What did Purdue coach Ryan Walters say about Penn State to start game week?
Like Penn State coach James Franklin, Purdue head coach Ryan Walters held his first news conference of game week on Monday. His 1-8 Boilermakers host the 8-1 and currently No. 6 Nittany Lions on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CBS will televise the contest from Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind.
The biggest news item to come out of the 10-minute question and answer session is that the Boilermakers will have a kicking competition this week to determine who its kicker will be. Spencer Porath is 7 for 11 on the year and missed two field goals against Ohio State and has failed on three of his last five attempts over the last three weeks. Senior Ben Freehill is his main competition for the job.
“Those guys have a really good relationship and rapport together,” Walters said. “I think now that Freehill has been focused on the kickoffs, he’s gotten a lot more consistent in that area and done a nice job there. I’m looking forward to the competition this week.”
You can watch video of Walters’ news conference below courtesy of On3 sister site Gold and Black.
What did Walters say about Penn State?
As you can probably imagine, the second-year Boilermakers head coach has a ton of respect for the Nittany Lions. He’s plenty familiar with them. Before taking over at Purdue, he faced Penn State as Illinois’ defensive coordinator in 2021.
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“Elite defense, and they’re an elite program, elite team that is competing for a playoff berth,” Walter said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Franklin and what he’s been able to do in his career. His teams always show up and play clean. He comes up with good ideas. I think offensively they get really creative, getting in unique formations week to week, and they’re good about getting the ball to who they want to get the ball to. Obviously the tight end is the elite of the elites. He’s very versatile, tall, long, has great ball skills, can run. He’s physical.
“On defense, they fly around, they pose problems up front. It’s one of the better defensive lines in the country. I think their linebackers are very athletic and get sideline to sideline, and their secondary plays well together, and they don’t give up explosive plays. They look like a top-5 team when you turn on the tape.”
One other note is that Walters said, “if I was Penn State, I would be preparing for both,” in response to a question about Purdue potentially playing two quarterbacks. Hudson Card is the starter. However, Ryan Browne is used as a run/pass threat at quarterback, similar to how the Lions use Beau Pribula.
