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Old National Presents: The 3-2-1—Relative Flawlessness

On3 imageby: Tom Dienhart08/30/25TomDienhart1
Purdue linebacker Mani Powell
Purdue linebacker Mani Powell (Chad Krockover)

The Barry Odom Era at Purdue opened about as smoothly as could have been hoped Saturday afternoon in Ross-Ade Stadium, as the Boilermakers routed Ball State 31-0.

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

A CLEAN PERFORMANCE

Exactly what you wanted to see in Game 1.

• Only four penalties, one of which offset.
• Zero turnovers
• One fumble on which Purdue retained possession
• Zero dropped passes (the only thing close was a called back play anyway)
• Very, very tackling
• Zero big plays that mattered allowed
• A flawless day in the kicking game

Past Purdue teams have been largely defined by their self-destructive, sloppy tendencies. One major area where this new staff can make a difference is just in making Purdue solid and clean.

As far as cleanliness of play goes, this was an A+.

RYAN BROWNE WAS GREAT AND SET UP FOR SUCCESS

In his first 2025 start, Ryan Browne was 18-of-26 for 311 yards and two touchdowns and no turnovers, nothing even close, actually. His receivers were excellent, as Arhmad Branch and Michael Jackson III each looked the part of real big-play guys.

Browne was great before he gave way to Malachi Singleton in the fourth quarter, but Purdue and OC Josh Henson did a great job setting him up for success, involving him heavily in read-option running game (especially in the red zone), run-pass-option stuff in the passing game and lots of east-west passing and running that stretched Ball State’s defense way too thin sideline to sideline.

The Cardinals came into this game basically knowing one thing about Browne from what he did at Purdue last season: That he can run.

Purdue clearly weaponized that expectation in a way that it basically ended this game in the first quarter. When the Boilermakers went up 14-0, the visitors were in too deep.

DEFENSE GETS IT DONE

Ball State missing a 29-yard field goal in the fourth secured the shutout for this brand-new Purdue defense.

Save for one series in the third quarter, the tackling was pristine.

No one should be beating their chests considering the competition, but Purdue allowed barely 200 yards, gave up no points and looked good doing it.

The tackling, pressure and convergences on the ball stood out and there were only two penalties, one of them a weird “disconcerting signaling” call that is apparently an emphasis now.

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