Replay: Purdue BOT Chair Berghoff, FB great Burrell on LIVE
Purdue-Oregon State breakdown and discussion with Tom Dienhart followed by special guests Purdue Board of Trustees Chair Mike Berghoff and football legend Bart Burrell.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE LIVE STREAM
More on the matchup
Purdue at Oregon State, from a matchup perspective.
Date/Time: Saturday, September 21, 8:30 E.T.
Location: Reser Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 35,548 (tickets)
2024 schedules/records: Purdue 1-1 (0-0 Big Ten), Oregon State 2-1
Series notes: The return trip of a home-and-home scheduling agreement, Saturday will become just the third meeting between the Boilermakers and Beavers. Oregon State took a 22-14 decision in West Lafayette way back in 1967 in a huge Homecoming upset when the Boilermakers were ranked No. 2 nationally, while Purdue opened the 2021 season with a 30-21 win under the lights in Ross-Ade Stadium. Purdue’s only other game in the state of Oregon came in 2009 when the Boilermakers fell in a heartbreaker in Eugene against Oregon.
TV: The CW (PxP Ted Robinson, Analyst Ryan Leaf, Sidelines Nigel Burton)
Radio: Purdue Sports Properties (PxP Tim Newton, Analyst Mark Herrmann, Sidelines Derek Schultz)
Line: Oregon State -5.5, O/U 50
Weather: High 73/low 49, partly cloudy skies
Purdue-OSU: A Key matchup
The running game
Oregon State would like to run the ball early and often. The Beavers’ run plays (141) nearly double their pass plays (76) through three games. The tandem of Anthony Hankerson and Jam Griffin will split carries in the backfield, as each back enters Saturday averaging more than 90 yards per game. Those stats may be slightly misleading, however, as each back ran for over 150 yards in the season-opening win over FCS Idaho State.
Purdue will see yet another running quarterback, as it will need to keep an eye on Gevani McCoy. Though he’s only ran the ball nine times on the year, he’s done so at a clip of over six yards per carry. Until Purdue proves it can contain mobile quarterbacks, opponents will look to test the Boilermakers on read plays.
Missed tackles haunted Purdue’s run defense and contributed heavily to the game getting out of hand against the Fighting Irish. Pro Football Focus charged Purdue’s defense with 15 missed tackles, several coming from prominent defensive players. Purdue’s back half of the defense consistently failed to take proper angles and closed out tackles poorly, leading to explosive plays from Notre Dame.
After recording just one tackle for loss on a run play, Purdue will look to create more disruption in the run game. Mobile quarterbacks continue to haunt the Boilermaker defense, though most of Riley Leonard’s damage came from designed runs or option plays. The lateral run game hurt Purdue, too, exposing some lack of speed. Expect Purdue to try and push more of runs to the middle of the defense rather than the perimeter to limit explosive plays.
Pregame:First Look: Purdue-Oregon State | First and 10: Purdue at Oregon State | Purdue’s Ryan Walters: ‘Fully expect us to respond the right way’ | Number Crunching: Purdue-Oregon State week |
The 3-2-1: How will Purdue respond in wake of historic loss? | Trips to West Coast: Sun, surf, mountains, losses for Purdue | In the Huddle: Jeffrey M’Ba | Opponent View: Oregon State |
