| Purdue got that monkey off their back in a major way, with a decisive home win over what had been a red hot Boston College team. Winning the game, even by the margin they did, was surprising, but what was shocking was how well the defense, which had been struggling, was able to shut down the Eagles' offense, which was just rolling over teams. Granted, after seeing Wake Forest lay another egg on defense last week, leading to the firing of their defensive coordinator, maybe there was a little bit of fool's gold there. But the Boiler defense was smothering. They held BC to just 229 yards of total offense, forced 2 turnovers, and they only got to double digits in points with a garbage time touchdown against the backups in the final minute. Anthony Brown had as bad a stat line as you'll see all season, 13-27 for 96 yards, a touchdown, 4 interceptions, and -22 rushing yards. Purdue had a plan, stuff A.J. Dillon, and force Boston College to throw from behind. The plan was obvious enough, but executing it was a taller task, with Dillon as tough a back to stop as there is in the nation. They held him to just 59 yards on 19 carries, his worst game since his second game on campus, when he was still a backup. It's a different animal this week, trying to shut down the mobile Adrian Martinez. Michigan has the talent to make a lot of offensive lines look bad, but Nebraska's looks particularly undermanned right now. Between passes and rushes, Martinez's plays totaled 10 yards on 22 plays. The Huskers didn't top the 100 yard mark in total offense until there was 6:20 left in the game. Turning the tide starts with doing a much better job controlling the trenches. Martinez has the ability to turn a small hole into a big play, but he's not even getting that right now. Right now, Frost's offense can't work with this line, and for the moment Andrew Bunch, who looks to be a better passer right now, may be the better option to just try and let the wideouts make a couple of plays. But it's clear Nebraska isn't playing for the moment, and nobody is suggesting the prudent move is to pull Martinez. Whatever game reps he gets now will be more valuable towards competing for conference championships in 2020 and beyond, than picking up an extra win in 2018. But getting those extra bowl practices would do this team a world of good, and with trips remaining to Madison, Evanston, Columbus and Iowa City, it's clear that every home game is a must win to keep any such hopes alive. While the Purdue pass defense showed up last week, passing on them, has been the way to beat them. It wasn't just shutting down Dillon that announced their run defense was legit, they were already a top 5 run defense in the conference based on yards per carry. Weird stat, Purdue has yet to collect a road win against any of the Big Ten newbies. They are 1-7 in Happy Valley since Penn State joined the conference. They are also 0-4 in Minneapolis since TCF Bank Stadium opened. That makes them a combined 1-15 in the five newest conference venues. I think they are due for 2-15. |
