way on offense.

Last week, the defense had six of Purdue’s eight penalties. And three of those were for pass interference.

“Practicing,” said cornerback Hudauri Hines when asked how to stop committing pass interference. “That’s what we do in practice. Just stop it. Stop it in practice so we won’t do it in any games.”

NOTES:

• Purdue has yielded just one TD in the fourth quarter this season: at Minnesota

• Devin Mockobee needs 104 yards to become the fourth Purdue player with 3,000 career rushing yards.

• Rutgers QB Athan Kaliakmanis played vs. Purdue as QB at Minnesota in 2023 in West Lafayette. In that game, Kaliakmanis hit 18-of-42 passes for 292 yards with three TDs in a game won by the Boilermakers, 49-30.

• Purdue is being out scored 53-27 in the third quarter.

• Rutgers S Jett Elad played for Barry Odom the previous two years at UNLV.

• Purdue is the only school with three players in the Big Ten’s Top 10 in tackles: Mani Powell (65) is second; Charles Correa (58) is fifth; Tahj Ral-El (53) is ninth.

• Purdue is 54-44-4 in Homecoming games.

• This Saturday’s game will feature two of the Big Ten’s worst defenses: Rutgers is last (437.4 ypg), while Purdue is third worst (373.4 ypg). RU is second-to-last in scoring defense (31.6), while Purdue is third-to-last (27.9 ppg).

• Rutgers is tweaking its defense after a 56-10 loss to Oregon at home last week, but head coach Greg Schiano offered no details this week during his press conference:

“Yeah, again, I’m going to stay away from the specifics. But it’s my job to make sure we get better on defense.

“That was not good enough, obviously. So whether I’m involved or not involved, I better make sure it gets fixed.”

• Purdue’s -11 turnover margin ranks second-to-last in America. Only New Mexico and Florida Atlantic (-12) are worse.

• Purdue has lost a school record 13 Big Ten games in a row. The consecutive losses to Power Four foes has reached 16.

MORE: First look: Rutgers | First and 10: Rutgers at Purdue | Barry Odom: Purdue QB Ryan Browne ‘doubtful’ for Rutgers game | Barry Odom vows to keep fighting, swinging as Purdue seeks to halt skid | The 3-2-1: Purdue searches for elusive win amid uncertainty at QB | Opponent View: Rutgers | Projected depth charts: Rutgers | Matchup preview: Rutgers at Purdue

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