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Three and Out: Purdue's win over Illinois

On3 imageby:Brian Neubert•09/30/23•

brianneubert

Purdue-Illinois
Purdue-Illinois (Chad Krockover)

Ryan Walters has his first Big Ten win at Purdue, at the expense of his old team, as the Boilermakers routed Illinois Saturday in Ross-Ade Stadium, 44-19.

With Walters himself seemingly calling Purdue’s defense, the Boilermakers held the Illini to 1-of-13 on third down, created a defensive touchdown and sacked Luke Altmyer five times (plus an additional sack on a two-point play).

Walters was Illinois’ defensive coordinator two seasons prior to coming to Purdue, bringing several Illini staffers with him.

Tyrone Tracy ran for 112 yads while he, Devin Mockobee and Dylan Downing ran for touchdowns and Hudson Card threw scores to Deion Burks (basically an extended handoff) and Garrett Miller. Tracy has scored in every game this season.

Three things from the game …

• Purdue’s defensive front and aggressive strategy just overwhelmed Illinois. Altmyer never really a chance. Given Illinois’ familiarity with Walters, one would have thought it would have been better prepared strategically to deal with pressure.

• Conversely, Purdue’s offensive front struggled with Illinois’ NFL talent up front, but the Boilermakers’ plan was better geared to cover up the line of scrimmage — emphasizing quicker throws, attacking the perimeter, moving Card around and consequently, creating running seams enough to salt the game away after halftime.

• In the second half, Purdue overcame stuff that could have caught up with them. A blocked punt, a missed PAT and another scoring-zone turnover were among the gaffes that the Boilermakers overcame before seizing control of the game by scoring 10 points on its (basically) consecutive possessions bracketing halftime.

PDF: Purdue-Illinois statistics

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