Can Purdue find a way to compete?
Time to look at what the staff thinks will happen tomorrow when Penn State comes into Ross-Ade Stadium for the final home game of the season.
Ledman (8-1):
I have basically no faith in this Purdue offense to score points, or quite frankly in the Purdue defense to stop Penn State from scoring points. That’s a bad combination when you just take even the most surface look at things.
Penn State needs to continue to win in order to head to the CFP. They will be focused and locked in. Of that I have no doubt. Purdue head coach Ryan Walters is in a bad position right now. All the external noise and leaks indicate that he’s going to be back next year but that he will be forced to fire everyone on staff. He needs to figure this out and figure it out fast. It just won’t be this week.
Purdue 3
Penn State 42
Jed (9-0):
The Boilers will take on another top 10 opponent on this season in the Penn State Nitanny Lions and the Boilers will still have one more likely to end the season with Indiana. In those games against so far again Notre Dame, Oregon, and Ohio State, the total score has been 146-7. I believe that would be a textbook definition of noncompetitive and should really be cause for serious consideration of finding a new direction for the entire program. It doesn’t get any better when you take into account total yards (1,432-669) and turnovers (Purdue: 6 Opponents: 1). This one isn’t likely to be any better as Penn State leads the overall series 16-3-1 all time.
Purdue has shown the ability to be good at running the ball, specifically the outside zone with Mockobee. One of the biggest issues is that when Purdue typically gets a solid start to a drive, they’ll shoot themselves in the foot with a penalty, a dropped pass, a turnover, or taking a sack. They just aren’t built to withstand many mistakes and appear to not be disciplined enough to not continue to make them. The other issue? The defense has been an abject disaster as well.
This is probably the worst power conference team by a wide margin and they currently hold the longest losing streak of any power conference team and I believe the second longest other than Kent State in the entirety of division one football. I’m not sure that deserves any more time but it appears right now that Walters will be given a third year to figure it out.
Luckily for me, I’ll be in the press box where it is warm, dry, and I’ll get to enjoy some donuts from Mary Lou’s before kickoff. Purdue has been outscored 76-3 in the first quarter and 156-29 in the first half in total this season. It’s likely this game is decided before the end of the first quarter.
Penn State: 55
Purdue: 10
Kyle:
Purdue is not good at football. It does not matter who they play, they could play themselves and we would find a way for both teams to lose. The bye beat us a few weeks ago. Penn State, their two-headed monster at running back, and their future NFL QB will win by 30+. Tom Allen was fired after losing to Ryan Walters, he is now the Defensive Coordinator for Penn State, and he will hold nothing back. It will be an ugly senior day, followed by below-average weather, I would not expect Ross-Ade to be full by any means.
Ryan (8-1):
I remember back when I was a freshman at Purdue and it was parent’s weekend against Penn State. We made it to halftime and Purdue was actually tied at 17. By the end of the third quarter, it was 41-24. 3 plays into the 4th quarter, Saquon Barkley ran for an 80+ yard touchdown and my family and I went to get dinner where we saw the final seconds of the 62-24 final. Call it reminiscence or something else but I would take Purdue scoring 24 points despite losing by 38 over what will likely happen this weekend.
Purdue 7
Penn State 38