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Purdue stayed tied atop the Big Ten West Division on Saturday with a 31-24 road victory Saturday at Illinois.
It wasn’t pretty. After going up 31-10 in the second half, the Boilermakers had to hold on, at least in part because Purdue had some decisions that allowed the hosts to hang around.
Let’s hand out some grades.
Passing offense: A
What’s better than A+?
Because that’s David Bell’s grade. The sophomore receiver is absolutely phenomenal and he proved it again with nine catches for 122 yards and a score against the Illini. He had a number of wow moments, but the game-sealer was the biggest. His one-handed third-down grab iced the win, helping Boilermakers fans to forget — sort of — the bizarre play-calling that nearly allowed Illinois to steal one.
Aidan O’Connell finished with 376 yards and two touchdowns passing. He largely was on point, like with the game-sealing toss to Bell. He also had the deep throw to Milton Wright for the Boilermakers’ second score — credit Purdue’s offensive line, without two starters, for great protection most of the afternoon. O’Connell made solid choices on where to go with the ball, like checking down when necessary; he hit 29-of-35 throws.
It wasn’t perfect.
O’Connell missed Amad Anderson Jr. in the flat on the first drive of the second half, rushing and throwing short. Anderson would have scored. Instead, Purdue turned the ball over on the next play to waste a scoring chance. O’Connell rushed a first-half throw, nearly throwing a pick, and missed Zander Horvath in the end zone on a drive that ended without points.
Illinois had three sacks, one of which resulted in an O’Connell fumble, but it was recovered by a teammate.
Rushing offense: C
Horvath finished with his third consecutive 100-yard day, going for 102 on 22 carries. He had a touchdown.
Illinois had trouble with the big fella, needing multiple defenders to stop him and sometimes still not able to bring him to the ground. Often, the officials bailed out Illinois by blowing the whistle before forward progress was stopped.
However, Horvath fumbled twice: The first was questionable, but somehow was held up on review, after it appeared his knee was down. The second was bad, as Horvath dropped the ball near the goal line on the first drive of the second half.
Horvath has been productive, but Purdue needs a complementary runner. That could be King Doerue, who has been out the first two weeks with a hamstring injury. No other running back has gotten a carry.
Total offense: B
Purdue racked up 456 yards, including a very efficient 371 through the air. The Boilermakers scored 24 offensive points and won.
But the Boilermakers squandered opportunities, also, with a couple of Horvath fumbles and two empty trips near the goal line. The second was particularly frustrating, because Purdue should have at least had a field goal that would have put it up three possessions. Instead, Purdue tried to pass, O’Connell was rushed and it was completed short of the sticks.
In general, the fourth-quarter play-calling was bizarre, hard to rationalize and nearly cost the Boilermakers a win.
Pass defense: C
Playing largely against Illinois’ No. 4 quarterback, the Boilermakers gave up 295 yards on 20-of-33 passing and two touchdowns.
But they also picked the ball off twice. The second one, by safety Cam Allen, was critical, because it came after Purdue’s own goal line turnover and gave the Boilermakers a chance to reclaim momentum. A nod to Jack Sullivan, filling in for the injured George Karlaftis, for the pressure that helped lead to the interception.
Derrick Barnes moved from D-end back to linebacker this season, with questions about whether he could play in space. He did on his first-half pick, playing a zone then getting the reception.
By the way, linebacker Jalen Graham twice picked up blocking penalties after the two interceptions; he might want to clean that up.
Purdue had a couple of sacks, including one by DaMarcus Mitchell, who is proving to be a stud.
Hated the prevent defense that helped Illinois pick up a third-and-19 play in the fourth quarter. A fourth-down play was converted, but only after Allen was called for pass interference. It wasn’t.
Rush defense: C
Purdue gave up 177 yards rushing to an Illinois team without a No. 1 running back. The longest run was a 33-yarder by quarterback Coran Taylor, who jumped by two Purdue linebackers — something caught their eye, because they both jumped out of their lanes — but there were few other giant running plays.
The Boilermakers weren’t gashed.
In the third quarter, Mitchell and Jaylen Alexander teamed up to smash Mike Epstein on a fourth down. Purdue also recovered two fumbles, both picked up by the always-around-the-ball Graham, the second in the end zone for a touchdown. On that second play, safety Marvin Grant knocked the Illini back into the 20th century. It was a crushing hit and a game-changing defensive play, giving Purdue its final score and the winning margin.
Total Defense: B
Purdue gave up too much yardage again, but only 24 points. And twice it totally bailed out the offense with two turnovers deep in Illinois’ territory, the second for a score.
It collected four turnovers in total and scored on one of them. Purdue had two fourth-down penalties; the first, against Allen, was bogus. The second was an offsides that nearly proved to be a killer, as it kept Illinois’ hopes alive.
Early, Purdue was bending but not breaking, as Illinois’ first three red-zone trips ended without points. In fact, Illinois scored on only three of its seven trips inside Purdue’s 20.
Special teams: B-
Brooks Cormier had been great through seven quarters, but then his last two punts nearly destroyed Purdue. Those were short and ugly and gave Illinois a greater chance.
J.D. Dellinger hit his only field goal to give the Boilermakers a 17-7 lead late in the first half.
Coaching: D
So odd.
Some of what Purdue was doing late made very little sense. Up multiple scores, Boilermakers coach Jeff Brohm decided to keep throwing the ball, rather than try to keep the clock running with the running game. Consider this: Last week with Brian Brohm calling the plays, Purdue ran the ball while trailing; this week with Jeff Brohm, the Boilermakers threw the ball while leading.
Bizarre.
The worst moment was a second-down pass with less than two minutes to go. The incompletion stopped the clock with 1:39 left. Had Purdue run and then run again on third down, it would have given the ball back to Illinois with less than 40 seconds left.
Only Bell’s one-handed grab on third-down bailed out Brohm’s bad decision.
Purdue’s defense, directed by Bob Diaco, has now forced six turnovers in two games, a great reversal from last season. The Boilermakers are playing relatively sound, not giving up the giant, back-breaking plays and are confident. And they got a stop when it was needed late.
Overall: C+
Purdue won a road game, which shouldn’t be taken for granted. But Illinois was missing a half dozen players on its two-deep roster because of issues related to COVID-19. The Fighting Illini missed their top two quarterbacks, then the No. 3 got hurt on the first possession.
The Boilermakers made enough plays, in all three phases, to deserve a win, and they got it. But coaching decisions very nearly cost Purdue.
Purdue hasn’t yet played its A game, but the Boilermakers are 2-0.
Kyle Charters, a familiar face at Gold & Black, covers Purdue, Indiana and college basketball for Saturday Tradition.