Upon Further Review: Purdue's win over Minnesota

Upon Further Review is GoldandBlack.com’s detailed weekly look back at that weekend’s Purdue football game. Today, the Boilermakers’ 49-30 win over Minnesota. In this series, we will do our best to examine some of the finer points of game, the strategy, scheme and such things. We will do so without intimate knowledge of game plans and terminology and without access to all-22 video, so please keep all that in mind.

Use of these video clips (credit: NBC) is intended for editorial comment only.

Obviously the game was what it was, but we’ll just highlight a few things.

PDF: Purdue-Minnesota statistics

PURDUE OFFENSE: WHERE DID *THAT* COME FROM?

This is what Purdue’s offense was supposed to look like all season, I’d imagine, in the best-case scenario. The Boilermakers were mistake-free, viciously balanced and made big plays in both the passing and the running game, one of the few Big Ten games this in which Hudson Card was set up to succeed by those around him, the game plan, the play-calling, etc.

A lot went into this, so we’ll use this entire piece this week to take a look-see.

EAST-WEST PRESSURE

Purdue used misdirection, pre-snap motion and various forms of eye candy beautifully, especially in scoring territory. Once established, it really opened things up over the middle of the field against Minnesota’s two deep safeties.

First off, this play is made by those linemen left in to block giving a bunch of stuff time to develop, but here in the red zone, Purdue has both running backs on the field — Devin Mockobee in the backfield and Tyrone Tracy motioned out of the slot to signal a swing pass left. Card takes the snap, looks left to Tracy, then reverses field to give the look of a swing/screen the other way with lineman Jalen Grant pulling to get out in front of Mockobee.

Garrett Miller does a great job selling his block at the line. By the time he slips out, both DBs who might account for him have their backs turned to him. Touchdown.

Blocking tight end/H-back Ben Furtney was a big part of Purdue’s offensive success, a key component to its red-zone and short-yardage stuff. Here, his pre-snap motion sews apparent confusion within the defense and signals the play likely going right, a bootleg with Card out of a moving pocket and the protection rolling the other way. Jaron Tibbs sells the play, as well. Purdue hands to Tracy with all those blockers in front of him.

I don’t know if this was a play where there was a read-option component to it.

Purdue did plenty of that, too, with season-best success. Credit to Josh Kaltenberger for locking down the edge.

Big-time play right by Hudson Card, but also set up by Deion Burks as a decoy. (Sorry if some of these clips are bad. NBC makes it hard, as they should.)

TWO-BACK OFFENSE

This has sparked Purdue’s running game at times this season, using Devin Mockobee and Tyrone Tracy together, flanking Card in the shotgun.

Awesome job here by Ben Farrell handling the edge and Josh Kaltenberger getting to his block in the hole, but also Mockobee leading the way for Tracy.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE WAS GREAT

Purdue’s game plan — the east-west stuff, the motion, the read-option stuff. the conflict-of-assignment mechanisms — took a lot of pressure off these guys to just hold blocks in deep drops, which is not their strength. It also helped that Minnesota is not Michigan-caliber up front and their linebackers aren’t great.

But nevertheless, this was the best Purdue’s linemen have played on the move. As we write here often, offensive line play isn’t just about lining up and mashing the guy in front of you; it’s about getting to blocks.

Exactly like this, the best-blocked running play of the season.

Jalen Grant gets out and makes his trap block and Garrett Miller makes the play with his second-level work here, taking out two guys.

Put Mockobee is situations like this and he’s gonna win this way more often than not.

Have to appreciate Jayden Dixon-Veal‘s zeal for downfield blocking too.

I thought Josh Kaltenberger played great and his return made a huge difference for Purdue.

Last random note: A little thing, but Purdue did a great job selling blocks. You saw the Miller and Tibbs examples earlier, but look how Ben Farrell sells this as a pass before Grant comes in and flattens his guy.

HUDSON CARD’S FEET AND AWARENESS

You saw the game, so no need to rehash, but Card’s ability to make the first guy miss damn near every time, re-set his feet and get his eyes upfield was just really high-level in this game.

This is as big-time a play as Purdue has gotten from a QB in some time.