ESPN doesn’t defend someone unless they think he’s an innocent bystander in the matter, and that’s what analyst Dan Orlovsky thought about De’Nylon Morrissette in that unfortunate moment he had Saturday against Penn State.

The Purdue wide receiver believed he had a touchdown catch in the back-left corner of the end zone, but all the wide receiver had was a nice catch that was out of bounds and caused a few chuckles from Nittany Lions fans. Nobody was laughing for Purdue, because why would they as the Boilermakers lost, 49-10, to fall to 1-9 and 0-7 in the Big Ten.

During ESPN’s Get Up on Monday morning, the guys were having a good time with the play, which if it had been a touchdown would’ve gotten Purdue back in the game at 14-7 midway through the 2nd quarter. Instead, the Boilermakers had to settle for a field goal and never got any traction in another ugly performance.

At least the ESPN guys came to the defense of Morrissette, who was a bit confused because there was another white line behind where he caught the ball. That makes it appear like the spot he was standing on was in bounds. But it wasn’t.

“Why the hell do they paint the field like that, Danny?” asked ESPN host Mike Greenberg to Orlovsky.

“Because it’s Purdue,” answered Orlovsky.

Making matters worse, Morrissette never recorded a true reception on Saturday, at least one that showed up in the official final stats.