8/29/2022 football Edit

Know the Opponent: Purdue Boilermakers

Justin Morganstein • Happy Valley Insider

Staff Writer

Overview:

Purdue was one of the Big Ten’s feel-good teams of 2021, consistently playing up to the standards of its opponent even on days when it may have been outmatched talent-wise.

After three straight losing seasons and just two wins in the pandemic-shortened year, Jeff Brohm finally has a season to build off of which saw nine wins, with two coming against ranked Big Ten opponents in Iowa and Michigan State who were both ranked in the top-five at the time.

The credit thrown towards Purdue’s success in 2021 came mostly at the offense, specifically the aerial attack as the team finished second in the Big Ten in total passing yards and touchdown receptions.

While the defense was inconsistent and failed to step up at times against some of the higher-powered offenses in the conference, they’ve still shown the ability to keep the team in games, finishing in the upper half in points and yards allowed in the Big Ten. Jeff Brohm's first few teams in West Lafeyette were known for strong defensive play and the program is once again trending in that direction heading into 2022.

The Boilermaker did suffer several key departures over the offseason including wide receiver David Bell but overall returned 14 of their 22 starters from 2021 including star quarterback Aidan O'Connell.

Offense

It is no secret that Purdue’s offense is about as one-dimensional as it gets.

The Boilermakers led the Big Ten in pass attempts and completions last year by a pretty large margin and were at the bottom of the conference when it came to running the ball, finishing last in both attempts and yards. Their struggles in running the ball have been a consistent problem in the Jeff Brohm era and are expected to be a struggle once again in 2022.

While a good amount of the success through the air was due to the solid play of O’Connell, there is no doubt that there was some serious talent in the receiver room last year led by David Bell who was the ultimate big play machine. The Indianapolis native had 93 receptions for 1,286 yards and six touchdowns last season.

With Bell gone along with reliable pass-catcher Jackson Anthrop (53 receptions, 570 yards, and five touchdowns), Purdue was expecting wideout Milton Wright to take that next step and become the leader in the receiver room. Earlier this offseason, however, Wright was ruled academically ineligible for the 2022 season, a big loss of both talent and experience for the offense.

That leaves a group of unproven wideouts to replace that production, so tight ends Payne Durham, and incoming transfer Tyrone Tracy will have to step up in their place.

The Boilermakers will likely stick to the run by committee style on the ground but there is no real reason to think that their rushing attack will be any more potent than it was last season.

With Aidan O'Connell as their signal caller, Purdue likely will have a rather decent floor as an offense but their ceiling will be determined by how their unproven receiver corp steps up in 2022.

Defense

The situation surrounding Purdue’s defense is similar to the offense in terms of lost production from 2021. Star edge rusher George Karlaftis went to the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of last year’s NFL Draft and leading tackler Jaylan Alexander is gone as well.

But even with these two in the mix, the Boilermaker front seven was relatively average across the board last year statistically.

Meanwhile, Purdue’s secondary not only managed to hold its own against some really solid opponents but put up some eye-popping statistics as well. The Purdue defensive backfield allowed just 194.6 yards per game which was third in the conference and even had 13 interceptions which put them fourth in the Big Ten.

That secondary retains most of its talent while bringing back Cory Trice who is continuing to get stronger after a knee injury sidelined him for the entirety of 2021. Purdue's defense in 2022 will be a quality one but with their key losses, it may be a bit too much to ask for them to have a repeat performance of their success from 2022.

Special Teams

After a relatively disappointing season on special teams last season, Purdue hired Karl Maslowski as its next special teams coach in hopes of giving that unit a big boost in 2022.

Maslowski, who spent the previous three seasons at Louisville, is looking to provide some sort of spark in West Lafayette as the Boilermaker special teams units have failed to be a game-changer over the last few years.

Veteran Mitchell Fineran will return to kick field goals for Purdue. Last season, he was 24-for-29 for the Boilermakers but had some struggles beyond 30 yards, making 13 of 18 attempts. Aside from that, both the punter and kickoff jobs are up in the air so that could remain a weak spot for the program this upcoming season.

The special teams will get a boost this year though from return specialist Charlie Jones who should take over those duties full-time after transferring from Iowa last season. While with the Hawkeyes, Jones took home Return Specialist of the Year in the Big Ten and will look to maintain that production with a new team.