Tony Grimes provides spark to Purdue secondary in return

Tony Grimes was sorely missed on the back end of the Purdue defense against Illinois. A mid-week injury kept the sixth-year senior cornerback from suiting up against the Illini and his absence was felt on the field.

Luke Altmyer torched the Boilermaker secondary to the tune of 19-22 passing for 390 passing yards and a score. Many of those connections came against little to no obstruction from Purdue’s outmatched defensive backs.

“I didn’t like it. I don’t think no one on our defense really liked it. I missed being out there with the guys and players as well. So, it hurt. The loss hurt, but that was Illinois week. We’re onto the next,” Grimes said.

Upon the return of Grimes, the Boilermakers took a step forward against Minnesota, however. Purdue held Drake Lindsey to 21-45 (46.7%) passing, which was a season-best mark for the defense, and 232 yards through the air, which was the lowest total allowed since the Southern Illinois game.

Grimes was a big reason why.

The UNLV transfer was targeted seven times on Saturday night, allowing only two receptions for 19 yards and having a pair of pass breakups. That showing came after back-to-back games of allowing 100+ receiving yards as the main man in coverage, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Purdue secondary desperately needed a spark after battling potent offenses of USC, Notre Dame and Illinois, and it got it in the form of Tony Grimes.

Defensive coordinator Mike Scherer sensed a more confident Grimes on Saturday and says those are the types of performances he expects from his veteran cornerback. The leadership ability and self belief is also key for the Purdue defense as a whole, which has had its fair share of struggles amid a 2-4 start.

“It meant a lot to have Tony Grimes back, but it meant a lot to have the competitive Tony Grimes back. The Tony Grimes that believes in himself and that plays to what he should be every single day and every single game. You know, when he believes in himself and he plays confident, it’s this weekend. He needs to be that for the defense, he’s a captain, and he needs to do that for himself, because he has the ability. It’s do you believe or not,” Scherer said.

Grimes may have rubbed off on a surprise contributor, as well. Redshirt freshman Chalil Cummings had played just one defensive snap prior to Saturday, but was inserted into the lineup and had the second-highest Pro Football Focus coverage grade of any Purdue defensive back. Cummings played a key role off the bench, in favor of Ryan Turner and Tre Wright, who had been getting more reps previously.

“We evaluate everybody, every day in practice, and he’s had better practice habits lately, which has allowed him to climb up into what we felt like was that third cornerback spot. And then when he was needed to go in the game, he went in there and he performed. He did his job, and did a heck of a job,” Scherer said. “He proved that he can help us.”

Communication was the talk of the town coming off the Illinois game and was taken to heart by the Purdue defense, who made the necessary adjustments on the back end on Saturday.

“Definitely communication, and definitely to the point that, you know, we were getting tired of saying what we’ve been doing the last couple weeks. So we knuckled up, we talked to each other, we met extra this week. We did the things, the little things, better that we did last week, than we did all year,” Grimes said.

Still, the Boilermakers came out of Saturday night’s heartbreaker with a fourth-consecutive defeat. Barry Odom and company are tired of saying their close to wins. It’s time to turn the what-ifs into facts. Grimes disclosed that was the messaging from Odom as Purdue turns its attention to Northwestern this weekend.

“We’re close, but we’re not there. We got to be there, like it’s time, it’s our time. It’s our time to do it. I mean, we’ve got the players. We got the scheme. We just got to put it all together and play as a team, all together,” Grimes said.