Recap: Purdue blanked at Northwestern for fifth-straight loss

Purdue football has fallen further into the basement of the Big Ten, dropping Saturday’s game in Evanston, 19-0 to Northwestern. The Boilermakers’ defeat marks a fifth-straight for Barry Odom and company, who also fall to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in Big Ten play.

Northwestern played some old school Big Ten football in the first half. The Wildcats dominated the time of possession, holding onto the football for 22:21 of the opening 30 minutes of play.

The Purdue defense limited big plays for the majority of the first half, but was unable to get off of the field with consistency.

Northwestern was 6-10 on third downs, two of which came in the red zone, still resulting in three points. The Wildcats amassed over 200 yards in the first half, 127 of which came on the ground behind the duo of Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himon II. Quarterback Preston Stone led one touchdown drive in the opening half, finding tight end Hunter Welcing for a three-yard score.

For as poorly as Purdue’s defense played, Josh Henson’s offense was unable to bail them out. Purdue was held scoreless in the first half, amassing just 57 yards of offense and mustering two first downs. In four possessions for the offense, the end result was punter Jack McCallister trotting onto the field all four times.

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Quarterback Ryan Browne was limited to 5-10 passing for 31 yards, prior to his exit from the contest on the first drive of the third quarter. Browne would go down after a quarterback run and was sidelined for the remainder of the game. Backup Malachi Singleton entered the game in his absence.

Singleton would breath some life into the Purdue offense, but did not result in touchdowns. The redshirt sophomore went 11-20 passing for 187 yards, a fumble and an interception, while adding 20 yards on the ground in his one half of playing time. A 48-yard connection between Singleton and receiver Corey Smith was wiped out after a fumble and a failed fourth down conversion all but ended Purdue’s hopes of finding the end zone.

Northwestern extended its lead to 19 in the third quarter and essentially iced the game with a 12-yard connection between Stone and star wide receiver Griffin Wilde. That score capped off the third drive of 12+ plays and 7+ minutes surrendered by the Boilermakers. That would be the lone score of the second half allowed by Mike Scherer’s unit, which played better after halftime.

Purdue was outgained 367-305 on Saturday as the offense struggled to get much of anything going. That total yardage was the lowest for the Boilermakers this season, with the previous worst being 357 against USC. The ground game was limited after being a bright spot against Illinois and Minnesota, having 83 yards on 24 carries.

Malachi Thomas and Devin Mockobee had a nearly split workload. Mockobee had seven carries for 28 yards, while Thomas had 34 yards on seven carries. Mockobee was also the leading receiver, hauling in two catches for 52 yards.

Northwestern also flipped the script on Purdue, who had been stout against the run across the last two games. The Wildcats rushed for 235 yards on the day, which was the most given up by Purdue since the Notre Dame game.

Penalties and turnovers continued to be a thorn in the side of the Boilermakers, as well. Purdue was called for eight that resulted in 85 yards. After having just 10 over the first three games, Purdue is now averaging eight over the last four contests.

Barry Odom and company found themselves on the wrong end of the turnover battle for the seventh time this season. The defense got multiple takeaways for the first time this season, with a Hershey McLaurin forced fumble and a Smiley Bradford interception, but a trio of turnovers cancelled out the progress in that regard.

Now facing a five-game losing skid, Purdue will return home for a matchup with Rutgers on October 25th.

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