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Purdue

Old National Presents: The 3-2-1—More from Illinois game

On3 imageby: Brian Neubert10/04/25brianneubert
Purdue vs Illinois
Purdue vs Illinois (Chad Krockover)

Purdue’s losing streak reached three Saturday with another defeat as a heavy underdog, 43-27 to 21st-ranked Illinois.

PDF: Purdue-Illinois statistics

Below, GoldandBlack.com’s immediate post-game analysis …

PURDUE CAN’T OVERCOME MISTAKES

Same story as it’s been for years: Purdue just isn’t good enough to get away with beating itself.

In the first quarter, the Boilermakers looked like a team that could win this game. On both sides of the ball, they were good.

Then one turnover followed by a grotesque defensive breakdown — you never how those things tie together in quick-change situations and the whole game turned. Purdue’s defense fell apart the rest of the quarter and put the home team on pace to get blown out.

Credit to Purdue for again hanging in there and making a game of this, but that sequence ended up deciding this game, looking back. If that Michael Jackson III fumble doesn’t happen, or isn’t reviewed, or isn’t dubbed to be clearly shown on replay, who knows what happens?

Football is a game of momentum. It really is, and it was that sequence that took the air out of Purdue’s balloon when it was playing rock-solid, winning football and put the Boilermakers in catch-up mode.

SENIOR QUARTERBACKS > DISJOINTED SECONDARIES

Playing without senior Tony Grimes, a captain and one of the defense’s most experienced players, Purdue’s secondary collapsed in the second quarter.

Illinois schemed up conflict-of-assigment offense and Purdue took the bait, allowing several explosive plays to wide-open receivers, as sophomore Traveon Wright took Grimes’ places and clearly was part of some disastrous communication problems.

Corners are just cover guys. They fit into scheme in a variety of ways, especially in zone coverage. Purdue might not have won this game with its critically important senior, but he’d have definitely made a difference.

But also credit Illinois QB Luke Altmyer, who made some elite throws against good defense and made zero mistakes. Purdue needs to do a better job forcing mistakes, yes, but also hasn’t had much luck with opponents just flat screwing up.

PURDUE HAS A QB

Ryan Browne isn’t the prototype, but he is a gamer and a fighter and the sort of presence people should want to play for.

His receivers went AWOL there for a while in the second half, but Browne kept punching upward. He gave Purdue a chance today, even after moments when it looked like it had no chance.

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