Ten observations: Penn State-Purdue

Here is what has us talking after Purdue’s 49-10 loss vs. No. 4 Penn State on Saturday in Ross-Ade Stadium.

PDF: Purdue-Penn State box score

1 – This game went about as expect from the start. Penn State took the opening kickoff and marched to paydirt in 9 plays. Purdue followed by going three-and-out. Then, Penn State went 93 yards on 10 plays on its second drive to take a 14-0 lead. What was most disappointing?

“The slow start,” said Ryan Walters. “We’ve been talking about executing and doing it early and just missed on some opportunities. And when you do that against a good team, you’re not gonna be in it at the end of the game.”

2 – The crowds continue to turn out, despite the sub-par brand of football being played. Today, 58,346 showed on a nice November day. Kudos to these fans. They deserve better than 1-9.

3 – The first quarter malaise continues. Penn State out scored the Boilers, 14-0, in the opening 15 minutes. For the season, the Boilers have been out scored, 90-10, in the opening quarter. And only three of those points have come vs. FBS foes.

4 – Ben Freehill assumed field-goal duties from Spencer Porath, who has a case of the yipes after making just 2 of his last 5 field-goal attempts. Freehill connected from 22 yards to get Purdue on the board but missed from 48.

5 – The internet had some fun when Purdue WR De’Nylon Morrissette caught a pass out of the back of the end zone, seemingly not realizing where he was at. Purdue ended up having to settle for a field goal on the drive.

Penn State cornerback A.J. Harris letting Purdue wide receiver De’Nylon Morrossette know he was out of bounds on this catch 😂
pic.twitter.com/cJ5LPXlBP0

— Joel Haas (@Joel_Haas1) November 16, 2024

6 – This game concludes a dreary home schedule that saw Purdue go 1-5, losing its last five after opening with a 49-0 win vs. FCS Indiana State. The Boilermakers lost 66-7 to Notre Dame; 28-10 at Nebraska; 35-0 to Oregon; 26-20 to Northwestern and today to Penn State 49-10.

7 – That’s nine losses in a row. Nine. Purdue has been outscored 389-123 in that span. Playing a tough schedule hasn’t helped.

“When you look at the schedule in this totality, obviously, it’s a tough one, right?” said Walters. “But we sort of we knew that going into the season, and I think there’s a combination of a lot of things that have led to where we are right now. Obviously, the strength of the schedule, and the combination of not executing and having mental errors and mental busts, that’s not a great combination.”

8 – The offense (302 yards) looked largely the same. The ground game got some traction, but the pass attack (217 yards) struggled outside of TE Max Klare, who had 7 catches for 91 yards and a TD. He’s a special player. Is Walters worried about losing a player like Klare in the portal?

“You got to evaluate the roster in its entirety and identify who you can’t let walk out the door,” said Walters. “I feel like we have learned from that as a program and obviously, with the new rules that have changed with revenue share and transfer portal and the size of the roster, absolutely, we’re in talks almost every day with that specific department within our program.

“And so we’ve already began discussions with guys on our roster about their plans for the future and where we see them in terms of their status on our team. You got to navigate it carefully, strategically, and you got to have open and honest and transparent conversation.”

9 – The defense continues to be astoundingly bad, never moreso than on a 46-yard Penn State TD pass in the third quarter in which Nittany Lion WR Harrison Wallace was W-I-D-E open.

“It’s very disappointing,” said Walters of the defensive busts that helped Penn State tally 539 yards. “Obviously, we have conversations in house, but it’s inexcusable to have guys wide open or guys not being touched on explosive runs. That can’t happen. And I know we got a lot of young guys playing, but it’s happened a lot.”

Hat’s off to PSU TE Tyler Warren, who was spectacular today in leading Penn State with 8 catches for 127 yards and TD and running for a team-high 63 yards on 3 carries with a TD. QB Drew Allar hit a cool 17-of-19 passes for 247 yards and 3 TDs.

10 – Purdue will finish the season with consecutive road games, heading to Michigan State for a Friday night game next week before finishing the year at Indiana. A 1-11 finish is looking more likely. What did Walters tell his team in the locker room?

“I told them we have to watch this tape,” said Walters. “We talked that it was going to be about execution, and we didn’t do that well enough early. When you don’t do that early in the game, it’s hard to bounce back, because you’re playing the game one-sided from that point, trying to play catch up.

“But I also told them we need to move on from this one as fast as possible, because we got a short week, and our only focus needs to be on Michigan State and performing well and playing well and trying to get a win on the road in East Lansing.”