Purdue Football: Film Room – Red Zone “Defense”

Purdue can’t get a stop in the redzone, the defense keeps making the same mistake.

Purdue’s defense is terrible in the redzone. I don’t need to tell anyone that. Where other teams bend but don’t break, Purdue bends and then breaks (sometimes they shatter before bending, but that’s a separate issue. Forget the offense for a moment, if you can’t force your opponent to kick and occasional field goal, you’re not going to win many games. Here’s what I see over and over again.

Bad Matchup

Illinois executed this play fairly well, but even if they didn’t, I’m not sure it would have mattered. There is other stuff going on in the play as well, but I want to focus on Will Heldt (blue circle) and Antonio Stevens (green circle) for the sake of brevity.

Stevens, Purdue’s strong safety, is in man coverage with #4, Zakhari Franklin for Illinois. Franklin is a wide receiver, Stevens is a defacto linebacker in this defense. Purdue is cooked from the start on this play. Illinois will take this matchup all game.

Heldt, in theory, should set the edge for the defense. At least I think he should set the edge. Look, I like Will Heldt. He has some solid athletic upside and should have been a situational pass rusher this season. He wasn’t ready to be a full-time starter at outside linebacker in this scheme. Physically, he has all the tools, but the mental part of his game is nowhere close to field ready. He consistently gives up the edge.

Motion Across, Play Action, Profit

Illinois sends #4 (green circle) across the formation. Purdue is already dead to rights. I wouldn’t be surprised if the O.C. already has his fist balled up, preparing for the pump, because Illinois is going to have to screw something up for this not to be a touchdown.

Look at Stevens (green circle). If he’s supposed to be running with #4, he’s already dead, because he’s still looking at the play fake and the receiver is running full speed down the line. Stevens isn’t fast enough to run with if he was running with him, and he hasn’t started running yet.

That brings me to Mr. Heldt. This is a read option with a pick play for the man in motion. Heldt is the unblocked man Illinois is optioning off of. If he stays at home and sets the edge, it should be a give to the running back. If he crashes down the line, it’s a pull and either a QB keeper or the pick route you’re about to see.

Heldt splits the difference and does neither.

He either need to commit to running back, or commit to the quarterback or honestly, just do something other than what he’s doing in this frame.

Credit to Illinois, this is a well-designed play. I think Purdue might stop this if it was only a zone read. Heldt still gets sucked inside, but Stevens is in good position to scrape off him keep the Illinois quarterback from getting the corner. Problem is, this is a pass play.

Blocked by Air

I’ll give Heldt the benefit of the doubt and say he’s supposed to crash (I don’t think that’s the case, I think he’s supposed to be reading the play), but for the sake of argument, let’s say he’s supposed to crash down the line. If that’s the case, Steven shouldn’t also be playing the run. Problem is, despite being a 5th year senior, he hasn’t played much football either. It’s not his fault, his leg exploded at one point, but you’ve got two inexperienced guys on the field, and Illinois is picking on them.

Speaking of Picks

It wouldn’t matter on this play anyway, because Stevens and Heldt both bit on the run fake hard enough to make the pick unnecessary, but what the Illinois receiver is doing to Antonio Stevens is the very definition of pick. He goes out of his way to block Stevens off. Purdue was so bad on this play, though, they didn’t deserve a flag.

Doesn’t Get Any Easier

When someone is this wide open, I’m not even sure what to say. Congratulations to the offensive coordinator, I guess.