Purdue’s defense looked different against Wake Forest, and the shift started up front.
Defensive coordinator Kevin Kane moved the Boilermakers from a 4-2-5 to a 3-3-5, and Virginia Tech transfer Keyshawn Burgos was one of the main beneficiaries. The 6’5”, 285-pound defensive end stepped into the starting lineup and handled the run well.
In a three-man front, that’s the job: hold the line, absorb blocks, and let the linebackers run free. Purdue got that part done at a respectable level, limiting Wake Forest’s running backs to under 4 yards per carry on 24 attempts.
The linebackers piled up the tackles as expected in that look. Charles Correa played 70 snaps and finished with 12 tackles, while Jojo Hayden logged 58 snaps and added 11 tackles, one tackle for loss, and no sacks. Anthony Speca had 10 snaps and 2 tackles, and Winston Berglund saw 11 snaps with 2 tackles and a half tackle for loss.
On the edge, Purdue may have found something with junior college transfer Jeremy Lewis. The move to the 3-3-5 appeared designed in part to showcase his pass-rush ability, and it worked.
Lewis brought the kind of burst Purdue had been missing last season. Trey Smith opened the game, but Lewis finished it and played 10 more total snaps.
Smith also had one of his more active outings, with a hit on the quarterback and a QB hurry.
Hayden and Correa were busy against the run, which fits their role in this defense, but pass coverage was a different story. Hayden gave up one touchdown, and Correa allowed a 20-yard completion.
Georgia transfer Elo Modozie saw limited action, which suggests Lewis has moved to the top of the depth chart. San Diego transfer Tre Moore and Modozie could still take snaps from Smith moving forward, but Lewis looks like the real deal.
The secondary had a rougher afternoon. Don Saunders, Purdue’s top corner, was targeted five times and gave up four catches.
Wake Forest got 43 yards out of Carlos Hernandez against him, including a 25-yard completion and two first-down catches, and Saunders also allowed a first-down grab to Kam Shanks. He’s going to get tested as CB1, but Purdue needed more disruption from that spot.
Hudauri Hines was steadier on the other side. He was targeted three times, allowed one catch, and gave up an 11-yard first down to Kam Shanks. Purdue looks like it has two dependable No. 2 corners, but not the true lockdown corner who can erase a receiver.
Smiley Bradford was back at nickelback and held up well enough, allowing just one 11-yard completion. Purdue didn’t miss Mister Clark in its base defense, but his absence was felt later when the Boilermakers needed dime personnel. John Slaughter and Justine Denson Jr. both did their jobs against the run, and Wake Forest didn’t get a deep shot over their heads, which is at least a step forward from last season.
Still, Purdue never got its hands on any of Gio Lopez’s 27 passes. Wake kept the ball moving underneath, and Lopez always seemed to have a receiver available. Not wide open, but open enough.
The bigger concern is depth. Purdue seems to trust only six defensive backs, and when one of them is out, as Mister Clark was here, the falloff to the seventh guy is steep.
That showed up on the overtime 4th-and-15, when Purdue’s decision to go with six defensive backs was the right one in theory, but one of those six was freshman Emoni Smith, playing his second snap of the game. That’s not on Smith so much as it is on the situation he was put in.
He wasn’t ready for a game-deciding down like that.
If Kane had the play over, he probably would have leaned on five defensive backs and an extra linebacker. But that chance is gone now.
Purdue did enough against the run, but it couldn’t get Wake Forest off the field when it mattered through the air. That has to change before UCLA, because if Purdue’s corners and safeties are only making tackles after the catch, it could be a long night in Southern California.
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