Purdue coach Ryan Walters on Ohio State matchup: 'You can't pay attention to the logo'

COLUMBUS — Ryan Day and Ryan Walters — head coaches of Ohio State and Purdue, respectively — share a mutual respect.

“He’s coached at some really good places, and good defenses have followed him,” Day said this week of the first-year Boilermakers coach.

Walters came over from Illinois, where he was the defensive coordinator the last two seasons. Before that, he held a DC position at Missouri from 2016-2020.

In his two years at Illinois, Walters didn’t face the Ohio State offense. This week will be his first test against the No. 3 Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten)

Purdue — last year’s Big Ten West champion — is in a rebuild following the departure of Jeff Brohm. Most recently, the Boilermakers (2-4, 1-2) are coming off a 20-14 loss to Iowa.

But their series with Ohio State has included some magical moments in Ross-Ade Stadium. So Walters and Co. are looking at Saturday as an opportunity.

Here’s the latest from Walters: important team updates and his thoughts on Ohio State.

Looking at Ohio State, how do you prepare for one of the toughest games on your schedule?

WALTERS: “Just like you do every week. The beauty of the way that we prepare, you prep and and go to work and film study and everything the same every week, whether it’s you’re playing for the Super Bowl or you’re playing against West Lafayette. So that way you’re not cutting corners and you’re not making it more than what it is. You’re just diving into the details of your assignment, the scheme, the technique and ultimately trying to put yourself in position to make plays in order to go win the game.”

Have you or any of your players emphasized the last time Purdue upset Ohio State?

WALTERS: “We’ll have a team meeting tomorrow, and I’ve got some creative ways to just kind of give the history of this game and what what it meant the last time that they were here. And so you know they’ll definitely be aware.”

What are the updates on the injury front?

WALTERS: “It looks like Max (tight end Max Klare) will not be back, Marquis (cornerback Marquis Wilson) will not be back, Marcus (offensive tackle Marcus Mbow) won’t be back this season. It just kind of comes with the territory. It’s a risk that we all signed up for when when we decided to play this beautiful game. We’ve got a locker room full of guys that are obviously compassionate for the guys that are not playing anymore but also they’re eager for the opportunity for themselves to go play football. And so it’s always been a ‘next man up’ mentality and we’ll adjust as a staff in the areas that we need to. But still very confident and excited to go compete.”

When asked a follow-up about the health status of running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. …

WALTERS: “I would be shocked if he played this week.”

Note: Walters later noted that kicker Ben Freehill will be out for the fourth consecutive game and that the status of linebacker OC Brothers is still to be determined.

Are you framing this game vs. Ohio State as more of an opportunity than a challenge?

WALTERS: “Yeah, I mean obviously Ohio State is a national brand for a reason. I’ve got a lot of respect for Ryan Day and what he’s done in his career. But you go play to win the game. That is the purpose of competition. We’re excited to go play, to go compete. It’s been fun already, prepping and game planning against guys that you respect in this profession and against players that you’ve got respect for that play the game.”

Ohio State’s offense is capable, but it’s struggling to run the ball — are you noticing anything different?

WALTERS: “It’s funny, this is the first time I’ve played against them. I haven’t really had crossover games where we studied what they’ve done traditionally, in the past. I know they’ve got new faces from a year ago. But that’s the thing about Ohio State, they just re-up from a roster standpoint. They’ve got talented offensive linemen, they’ve got talented receivers. I feel like every year, they’re signing three or four five-star guys. Their running backs, they’ve got three of them that they kind of rotate in, and they don’t miss a beat. And so, whoever’s out there, they’re there for a reason, and they’re talented as all get out. And I think as a staff, they do a good job of making it not overly complicated for those guys so that they can play fast and use their God-given ability to go make plays, and they find creative ways to get guys in space and get guys touches. So it’ll be a good challenge. And I’m looking forward to it.”

Have you seen any weaknesses from Ohio State?

WALTERS: “I mean, they’re undefeated right now. They had the tight one against Notre Dame. To their credit, Notre Dame had every chance to win that game at the end. And Ohio State just kept fighting and kept fighting — weren’t playing the type of game that they’re accustomed to playing. But that speaks to their confidence and their will to win. So, chinks in the armor? No, not really.

“You got to execute, you got to make plays. And you can’t pay attention to the logo, right? Like, you can’t let the brand or the history affect how aggressive you play. And so that’s what our guys got to understand: As long as we make it about us and how we execute and how we play the game, how aggressive our mentality and our mindset is, then you go play, you go compete and you let the game play out and try to go win it. You can’t walk into it and give them an edge from a mental standpoint just because they got a Buckeye on the back of their helmet. That’s why I love competition. That’s why I love football in particular. It’s 11-on-11. The ball is snapped and then the whistle’s blown. And everything that happens in between that is completely up to your control.”

After facing a tough Iowa defense, how can Purdue’s offense get back on track this week?

WALTERS: “To me, it was the early down, negative yardage plays. 1st-and-10 sacks, 1st-and-10 TFLs. When we’re good on first down, and then we’re playing with pace on second down and getting us in third-and-manageable to move the chains and then do that over again. That’s when we’re at our best offensively. And so we’ve had six games now of cataloged information that we as a staff have looked at. And like I said to the staff at the start of the season, in my opinion, our staff’s ability to adapt and to adjust to our roster and to who our opponent is, throughout the course of the season will be in direct correlation with our our success or our failures. And so we had some poignant conversations on Sunday as a staff and just about the direction that we need to head in order to close out these last six games the right way. And we are completely capable of doing so and I got every confidence and every belief that we’re gonna get it done.”

How is the shoulder of QB Hudson Card? And what are ways for him to get the ball out quicker?

WALTERS: “Hudson got banged up against Illinois, actually. And then practiced on Thursday. The nature of his injury was one that he wasn’t in harm’s way of further damaging the injury, but it was going to be painful. And that speaks to his competitive spirit and just his physical toughness. So every every time he was out there and got hit like that, it didn’t feel good, I promise you. So for him to go through the whole game and compete the way he did, I was proud of that fact. Obviously, there are plays that he would love to have back. He was very down after the game. And I think it is a growing process, right? And I think he’ll continue to mature and continue to grow.

“One of the areas we talked about is not not taking sacks on early downs or in the red area to get you out of field goal range. And I think, as a staff, we can also help him out in that area and give him better answers and put him in scenarios where the ball is designed to get out quick. And so that’s one of the things that we’ve looked at, that we need to adapt and to adjust to give our quarterback the best chance to be successful on Saturdays.”