Oregon State 38, Purdue 21: Players of note, key moments and what's next
The Boilermakers gave up more than 300 rushing yards for the second straight game
5 PLAYERS OF NOTE
Jam Griffin: Part of a three-headed rushing attack for the Beavers, who repeated what Notre Dame did a week ago - dominate the game on the ground. Griffin, running back Anthony Hankerson and quarterback Gevani McCoy combined for 292 rushing yards - averaging 5.6 yards per carry - and three touchdowns as Oregon State controlled the ball and the game. Similar to dealing with the Irish, the Boilermakers could not slow down the ground game. They attacked the edge and enjoyed a field day in open space. Using motion and other schemes, Notre Dame and Oregon State had a numbers advantage once they reached the perimeter.
Devin Mockobee: Ryan Walters needed his team to play with a physical edge, and they responded, at least on the offensive side. The running game generated 263 yards, and Mockobee and Reggie Love III had plenty of holes to produce big plays. Oregon State’s defense isn’t on the same level as the Irish, but the Boilermakers were aggressively hitting the holes. Mockobee finished with 168 yards and scored once, and overall, the running game was the offense on this night. Love had 10 carries for 66 yards, giving the Illinois transfer 127 yards in the last two games. A solid rushing attack should help Hudson Card, but the passing game was non-existent outside of the 32-yard TD pass to Max Klare.
Skyler Thomas: The junior defensive back led the Beavers with seven tackles and two pass breakups and was a physical presence in the secondary. Nearly had an interception but was flagged for pass interference that kept Purdue’s second-quarter scoring drive alive.
Kydran Jenkins: You didn’t notice the senior middle linebacker in the loss to Notre Dame, but it was hard to miss Jenkins throughout this game. He registered 16 tackles - partly because OSU’s offense was on the field for more than 40 minutes - but had a bigger impact than last week. He had two sacks, resulting in a combined 14 lost yards, and played with more of a purpose. One of his sacks led to the Beavers missing a second-quarter field goal.
Zakaih Saez: The linebacker was in the right place at the right moment when Card’s pass bounced off Love’s lower leg and into his hands. Saez returned the interception 20 yards, and the Beavers had the first score of the game.
4 KEY MOMENTS
Mockobee/Card fumble. In trying to execute the zone read, Purdue coughed up the ball at the OSU 11-yard line on its first drive. It appeared Card was trying to pull the ball back from Mockobee, and it hit the ground, killing an excellent scoring chance and building an early lead.
Saez’s interception return for a TD. It was a bizarre play.
Klare’s 32-yard touchdown reception. The offense needed something good to happen down 14-0, and Card made a nice throw to find his tight end in the end zone.
Zachary Card’s third-quarter TD. Leading by 10 late in the third quarter, Card’s 26-yard run around the edge - a common theme in the second half - and into the end zone sealed the victory. The Boilermakers fought back with two more scores, but they weren’t coming back from 17 points down, not with the defense giving up chunks of yardage on the ground.
3 NUMBERS
3: Third-down conversions by the Boilermakers the last two games (3 of 21).
7.9: Average yards per carry by the last two quarterbacks (Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard and OSU’s McCoy) against Purdue’s defense.
43.9: Card’s completion percentage against the Irish and the Beavers after hitting 24 of 25 passes against Indiana State in the opener.
2 QUESTIONS
Who slides into the No. 1 receiver role with Jamal Edrine out for possibly a month? With C.J. Smith out, an opportunity awaits someone in the receiver room.
Why does the defense continue to get gashed by big plays in the running game?
1 FINAL THOUGHT
Three games into the season, the Boilermakers now face a must-win when looking at the big picture of trying to secure a bowl bid. Nebraska comes to Ross-Ade Stadium - and the Huskers are an improved team, despite losing to Illinois on Friday - and could make life difficult for Purdue with their overall speed and freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola. If the Boilermakers can’t slow down a rushing attack, what was expected to be a long Big Ten season based on the schedule becomes a nightmare ride to Thanksgiving. Although the tackling improved, the defense still was caught taking bad angles and was out of position. The defense couldn’t hold up on the edge, creating a pathway to big plays for the Beavers. It added up to another long day for the Boilermakers, who have plenty of questions less than a month into the season with answers hard to find.
Mockobee had more yards than both quarterbacks combined did through the air. That's a fun stat