Purdue's Ryan Walters hears outside noise, but he's not listening
Purdue coach Ryan Walters hears the noise from outside the Kozuch Football Performance Complex. He knows about the grumblings, the doubters following two painful losses.
“During the season, I don’t really open Twitter or read articles unless it’s for recruiting purposes,” he said. “I try to encourage our guys to do the same. Obviously, I’ve got a couple friends that think it’s funny to send me tweets to rib me a little bit.”
Given Purdue is coming off an historic 66-7 loss to Notre Dame and a numbing 38-21 setback at Oregon State, Walters’ buddies have had a lot to rib him about. But the second-year Purdue coach just shrugs. He has to keep his eyes forward. The Boilermakers begin Big Ten play Saturday with Nebraska (2-1) visiting for a noon ET kickoff on Peacock.
“You know what’s being said,” Walters said. “You know what’s going on. I’m not naive to it. That’s part of being in this profession, being in a competition arena, like you have a fan base that is as passionate as ours is, you’re going to hear frustration and rightfully so.”
The frustrations for fans have been many. Offense? The pass game has been feckless. The “Cradle of Quarterbacks” has fallen asleep, as Purdue ranks 110th in the nation (15th in Big Ten) in passing (138.2 ypg). Last Saturday was a nadir of sorts, as the Boilermakers passed for only 57 yards. It was the fewest by the program in a game since 2010.
Since his smashing effort vs. Indiana State in the opener (24-of-25 for 273 yards with 4 TDs), Hudson Card has struggled. He completed just 7-of-17 passes for 56 yards with a TD and an INT (a pick six, his second in two weeks) at Oregon State. So, in the last two games, he is 18-of-41 (44 percent) for 180 yards with two TDs and three INTs.
Walters has huddled with Card.
“I think we’ll keep those issues in house so we’re not tipping our hand to our opponent, but there are definitely things that we’ve talked about, have addressed, and looking forward to seeing what that looks like on Tuesday’s practice,” said Walters.
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Defense? Too often the unit has been trucked by the run. Purdue is trying to avoid yielding 300 rushing yards in three consecutive games. The last time that happened? It was 2016 during the You Know Who era. Notre Dame and Oregon State averaged 351.5 rushing yards. And there is this: The Boilermakers are 132 out of 134 in the nation vs. the run (269.0 ypg).
“We played three completely different types of opponents,” said Walters. “So, I think those three games are good evaluators for us because what might look great against Indiana State didn’t look great against Notre Dame. Was it not great because it was Notre Dame? Or now we’ve had another opportunity against an Oregon State team.”
Oh, and no need to remind Walters that Purdue is one of only two FBS schools without a takeaway.
“I’m well aware,” said Walters, whose team is -5 in turnover margin.
On a positive note: Walters said he expects CB Nyland Green to play on Saturday. The Georgia transfer–considered to be the team’s top corner–has yet to suit up while dealing with a foot injury.
“When we turn this thing around and win some games, you’ll start hearing the other side of that noise, and that can be just as toxic, as well,” said Walters. “To me, when you’re in the throes of a season, you don’t pay attention to the noise, you pay attention to the guys that are in the building.”
