Big Picture: Toothless offense spells doom

Big Picture is GoldandBlack.com’s healf-heartedly named post-game opinion/analysis piece, written by Brian Neubert after most Purdue football games.

Purdue’s not winning right now. The scoreboards have told you it’s not even been close, but at least the past two weeks, the ins and outs of those losses have shown the Boilermakers have had their chances, and chances come all throughout 60 minutes of football.

Last week at Oregon State, the defense wasn’t good enough, which veiled the fact the offense blew an opportunity to let the defense play with a lead, then committed a weird turnover that actually created a deficit.

Today against Nebraska, the defense rose to the moment, showing both sound moves by its coaching staff but also the reality that Purdue’s defense is better against offenses that try to do stuff. Nebraska ran drop-back offense and Dylan Raiola was made often to look like the freshman that he is.

The penalties were a debacle, but this is a PI-vulnerable defensive system. It reminded me of the comment Jeff Brohm made after his team won at flag-riddled Illinois — with Ryan Walters as its DC — that, “If you coach holding, they’re going to call holding.” It’s an occupational hazard with aggressive man-to-man, but one that went way off the deep end today.

Penalties were a fraction of the story.

Nebraska didn’t score before halftime and Purdue’s offense simply hung it out to dry.

In football — and people too often lose sight of this — everything’s connected in some way, and it’s a game of moments and sequences and leverage. In that first half, the defense earned a chance to play with a lead at that stage of the game and, just like Oregon State, if Purdue jumps out 7-0 or 10-0, who knows how the butterfly effect plays out?

Purdue has a real offensive problem right now.

It’s part personnel — yes, CJ Smith, Jahmal Edrine and George Burhenn would help — but part of the deal at this level is positioning players to succeed, find strengths, leveraging them, then playing off them. But also, you have to hide weaknesses. Today, you didn’t see much as far as solutions go, to put it mildly.

Purdue’s protection didn’t hold up, but there was nothing in this offense today that seemed geared to turning opponents’ pressure against it or to get Hudson Card off the firing line. This is supposed to be an offense that generates quick, high-percentage, chain-moving completions but you just don’t see any bread and butter materializing, nothing consistent that Purdue can keep going to. Look, this isn’t a video game. It’s not easy, and Purdue just has very little juice in its offensive personnel at the time being. But some measure of creativity and/or different was missing today. Rolling pockets, draws, screens, whatever.

Card got sacked five times and pressure created his third pick-six in as many weeks. Didn’t seem there was a whole lot baked into the passing game to make things easier for him. If you’re offensive line is overmatched or outnumbered, scheme around it.

Objectively speaking here, Card is a really gifted player, a guy who made at least three NFL throws today. But he is not being given a chance the way things are going here. Graham Harrell, and Ryan Walters, have to figure out ways to give him a chance and get points on the board. I’m not a big blame-the-coordinator-for-everything guy, but you’re watching the same games I am.

This is not a big-play offense, but you have to at least try to do something.

Early in the second quarter in a scoreless game, Purdue took possession at its own 47-yard line — prime field position — then called offense like it was hoping to win 6-3. That was a chance to be bold. After two handoffs came a penalty, then a third-and-long incompletion and a punt. Again, this isn’t a video game; scoring isn’t easy. But you have to score to win.

And Purdue did have its opportunities today, but one of this team’s unwanted characteristics to this point is its inability to cash in on opportunity.