Purdue’s Halloween trip to State College came with no costume change and no disguise. The Boilermakers looked like themselves again, and that meant another rough afternoon in a 31-17 loss to Penn State at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Penn State entered the day 0-4 in Big Ten play, but Purdue was the team that made things easy. Just as Washington did two weeks earlier, the Boilermakers served as the opponent that helped someone else reset its season. Purdue is now 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten after a game that briefly felt competitive, then slipped away.
The one bright spot came from special teams, which has become Purdue’s steadiest unit by far. Bisi Owens delivered his second punt block of the season, and Jalil Hall turned it into a 31-yard touchdown return.
Hall, a Pennsylvania native, missed the final 11 games last season after an injury. That play helped Purdue tie the game early in the second quarter, but the offense never built on it.
That’s where the trouble really showed up. Purdue’s offense gets an F after failing to do much with chances that were there.
The Boilermakers needed to run the ball against a Penn State defense that ranked 17th in the Big Ten against the run coming in, and the opening drive suggested that might happen. Fame Ijeboi opened with two 8-yard carries, but the ground game never took off from there.
Purdue’s only offensive touchdown came on a scramble, heave and prayer that Xavier Townsend caught while drawing pass interference. That was on the Boilermakers’ second drive, and it ended up standing as their lone offensive touchdown of the day. Even with the defense giving them multiple second-half chances and decent field position, Purdue never seriously threatened again.
The defense earned a D+ because it was overwhelmed early and then steadied itself enough later to avoid complete collapse. Penn State came in averaging 130 rushing yards per game, and by the end of the first quarter it already had 124.
The Nittany Lions showed little concern for Purdue’s defense, even leaving their offense on the field at their own 28-yard line on fourth-and-short while leading by a touchdown. They converted that one, and they also converted two other fourth downs in the first half.
That was especially damaging because Penn State was missing its two leading receivers. Still, the Boilermakers couldn’t stop the run early. The second half was a different story, and Purdue did enough then to keep the score from getting uglier.
Special teams, though, was the one area that held up. James Shibest’s group keeps being the most dependable part of Purdue football, and it showed again here.
Long snapper Luke Raab, punter/holder Dylan Drennan, placekicker Jacobo Echeverria Lozano and kickoff specialist Seth Turner continue to look like one of the Big Ten’s best specialist units. Drennan did have a rare shank, which is the only thing that kept the grade from being even higher.
Coaching gets a D, and the frustration is obvious. Purdue had two weeks to clean things up, and the result still looked messy.
Complementary football remains missing. The offense appears to be sliding backward.
The defense opened the season badly and hasn’t improved enough beyond a brief two-game surge. With four games left, the question is whether there’s enough time to salvage anything from the first two-thirds of the season.
As for the game’s top individual performance, Cam Wallace gets the nod. He came in with 125 rushing yards on the season and finished with 131 against Purdue.
In Other News...
Purdue Faces A Bigger Depth Chart Question At Penn State
Purdue heads into Penn State already juggling its depth chart, with the Boilermakers trying to sort out the ripple effects of missing key pieces on both sides of the ball. De'Nylon Morrissette, a receiver and captain who has been out since ankle surgery sidelined him for the previous season, and safety Jaden Mangham, a first-year transfer from Michigan, are both unavailable for the matchup.
There is at least one encouraging sign in the secondary, where Mister Clark was a full participant in Tuesday's practice after being sidelined since the season opener with a wrist injury. He does not appear on the week's availability report, which gives Purdue a possible boost as it looks for answers against a Penn State team that will test its depth in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Purdues Bye Week Brought More Frustration Than Hope At Penn State
A bye week was supposed to offer Purdue a reset, but the trip to Penn State only deepened the frustration. The Boilermakers came out of it with a 31-17 loss, dropping to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in Big Ten play, while Penn State leaned on its ground game with Cam Wallace and Carson Hansen helping power the win with multiple rushing scores.
Purdue did find a couple of jolts to keep the game from slipping away entirely, especially on special teams, but the offense never found enough rhythm to turn those moments into sustained pressure. The Boilermakers spent too much of the afternoon chasing the game, and the bigger concern is how little they were able to generate when they needed a response most. [Read more 🡒]