QB Ryan Browne to start vs. No. 2 Oregon: "It would be unfair not to"

When Purdue breaks its first offensive huddle on Friday night, Ryan Browne will be at quarterback. Ryan Walters made it official at his Monday press conference.

“Ryan Browne will start the game on Friday,” said Walters. “I think just the way he played it would be unfair not to.”

The status of previous starter Hudson Card remains murky, as he was in concussion protocol last week and missed the game at Illinois. There’s a chance he could see action when No. 2 Oregon (6-0 overall; 3-0 Big Ten) visits Purdue (1-5; 0-3) for an 8 p.m. ET kickoff on FOX.

“I’m not sure if Hudson will be available or not,” said Walters, whose squad is riding a five-game losing streak. “We’ll see about Hudson’s availability moving forward.”

Browne was a revelation in his first career start last week in Purdue’s 50-49 OT loss at Illinois. The redshirt freshman had 415 yards of total offense (118 rush; 297 pass) with three passing TDs. He executed a revised game plan that featured a lot of quarterback run. Browne was decisive, fearless, effective and avoided the big mistake.

Another big change last week: Walters was the play-caller, a role he never had held at any level of football as coach. But he did grow up playing quarterback, a position he was recruited to Colorado to play. When did Walters decide to assume play-calling duties from Jason Simmons, who had taken over for the Wisconsin game in the wake of Graham Harrell’s dismissal?

“Think it was like Thursday morning at 2:30 in the morning,” said Walters, who will continue to push the buttons on the offense. “The week of the Wisconsin game I spent learning the vocab, the rules within the offense. I didn’t feel comfortable calling it that game because I wouldn’t be able to spit out plays fast enough.

“Got to mid-week last week and felt like I had the vocab down enough to know what play I want to get to, so I just felt like me calling the game was going to give us the best opportunity to put points on the board. That’s why I made the decision I made.”

It proved to be salient decision by the second-year Purdue coach. The offense hadn’t performed to this standard since a season-opening 49-0 win vs. FCS Indiana State. (See chart below.)

The Boilers roared back from a 27-3 third quarter deficit to take a 43-40 lead with 46 seconds left before falling in OT after Walters opted to go for a two-point conversion and the win. The try failed. Purdue finished with 536 total yards, the most since it had 583 vs. Indiana State.

Simmons, who worked from the press box at Illinois after being on the field the week before at Wisconsin, still has an active role in the offense.

“He’s been organizing,” said Walters. “The whole offensive staff has done a great job of being creative and bounces ideas off each other, and then he’ll put the script together for practice. Upstairs, he gave me a lot of good insight on game day.

“That’s kind of how we’re operating right now.”

MORE: First look: Oregon | Big picture: Mixed feelings after near miss at Illinois | First and 10

We will see how the operation goes vs. the No. 2 Ducks, who are coming off a pulsating 32-31 home win vs. Ohio State last Saturday. The last No. 2 ranked team to visit Ross-Ade Stadium was Ohio State in 2018. That day, inspired by Tyler Trent, the Boilermakers stunned the Buckeyes, 49-20.

David Blough was the Purdue signal-caller that mystical day in Ross-Ade. Browne–at least to start–will be looking to make his own magic.

“He had a great week of practice,” said Walters. “Really, the last two weeks he’s practiced well. You know, you always appreciate like his energy and enthusiasm as a competitor.

“He spent a lot of time in preparation this past week. So, the things we saw during the game is what we were seeing during practice. Obviously, you don’t know what it’s going to look like until you get in live situations.”

It’s alive!

Previous four-game averages (totals)	Illinois game totals
Total offense 230.3 ypg (921 yards)	536
Passing offense 117.8 ypg (471 yards)	297
Rushing offense 112.5 ypg (450 yards)	239
Scoring offense 11.0 ppg (44 points)	49