The Minnesota Golden Gophers hit the road to take on the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. After last year’s defensive struggle, this game was painted as a fairly easy matchup for the Gophers. But after four very impressive games from the Boilermakers, this has shaped up to be a huge clash and anything but easy sledding for either team.
Purdue
Last season, the Boilermakers ranked 91st in college football in total defense, giving up 36.3 points per game. This season, they have made a huge leap, ranked 48th and letting up only 21.8 points per game while holding opposing rushers to 132 yards per game. The defense also has a knack for forcing turnovers, specifically fumbles.
Last year’s roster forced 16 turnovers — four being fumbles. This season, the defense has already caused 10 turnovers with seven fumbles, consistently giving their offense more opportunity. This defense is for real and cannot be easy to run over like last season.
The offense has seemingly taken a step back from 91st last year to 100th so far this year, but the numbers are deceiving. The turnovers have allowed for a lot of short fields for the Boilermakers, who are averaging 29.3 points per game compared to last year’s 24.6.
Purdue has played an incredibly difficult schedule and played it far better than many could have anticipated. To start, the Boilermakers crushed Ohio and Missouri by double digits, games they were expected to win. In their games they were underdogs – against Louisville and Michigan – they played incredibly tight and made the game interesting.
The jump is comparable to the one Colorado made last season by going 10-3 after a 4-9 season. The Buffaloes went from 22 to 26 turnovers and 26 to 32 sacks in their breakout year. Both can do this because they stuck to grinding out games, causing sloppy play from their opponent to help get them over the top. They don’t have an overwhelming offense, but what they do have are plenty of extra opportunities.
Minnesota
This is shaping up to be a really tough game for the Gophers. The Boilermakers will want to play the exact style of football that the Gophers play, but with fewer mistakes. The Gophers will look to slow the pace of the game down, run the ball and play hard-nosed football, which is fine by the Boilermakers. They will be happy to hand the ball off to running back Tario Fuller 15-to-20 times, if that’s what the situation calls for.
The absolute most crucial thing for the Gophers is to not be sloppy with the football. That means no interceptions — especially in the red zone — from quarterback Conor Rhoda.
Fumbles were also a problem last weekend, with running back Shannon Brooks coughing up the rock twice. While neither was recovered by the defense, continued sloppiness will be taken advantage of by the Boilermakers front.
Errors in the mechanics are especially damning to a team’s progress and need to be cleaned up before taking the field against Purdue. This game is going to be close as is. PJ Fleck does not need to be giving away extra possessions on top of it.
The other big thing the Gophers need to pay attention to is getting behind the sticks. Staring down the barrel of 1st-and-15, 2nd-and-11 or 3rd-and-9 over and over again is going to allow more opportunities for the Boilermakers. Giving their defensive front chances to really pin the ears back and come after Rhoda causes the offense to make the back-breaking turnovers.
On the defensive side for the Gophers, making tackles is going to be a point of emphasis all week leading into the game. Jonathan Celestin cannot be the only one wrapping people up on first contact. Last weekend, Maryland’s running back Ty Johnson killed this team because of missed tackles that led to big runs of 34, 21 and 17 yards. The Boilermakers are going to try and punch the Gophers in the mouth on both sides — just like they did against Michigan — which means this game is all about how Minnesota responds.
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