WILL WILLEMS COLUMN: Purdue squanders opportunity against Penn State.
Purdue · Penn State · WashingtonJust ahead of kickoff on Saturday afternoon, everything seemed to be trending the Purdue Boilermakers way. Despite an ugly loss to Washington in their previous game, the Boilermakers had won two of three heading into the bye, and seemed to poised to challenge for bowl eligibility.
Their opponent, Penn State, came limping into the game, losing four straight games and had pressure mounting ... Purdue played one of its worst games of the season.
Facing one of the worst rush defenses in the Big Ten, Purdue rushed for 33 yards on 15 carries. Even more puzzling was the play calling in the run game.
Purdue rushed for 16 yards on four carries on its opening drive. The next two drives saw them call only two runs on 16 plays.
KEY POINTS
- WILL WILLEMS COLUMN: Purdue squanders opportunity against Penn State.
- To make matters worse for the Nittany Lions, right before the the game it was announced both of their leading receivers - Chase Sowell and Koby Howard - would miss the game.
- So the prevailing thoughts after Penn State came away with a 31-17 win over the Boilermakers was: What in the world was that?
- Its part of a disturbing trend for the Boilermakers, where in the two weeks following his Big Ten Player of the Week honors, Fame Ijeboi has carried it 24 times for 39 yards.