Purdue’s preparation is underway during a short week that has them facing the Minnesota Golden Gophers Friday night at 7:30 PM Eastern.
With a lack of efficiency on the ground this past Saturday, head coach Jeff Brohm is confident the Boilers have a better game plan this week.
“I think we have a better plan even as today moving forward to make sure that we stay a little more committed and we use a wide arsenal of different type of plays to help our guys be able to block and move people off the ball.”
Anything will be better than the two-yard performance against Northwestern. However, they should aim to far exceed that number against a lackluster rush defense of Minnesota. The Gophers have allowed an average of 238 rushing yards to opponents this season.
The passing attack with Aidan O’Connell should have a full-range air assault against the Gopher secondary. They give up just over 200 yards a game and consider that last week they only allowed 111 yards through the air against Iowa.
Then again, they allowed 235 rushing yards to Iowa, so there’s plenty of yardage for the taking if the Boilers play it right. O’Connell had a few rough throws this past Saturday, certainly tossed a few he wished he had back. Coach Brohm admitted this wasn’t Aidans best performance, but also added that it’s all a team effort.
“I thought Aidan did a decent job. I don’t think it was one of his better games. But he made some throws when he had to. We need to do a better job with helping him and doing some things around him to take a little pressure off of him. But he was efficient.”
O’Connell is sure to want to improve on his 28 of 51 passing, 263 yard, two-touchdown night. He ranks 73rd in the country right now with 916 yards passing. He’s averaging 305 yard passing per game.
4th down’s have been the money down for him this season, completing three of four passes on 4th down this season for an average of 11.5 yards and a TD. His 7 passing touchdowns ranks 60th nationally.
Certainly don’t sleep on O’Connell as he is poised to break out with some more numbers. Prior to this game, his completion percentage was 70%. The Junior quarterback from Long Grove, IL has a QBR of 72.4, which ranks 38th nationally.
Coach Brohm said on Monday that O’Connell needs to make sure he’s spreading the ball around.
“Well, Aidan is an accurate passer. We had some guys slip and fall on a few plays that cost us. We had a few times where maybe he was keyed in on one certain person maybe a little too much. He’s got to make sure that we’re spreading things out. He’s got to make sure that when things aren’t there, he did find the check down a few times, sometimes when that’s covered or that that guy has to block, you’ve got to run.”
Running has not been a suit of O’Connell at any point during his time in West Lafayette. In 2019, the kid had a longest run of 9 yards, 0 rushing TDs, and ended the season with negative nine yards on 15 carries. This season it’s been much of the same, though worse if we are to be honest. Currently, he sits with 12 carries for -64 yards rushing, and tied his career longest run of nine yards against Illinois in the second game of the year.
That said, Purdue started the first two games with a tantalizing performance from Zander Horvath, with performances of 129 yards to open the season and 102 against Illinois. Now, despite Horvath only garnering 21 rushing yards against the Wildcats, he was very much still felt in the passing attack. In fact, on one series, Horvath seemingly willed Purdue to four different 1st downs, twice on 4th down.
Coach Brohm said Monday that it was a bevy of things that cause the ground game issues against Northwestern.
“There were a couple times that we really couldn’t create movement, and that was a problem. And there were some other times when we did. One guy didn’t do his job and it affected the play. So, it’s just a combination of a few things. Like I said, I think I probably got off the running game a little too soon. We were just being stalemated there early on. And I felt like we needed to be aggressive and score points.”
If they can get things cooking early in the found game, they should be able to spread the field. O’Connell’s pinpoint accuracy could be on display, along with the receiving corps speed, led by Bell and Wright. Though, expect more emphasis on Aidan spreading the ball around and taking advantage of focused pressure on Bell. Horvath should have a standout game, providing a threat on the ground and receiving, taking advantage of a defense of Minnesota that has been gashed for some big plays.
It’ll be a battle Friday night as the Gophers and Boilers square off, and coach Brohm is confident they will be ready.
“We’ve got to play efficient, effective football on offense and find ways to create some big plays, but at the same time be able to drive the ball down the field. Be able to do it a lot of different ways. And that has to happen.
“Defense, we’ve got to continue to improve and be solid. In the last year they crushed us with the run-ass option and just crushed us. So we’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen. That’s how they built their offense, hand it off to the running back over and over again. And then when you start to suck up a little too much they’re going to pull it out and throw it quickly to the receivers.
“We’ve got to do a good job of that. That’s something that we’ve got to be prepared for and make sure that we don’t allow it to happen. And at the same time if special teams can gain an edge that will help us.
“It will be a great challenge for us and a great test for us because we got our tails beat last week and our guys need to come out.”
