The Boilermakers made a couple of changes on defense, but overall, Penn State should face the best Purdue has to offer on Saturday.
Offense
QB
#1 Hudson Card – Sr. – 6’3”, 210
or
#15 Ryan Browne – R-Fr. – 6’4”, 210
#5 Marcos Davila – Fr. – 6’3”, 244
RB
#45 Devin Mockobee – Jr. – 6’0”, 207
or
# 23 Reggie Love – Sr. – 5’11”, 215
#3 Jaheim Merriweather – Fr. – 6’2”, 210
WR
#7 Jahmal Edrine – Jr. – 6’3”, 215
# 16 Shamar Rigby – Fr. – 6’3”, 187
#12 Leland Smith – So. – 6’4”, 219
WR
#13 Jaron Tibbs – So. – 6’3”, 214
# 26 Andrew Sowinski – Sr. – 6’0”, 205
#0 Jayden Dixon-Veal – Sr. – 6’0”, 190
WR
#9 CJ Smith – So. – 6’3”, 195
or
#8 De’Nylon Morrissette – So. – 6’1”, 200
#4 Kam Brown – Sr. – 6’1”, 185
TE
# 86 Max Klare – So. – 6’4”, 240
#82 Drew Biber – Jr. – 6’5”, 245
#81 George Burhenn – So. – 6’5”, 240
LT
#71 Corey Stewart – Sr. – 6’6”, 318
#79 Joey Tanona – So. – 6’5”, 304
LG
Mahamane Moussa – Jr. – 6’4”, 300
Luke Griffin – Sr. – 6’5”, 340
C
Gus Hartwig – Sr. – 6’5”, 305
Jalen Grant – Sr. – 6’3”, 285
RG
DJ Wingfield – Sr. – 6’4”, 316
Jaden Ball – Fr. – 6’5”, 300
RT
Marcus Mbow – Jr. – 6’5”, 300
Bakyne Coly – Jr. – 6’7”, 302
Notes
- Hudson Card regains his place at the top of the quarterback depth chart. Ryan Browne moves from “or” to his primary backup.
- CJ Smith is now the starting boundary wide receiver. De’Nylon Morrissette moves from “or” to his primary backup.
Defense
DL
# 0 Jeffrey M’Ba – Sr. – 6’6”, 302
#98 Drake Carlson – R-Fr. – 6’3”, 290
DL
#91 Cole Brevard – Sr. – 6’3”, 333
or
#92 Mo Omonode – Jr. – 6’0”, 286
#97 Jamarrion Harkless – R.Fr. – 6’3”, 346
DL
#95 Joe Anderson – Sr. – 6’4”, 290
#18 Demeco Kennedy – Fr. – 6’2, 291
Rush
#15 Will Heldt – So. – 6’6”, 265
#17 Shitta Sillah – Sr. – 6’4”, 251
LB
#4 Kydran Jenkins – Sr. – 6’1”, 253
#22 Owen Davis – R.Fr. – 6’3”, 245
LB
#40 Hudson Miller – So. – 6’0”, 235
#14 Yanni Karlaftis – Jr. – 6’3”, 235
Rush
#99 Jireh Ojata – Sr. – 6’4”, 267
#23 Trey Smith – R-Fr – 6’4”, 245
DB
#2 Nyland Green – Jr. – 6’1”, 186
#19 Bostros Alisandro – Jr. – 6’1”, 186
#16 Hudauri Hines – 6’1”, 203
DB
#31 Dillon Thieneman – So. – 6’0”, 207
#25 Ty Hudkins – Fr. – 5’11”, 197
DB
#11 Antonio Stevens – Sr. – 6’2”, 217
#24 Anthony Brown – So. – 6’0”, 195
DB
#6 Smiley Bradfor – Fr. – 6’0”, 195
#13 Koy Beasley – Fr. – 5’10”, 187
DB
#10 Kyndrich Breedlove – Jr. – 5’11, 185
#12 Tarrion Grant – Fr. – 6’2”, 197
Notes
- Jireh Ojata takes over the starting job at rush end. Shitta Sillah moves from his starting position to Will Heldt’s primary backup.
- Hudson Miller takes over for Yanni Karlaftis at middle linebacker. Karlaftis will be the primary backup.
- Nyland Green is once again the starter at boundary corner, with Botros Alisandro as his primary backup.
- Freshman Smiley Bradford remains the starting nickel back after two solid games.
Overall
For the fourth time this season, Purdue will have their preferred starting lineup available. The offense line has been remarkably durable after last season’s blood bath. Smith, Edrine, Tibbs, and Klare are together for as a starting unit for the first time all season with Smith moving up the depth chart. Mockobee and Love remain healthy despite both absorbing a few bone jarring hits against the Buckeyes. Hudson Card is back to the top of the pecking order to see if he can get the passing game moving with Purdue’s top line.
Talent wise, this the best Purdue’s offense has to offer.
Say what you will about the defensive coaching, they continue to shuffle the deck looking for solutions. Jireh Ojata, if nothing else, is a cool story to follow after transferring up from Franklin College to give big time college football a shot with his final year of eligibility. He started on the same Carmel high school team as Cole Brevard, now he gets a chance to start on the same college team.
Hudson Miller, although somewhat limited athletically, has been more assignment sound than Karlaftis and deserves a chance to take a bigger share of the snaps. Yanni has been fine right up until the point he blows an assignment and gives up a back breaking play. That’s something that can’t happen in this defense. If you can’t execute your assignment, you can’t play, because if you’re playing man defense, a blown assignment is an easy touchdown.
From what I’ve seen, much like the offense, this is the best lineup Purdue has to offer up on defense. A few of the injured reserves might be useful, but overall, this is about as good as Ryan Walters could hope for in terms of injuries.
Penn State should get the best Purdue has to offer on Saturday.