Purdue pitched a shutout against ISU for the second time in three seasons.
Quick Wrap:
The Purdue Boilermakers made quick work of the Indiana State Sycamores and grabbed their first home shutout since 2022 (Indiana State: 56-0). Hudson Card went 24-25 for 273 yards and 4 touchdowns while seven different Boilers scored a touchdown. Those seven touchdowns also went for first time touchdowns as Boilermakers, a single game record for the program.
Defensively, the Boilers allowed the Sycamores to go 1-12 on 3rd down and held them to 154 total yards of offense. Will Heldt led the defense with 7 total tackles, 2 sacks, 3 TFL’s, and 1 QB hurry while the presence of Dillion Thieneman clearly dissuaded Indiana State from throwing deep as they attempted only one pass over 15 yards all game. The Boilers racked up 3 sacks and 11 TFL’s in total as a defense.
Quick reactions below from our contributors at Hammer and Rails:
Jed:
This is exactly what we all expected to happen. Purdue looked good early and got sloppy once they knew the Sycamores were totally overmatched. This is a game that should have been an utter blowout of the 60-0 variety but because Purdue had some bad mistakes, it probably took 2 or 3 TD’s off the board. The good thing is those things are correctable.
The great thing was how sharp Hudson Card looked going 24-25 for 274 yards and 4 TD’s. His only miss? An overthrow to a wide open Jahmal Edrine down the field that would have let him walk into the end zone. Hard to be upset about a 50+ yard throw down the field.
Lots of things to work on between this first game and Purdue’s week 3 matchup against Notre Dame at home. Card looks like a player who, at his best, can keep Purdue in some games against better opponents by himself. The question will be can the skill players step up around him and the offensive line keep him clean. Those questions couldn’t really be answered against an overmatched opponent but the competition ramps up quickly against Notre Dame in two weeks.
Ryan:
My FCS assessment: Purdue looked really deep on offense, slightly rusty on defense, and fine on special teams. Need to clean up the penalties badly but no major injuries makes it a successful FCS win. Onto ND.
Ledman:
This game went about as well as could be expected. Purdue scored 40+ points and didn’t allow an absolutely overwhelmed opponent get any breathing room. On offense it was great to see Devin Mockobee and Reggie Love III each have some good moves. They are such different runners that Purdue may have an old school thunder and lightning situation in the backfield.
It was no surprise that Max Klare looked good as he has largely been considered to be on the verge of a breakout. Hudson Card completed just about everything he got his hands on and didn’t make any bad throws. He got caught holding onto the ball a bit too long on at least one occasion, but his worst decision was jumping for extra yards well after the first down and scaring me a bit. He’s too important to be taking unnecessary risks.
No significant injuries to speak of and Purdue walks away 1-0. This is exactly what we wanted to see after week 1.
Drew:
That’s the game I wanted. Purdue had the clear talent advantage, flexed their muscles on both lines, and Hudson Card played a near perfect game. The outcome was decided before the opening kick, but the Boilermakers weren’t complacent and put in the work. Indiana State never got the idea that they were in the game. I can’t say enough to Max Klare and the wide receivers. I spoke all off-season on how Harrell used big receivers at his previous stops, and Purdue’s new jumbo sized receivers made their mark today. The Card to Klare combo could put both on an All-Big 10 team at the end of the season if they stay healthy.
As good as the offense was, the defense may have been better. Jeffrey M’Ba is my dude. He’s an NFL caliber lineman, and you saw some of the today with 6 tackles today. Will Heldt is supposed to be the man on the defensive line, and he was the man today with 2 sacks and 3 tackles for loss. Overall Purdue was in the backfield early and often, racking up 11 tackles for loss. They only had one sack, but ISU only attempted 10 passes. That’s not a bad sack to attempt ratio.
It’s a small thing, but after last year needs to be mentioned, Spencer Portath went 7/7 on extra points in his college debut!
10/10 warm-up game. No notes.
Kyle:
Garrett:
I’m happy I underestimated the margin of victory because I expected anemic Indiana State to only score garbage time points. The sycamores scored no points, which is great. I was also happy to be wrong that the Boilers would start of slowly offensively. That first drive after a defensive shutdown was about as perfect as a drive can go.
Hudson Card to Max Klare looks like it should be an automatic connection in most offensive scenarios, and having the larger receivers this season after spending last year with the best receivers being more slot guys forced to other receiver roles…quite a good sign.
Also, at 24/25, Hudson Card ties the NCAA record for completion percentage (minimum 25 passes). The previous record was set by Greyson Lambert in 2015, who also went 24/25. That’s the exact type of game you want to see in the first game of the season against an inferior opponent: pure class. I think this offense can click more quickly than I previously hypothesized.