Old National Presents: 3-2-1

Three things learned. Two questions. One bold statement. It’s The 3-2-1, a look at Purdue football.

Three things learned

1 – Ryan Browne is “doubtful”

The redshirt sophomore took a big on the first drive of the second half at Northwestern and was sidelined for the remainder of the 19-0 defeat in Evanston.

Now, what?

“We don’t really know what’s going to happen at this point,” said OC Josh Henson on Monday. “We’re going to take it through the week and try to figure out, obviously, where the health is at. But if Malachi (Singleton) is our guy, he’s our guy. And he proved that he can come in the game and play well.”

Up to this point, Singleton has been a change-of-pace quarterback often used in the red zone. The transfer from Arkansas never has started a game.

“Ryan’s our starting quarterback, and right now, I would list him, going into, after today, I would say he would be doubtful,” said Barry Odom. “There is a difference in practicing and no contact and executing a game plan. So, we’ve got to train multiple quarterbacks, which we will. I think Malachi continues to improve and Meredith does, as well. But it would be a doubtful at this point on where we’re at in the game plan.”

2 – No players-only meeting

That’s what Devin Mockobee said earlier this week after a vexing loss at Northwestern. But perhaps more leadership could be provided by the captains … all eight of them: Browne, Mockobee, An’Darius Coffey, Tony Grimes, Mani Powell, Michael Jackson, CJ Madden and Jalen St. John.

“You have to have more guys step up into more leadership roles and become a player-led team, in a sense, to be able to rally guys with us and not just rely on coaches to give us what we need to get ready to go play,” said Mockobee. “Captains have to be able to step up and get their rooms ready and bring everything from the bottom up, as well.”

3 – 0-fer October

October isn’t supposed to be going like this. This is the month Purdue is supposed to be collecting some wins along with its Halloween candy.

Well, the Boilermakers are 0-fer October. All the opportunity that loomed for victory is slipping away for a program riding a five-game losing skid.

Purdue booted away a likely victory at Minnesota. And it no-showed at Northwestern.

There’s one golden chance left: Saturday vs. a listing Rutgers squad riding a four-game losing streak. If Purdue is gonna finally get a win, it likely will have to do so with a backup QB.

“There’s a lot of people in the world that want the result without the responsibility,” said Odom. “Everybody wants to win, and the process decides who wins the game. So, we’re back to what it takes every single day, every single minute of the day to dive into the process. We’re not going to back down from that. Football and college football is a very humbling game, especially when you pour everything into it, and you don’t get the result that you want. It’s difficult, but it’s also what drives you as a great competitor to get back into the winner’s circle.”

If Purdue doesn’t get to the winner’s circle Saturday, it probably is looking at an 0-9 Big Ten record for a second season in a row.

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

Two questions

1 – Do play-calls differ if Singleton starts over Browne?

The answer is “yes.”

“There’s more things we feel comfortable with him doing in a quarterback run game than we do Ryan,” said Henson. “But from the passing game standpoint part of it, I called all the same plays.

“I’ve said this before, the battle for the starting job was, it was a battle. When we announced that, it literally led up into that (first) week. So, Malachi is a really good player that can win games. And he came in and did a nice job executing (at Northwestern).

At Northwestern, Singleton was 11-of-20 passing for 187 yards with an interception and a lost fumble to go with 20 yards rushing on 10 carries. On the season, he has hit 57 percent of his passes (16-of-28) for 255 yards with a TD and two interceptions. He also has carried 25 times for 142 yards with a TD.

2 – Seven games in, what is offensive identity?

Purdue is No. 9 in the Big Ten in total offense (393. ypg), No. 15 in scoring (22.7 ppg), No. 12 in rushing (130.9 ypg) and No. 9 in passing (263.0 ypg).

So, is Purdue a running offense? A passing offense?

“I think the identity of the offense right now is that we’re not finishing drives,” said Henson. “Everything we’re doing I love and I think we’re doing it really well and at really high level at times. We’re just not being consistent. So, if anything, our identity is we’re not consistent. We gotta get consistent. We get it consistent, and we just make the other team beat us, and we don’t beat ourselves, we will be what we want to be.”

One bold statement: More Mockobee, please

It’s this simple: Mockobee needs more touches. He has 109 carries and has caught 16 passes on 17 targets. Hand it to him, pass it to him, No. 45 needs the ball more. He’s one of the few “special” players on offense.