Epic Fail
Northwestern struggled in all aspects of the game Saturday night; losing their first game of the year to an injury-riddled Purdue team. Major failures at key times in the game were the Cats downfall, despite competent offense and (relatively) decent defense.
But first, credit where credit is due. I hate when NU pulls off an upset and all the commentators do is talk about how poorly the favored team played – I refuse to play that game. Purdue used its two weeks well. It had a great game plan on defense; using All-world defensive end Ryan Kerrigan to put pressure on Persa, but keeping the D-Tackles back to cover Persa’s scrambling. Persa’s longest run was only 9 yards tied for NU’s longest run of the game. The rest of Purdue’s defensive strategy was a solid bend-but-don’t break philosophy, which yielded only 17 points despite giving up 389 yards of total offense. The result was forcing special teams opportunities, which were the Achilles heal for NU.
On offense, Purdue took a play out of Minnesota’s playbook and ran the ball directly at the NU defense. Purdue ran for 255 yards, although 128 of this were on two longs runs. They did not need to pass the ball – and that is a good thing for them because Rob Henry was only 6-18 passing. All in all, Purdue was well-prepared and opportunistic.
So what went wrong?
On offense, it is difficult to point to a true reason for the lack of scoring. The yardage total was not huge, but Persa racked up another 300-yard passing performance and once again spread the ball around to eight different receivers. The offense did not turn the ball over as the only fumble was on a special teams gaff. But three of the six punts were taken from Purdue territory. Add the two missed field goals, and NU scored only three times in eight visits to Purdue’s half of the field. The issue here was not the inability to execute, but the inability to finish.
It certainly seemed like Persa had a poor game. But he went 30-41 for 305 and ran for a touchdown. He was, however sacked five times. On his actual running plays, Dan gained 51 yards on 15 carries. The Purdue contain defense gave Persa only 3.4 yards per carry on run plays and 1.2 overall once you include the sacks.
The offensive player of the game had to be Jeremy Ebert, who seemed to catch every one of Persa’s passes. He finished with 11 catches for 124 yards and continues to have an All-Conference-type season. But he was unable to hook up with Persa in the end zone.
The rest of the NU running game was non-existent, as Schmidt, Trumpy, and Adonis Smith combined for a mere 60 yards on 22 carries. Yes, that is less than three yards per carry. I guess it is back to the drawing board there.
But the key failure of the game was the holding penalty on Ben Burkett in the closing minutes of the game. NU was third and five from the Purdue 26. Jacob Schmidt took a quick hitter from Persa for 22 yards – which would have been the longest NU run of the game by double. The Cats would have been first and goal from the four with less than two minutes left. Instead the penalty gave them a third and long where the only reasonable option was to play for field goal range and the tie. It was a clear hold, but an unfortunate penalty at that.
Defensively, it is hard to put a finger on just what went wrong. Purdue only gained 279 yards, with 128 coming on the two long runs and 75 coming on the last drive. This means that Purdue gained only 76 yards on their other 44 plays. Henry was only 6 of 18 for only 47 yards passing with a brutal interception. The Boilers were 3 of 13 on third down (the Cats were 8 of 18). NU had an eight-minute advantage in time of possession.
But it was the lapses in key situations that killed the Cats in the end. The long run by Henry on the last play of the first quarter set up Purdue’s first score after being unable to move the ball in the first fifteen (Purdue had 44 yards up to that point). The quick pitch to Keith Carlos midway through the third quarter set up another field goal and broke another offensive drought (Purdue had only 56 yards between the two long runs, which occurred 23 minutes apart). Then, finally, in the fourth quarter, Purdue executed the best drive of the game going 75 yards in 14 plays (Purdue had lost 6 yards since the Carlos run). Purdue went for it on fourth and one from the seven and scored on a little run by Dan Dierking.
Seriously defense. It is fourth and one in a clutch situation against a team that has not been successful throwing all game. Put nine in the box and force the throw to beat you – do not give up a running touchdown on that play.
But the story of this game was the epic failures on special teams. A misplay on a kickoff after Purdue’s first touchdown buried the offense at Purdue’s five. The Cats punted after gaining 12 yards. Hunter Bates’ fumble on a second quarter field goal lead directly to a field goal. A poorly played kickoff after Purdue’s second field goal forced the Cats to start at the 16 – a drive which fizzled out at midfield. The lone bright spot in the return game was a nice return of the second half kickoff by Simmons. This lead to the Cats second touchdown. There certainly is a causal relationship between success on special teams and the ability to score.
Brandon Williams had another strong outing, but a 15-yard disaster of a rugby punt was saved only by an equally brutal Henry interception. When you have a punter of Williams’ quality, you wonder why the rugby punt is necessary?
In the end, the lasting memory of Purdue-NU 2010 will be the continuing struggles of Stefan Demos. After drilling a field goal in the second quarter, he had a try blocked with 8:13 remaining. The snap on this kick was fine, but he kicked it way too low. Demos certainly has the range from 41-yards and there was no reason to kick the line drive. The miss on the final attempt was primarily the result of a high snap, but Williams recovered and made a good hold – looked like Demos just panicked after the bad snap. Again, the kick was a line drive, which was again not necessary. Demos has been the hero and goat many times in the last 15 months. Cat fans left the stadium wondering whether Stefan has the goods to finish out his senior year, or whether it is time to give one of the younger guys a chance.
So where do the Cats go from here? First, the failures on offense and defense are not world changing. There is very little reason for concern here; it was just a bad game. Especially considering the Cats will not face Pryor or Robinson, i.e., the games against the really mobile QBs are past.
But special teams does win and lose games. And NU continues to fail to pay enough attention to special teams and it will continue to be a risk factor until they do. Were they losing the kicks and punts in the lights? Who knows – but you would think that is something they would practice. Also, why call for a rugby punt in that situation? Or why not practice it to the point where your traditional-style punter is competent with the task. And finally, when your long-snapper is skipping halftime to practice snaps during the band show, there is obviously a problem.
This Northwestern team now has the same two-week period that Purdue did – to prepare for a team that is clearly better than them. But if NU does not work on focus and execution, October 23 could be an ugly game.
Go Cats!
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