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Vanderbilt’s Derek Mason talks defending Purdue’s offense

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

When you think of Purdue and Jeff Brohm’s offense, it’s the passing game that comes to mind. His unique spread-style offense features a heavy aerial attack accompanied by a solid rushing attack.

Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason isn’t worried about the Boilermaker offense in that order, though. Instead, he’s focused on his Commodores shutting down the rushing attack first.

According to Kevin Brockway of CNHI Indiana, Mason said he wants to shut down Purdue’s run game and then focus in on stopping its talented receiver group.

“They throw it around, but his offenses also can get you in situations where they can spread you out and run, 8, 9 yards a clip,” Mason said.

Purdue has typically used the passing game to set up its passing game to set up the rushing attack. But the Boilers didn’t run the ball effectively against Nevada last week, toting for just 96 yards on 29 attempts. It was only one of three B1G teams to not hit 100 rushing yards in Week 1.

Vanderbilt’s run defense wasn’t particularly good last week, either. Against Georgia, the Commodores allowed the Bulldogs to rush for 325 yards on just 40 carries in a 30-6 loss in Nashville. Certainly it can’t be that bad against Purdue for a chance to win.

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So, Saturday’s game could come down to which weakness turns into a strength. It should be an interesting matchup in West Lafayette, for sure.

Both Purdue and Vanderbilt dropped their opener and enter Saturday’s game 0-1.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB