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    Purdue QB questions remain in the bye week

    Vaseline Posted on

    WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue football was more or less at arm’s length in the 35-0 loss to No. 2 Oregon on Friday night.

    At first it seemed like the Boilermakers would be left in the dust once again, bringing a disturbing theme back to life. Instead, they grabbed a leg and let the Ducks drag them to their first shutout loss at home since 2013.

    Purdue couldn’t improve enough from last week to challenge the Ducks, nor did it fully return to its early-season woes. It never threatened, but kept it reasonable due to the pace of the game and a second wind from the defense.

    Now follows a two-week preparation for a possible referendum on the future of the program. Ryan Walters and the staff need to take the best moments of the past two weeks and create some consistency ahead of a Nov. 3 home game against Northwestern.

    Rating the Boilers on how they fell to 0-2 against the Pacific Northwest:

    Purdue foul: F

    Ryan Browne had a chance to perhaps eliminate the quarterback question as an off-week storyline. No luck. After playing with such confidence at Illinois, he had several skittish moments on Friday. Too many negative plays and too many pre-snap penalties. Shortening the game was a smart plan, but if you can’t get into the end zone, all it does is beat the spread. Once again, Purdue came into the game averaging a nation-worst 3.1 points in the first half – and undershooting that average.

    Purdue defense: C-

    Matching up Dillon Gabriel and his weapons would have been a tall order with a healthy secondary. With Nyland Green unavailable, the Ducks’ QB started the game 12 of 13 for 208 yards. It wasn’t until the last few minutes of the first half that Purdue put up some resistance. Oregon averaged 7.03 yards per play and went for 7.2 yards per play on Friday. It’s still not good enough, but the defense’s chaotic volatility simply needs all the help it can get from the offense. If that happens, a game like this might also be a four-quarters conversation.

    Purdue special teams: C-

    This device keeps coming up with great moments. Tonight, a Keelan Crimmins punt was downed 64 yards at the 1. (Oregon covered the remaining 99 yards in six plays.) Spencer Porath’s missed 36-yard field goal in the first half snapped his streak of five straight goals. Not good, but until this offense stops asking him to answer for all the first-half scores, Purdue has bigger problems than placekicking.

    Purdue coaching: D-

    This message at the buzzer, so I’m intrigued to hear in the postgame how much Purdue has added to the offensive playbook. Oregon was clearly much better prepared for Browne’s zone-read game than Illinois. Kicking the field goal on fourth-and-4 at 21-0 is one of many damning situations Walters has had to deal with. However, for the second week in a row, the coaches didn’t rely on a strong running option on a crucial short-yardage look. Maybe it’s time to try Devin Mockobee or even Browne himself on the next crucial third or fourth-and-1. I’m not sure what the reasoning is for trailing the starters 35-0, but it looked especially bad when Corey Stewart was writing on the floor with 1:53 to play.

    Oregon vs Purdue play of the game:

    After Purdue downed that punt at the 1, Oregon responded with six consecutive plays of more than 9 yards. The key was a 39-yard completion from Gabriel to Kenyon Sadiq, which yielded a third straight touchdown and a 21-0 lead.

    Oregon vs. Purdue player of the game:

    No quarterback controversy in Eugene. Gabriel finished 21 of 25 for 290 yards and two touchdowns.

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