Purdue Snowflakes: The Opponent
I guess O'Connell is who he is by now, and maybe he was playing inspired, but it felt like he was a little improvement away from being a Brady/Brees type. The picks were inaccurate throws but didn't look like BRs to me, and he threw into a lot of tiny windows. With a little more consistency that accuracy would translate to the NFL, far better than C.J. "ol' Glass Jaw" Stroud considering he played under a lot more pressure. Whether or not he can improve from what was likely the game of his life is a big if, of course.
Charlie Jones is a weapon. Our DBs are no slouches, and he consistently abused whoever was on him. That guy is gonna play on Sundays, and I think a law needs to be passed that makes Iowa ignoring that kind of receiver talent a crime.
December 4th, 2022 at 9:40 AM ^
P.S. I do remember Alex wrote in FFFF that O'Connell struggles with consistency
The combination of five inaccurate balls and seven marginal ones show how O'Connell's arm is pretty wobbly and lacks NFL upside.
So that was probably his "my brother just died" game and maybe he can't get any better. But dayum, a couple of Purdue's drives looked Brady-esque.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:55 AM ^
It really did feel like a Hank Gathers moment.
December 4th, 2022 at 9:45 AM ^
All props to OC — he had a great game even with the picks. Showed a lot of guts and had a bunch of inch-perfect throws.
December 4th, 2022 at 9:45 AM ^
O'Connell has decent accuracy but I've also seen Purdue games where those dimes to Jones and Sheffield are off and he looks mortal.
He's a good QB but he doesn't have a great arm and as you saw with those picks he can get a bit predictable and defenders can jump on it. I do think he played a good game against UM and it must have been hard with his brother passing.
December 4th, 2022 at 9:56 AM ^
Yeah, it was pretty easy to see which is the 5-star QB and which wasn't, even if the stats don't necessarily follow.
I have no idea who Jeff Brohm has waiting in the 2023 QB room, but it sure looks like Cade McNamara would have been a great fit. I kinda wonder if, in one of the alternate universes where Iowa is back in the CCG, and presumably too occupied to be fishing the portal this week, Purdue doesn't get him.
December 4th, 2022 at 9:50 AM ^
Purdue played very well in all aspects. Excellent offensive playcalling, AOC was extremely accurate with most of his throws - yeah, he could use a little more arm strength but he was on point. The receivers (not just Jones) were very good and Mockobee showed a ton of heart.
Defensive game plan was solid too, made the offense work for yards on the ground and booted them off the field enough times to make for an uncomfortable experience. Definitely out athleted by Michigan, but well coached and well prepared.
Glad to get the win, let's get some guys healthy and prepped for the next battle.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:00 AM ^
I thought their D-line held up surprisingly well, considering the talk in talent difference. UM's first half offensive stats were ugly. Also, on the long runs, Edwards bounced outside (aside - Purdue's linebackers are mortal), though I'm not good enough to tell if that was by design. The interior was consistently jammed up.
December 4th, 2022 at 9:52 AM ^
Very impressed with how they played. Huge step up from Iowa last year.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:51 AM ^
In some respects, Purdue was a step up from OSU last week.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:00 AM ^
Purdue fans should be proud of their team’s effort. They had a good plan and executed it well. They would have needed a few more things to break their way to pull off a victory. Boiler up.
December 4th, 2022 at 11:00 AM ^
One of the best offensive games called that I have ever seen.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:04 AM ^
Brohm needed to be more aggressive on 4th down if he wanted to win. I know he went for a few, but several of those FGs should have been throws to Jones on 4th down. I'm not complaining though...
December 4th, 2022 at 10:08 AM ^
Agreed. His QB was already playing out of his mind and they were still down three scores, so the 2nd half FGAs felt like "defeat with dignity". They were going to need to take some risks; playing it safe was to safely lose, and their HC chose that. Kind of frustrating, really.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:08 AM ^
Jeff Brohm seemed like an angry asshole.
December 4th, 2022 at 4:27 PM ^
If I recall correctly, aren't there clips from past seasons of him throwing chairs in locker room to get his team fired up?
December 4th, 2022 at 10:11 AM ^
The fake flea flicker is maybe the coolest play I've ever seen from an opponent. Reminded me of the quadruple option TD from Nebraska in 2011.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:25 AM ^
Yeah, not upset about that one at all. That was legit cool, and we definitely need to steal it.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:38 AM ^
I was thinking the same thing. Would love to bust that out in the playoff as a nod to Purdue. That said, if you rewatch that play, I can’t imagine many times where the RB could have that much space around him to stop for as long as he did and still have room to start running again. It was awesome but don’t know that it would work that well very often.
December 4th, 2022 at 4:56 PM ^
Exactly. That play would never work against Georgia. Against TCU though, maybe.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:38 AM ^
Edit…double post
December 4th, 2022 at 10:49 AM ^
Alex said it in the write-up and I agree: that was the best football Purdue has played all year. They gave us their best shot, and their QB and WR combo had the game of their lives, and we still beat them by 3 TDs.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:59 AM ^
I don't ever want to see Charlie Jones again.
December 4th, 2022 at 11:00 AM ^
Except maybe in a Lions uniform.
December 4th, 2022 at 11:27 AM ^
I wouldn't wish that on the poor kid.
December 4th, 2022 at 11:04 AM ^
Well coached team of fine young men.
Awesome to see all the hand shaking and bro hugs between the teams after the game.
December 4th, 2022 at 12:33 PM ^
Purdue played well last night. They're a dangerous team.
Brohm did seem like an angry guy last night, but playing a team like Michigan on a big stage with a pass-first offense, he had to be ticked off at the refs being so laissez-faire about potential pass interference calls (though it went both ways in this game).
As an aside, my wife and I had dinner with friends to watch the game together. It was far less of a swear-fest than my usual game watching behavior. I had to pretend that Purdue moving the ball so well on several occasions made it an 'exciting game, huh?' instead of the potential 'Chicxulub-size asteroid screaming into the atmosphere' I was feeling inside.
December 4th, 2022 at 10:40 PM ^
I always make it a point not to watch any big Michigan games around neutral or non Michigan fans. This includes family, which offends them a little bit.
But it needs to be this way. I am not a nice person when Michigan is playing a tight game.