Lack of margin for error shows in Purdue's loss to USC

The margin for error in college football is slim. It’s even less when a program like Southern Cal comes strolling into West Lafayette. Purdue found that out the hard way on Saturday night in its 33-17 defeat at the hands of the Trojans.

The scoreboard may not tell the entire story offensively, as the Boilermakers were threatening several times, putting the USC defense on its heels after driving down the field. When Ryan Browne and company marched their way into the red zone on three separate occasions, Purdue trotted back to the sidelines without points.

The catalyst for the shortcomings in that area were a trio of interceptions, that the Trojans took full advantage of. The first came on Purdue’s first drive of the game, when Browne’s pass to EJ Horton was errant, floating right into the hands of Bishop Fitzgerald. USC would chew over seven minutes off the clock en route to its first touchdown of the day.

Then, the 360-pound behemoth that is Jamaal Jarrett showed off his tip drill work, taking a fluttering Browne pass 70 yards for a pick-six, big man edition. Purdue was on the 20-yard line and wound up seeing the USC lead balloon to 30-10.

The icing on the cake came late in the fourth quarter, as Purdue looked to work its way back from a 13-point deficit. Browne looked to Nitro Tuggle in the end zone to cap off what would have been two consecutive touchdown connections for the sophomore tandem, instead finding Bishop Fitzgerald once again. A Ryon Sayeri field goal, his fourth of the night, would slam the door on Purdue’s hopes of victory.

“Turnovers, especially when you’re down in the tight red zone, and you come up with zero points … ” said Odom. “We probably left 14 points out there, seven or 10 or whatever it is. So, that’s tough. The margin of error is so thin once you get down in the red zone. Once we get down in the red zone, we have to come away with points.”

“Against a good team, when you turn it over three times and you don’t get any back on the defensive side, it just makes it really hard to win,” Odom said.

Close but no cigar is the story of Saturday’s defeat. Purdue amassed over 350 yards of offense, 305 of which coming through the air, as the Boilermakers’ offense found its groove in the second half. The miscues in the red zone proved too costly for Purdue.

On the flip side, the Trojans made no such mistakes with the ball in their hands, as quarterback Jayden Maiava got through another contest without an interception and Purdue’s defense went another contest without a takeaway. Creating chaos is a necessity for a team looking to spring an upset, but two dropped interceptions took any chance of a momentum swing out of the equation.

Purdue did limit what was the nation’s number one offense coming into Saturday to 26 points and just three field goals after halftime. Key plays, in a game where Purdue needed to make them, favored the Trojans in that respect as well. USC was 4-4 on fourth down, with three of those conversions leading to points.

Encouraging moments fell by the wayside as Purdue struggled to capitalize on the opportunities handed over by the Trojans.

“I thought that our guys hung in there,” said Odom. “We just couldn’t capture the momentum. We just couldn’t keep it on our side. So, we gotta work to find ways to get that done.”

Purdue showed signs of progress. There’s no telling what the final score tonight would have looked like had this same scenario in the first half played out a year ago. We’ll leave that to the imagination, because this is a different team and program under Barry Odom’s watch.

“There are things that I feel like we’re getting close to be a pretty darn good football team, and we got to continue to work,” said Odom. “I did tell the guys that this loss will not define us, but how we respond will. So, we got to learn from the things we did well, things that we have to get fixed for us to play winning football and then find a way to get back in the winner’s circle.”

Purdue needed the ball to bounce its way in order to win on Saturday night and, with the exception of the backwards pass, scoop and score bonanza from Ryan Browne, the opposite occurred in Ross-Ade Stadium.

Still, Purdue competing with a program like USC deep into the fourth quarter, being just a couple of plays from setting an even score, shows the progress of these Boilermakers. It also shows how fickle the game is, and how little margin for error is present for Barry Odom and company in primetime matchups, of which there will be many throughout the rest of the fall.

More: Ten observations: Purdue-USC