Purdue Wins (First half)! Loses Game 44-31

At this point I’m not sure what else there is to say. Each week it’s like watching two different teams play. The team we all watch in the first half shows ingenuity on offense, heart on defense, and enthusiasm all around. In the second half all of that vanishes. Purdue scored 28 points in the first half today and took a 28-23 lead into halftime with the ball coming to them after halftime. Whatever this team is doing at halftime isn’t working and they should do the opposite. I believe it was the guys over at Boiled Sports that joked during the Danny Hope era that he was serving them big bowls of pasta at halftime. Whatever it is it’s now been going on since Joe Tiller left Purdue. That’s three different coaches with the same problem. You have to imagine they all do different things so I can’t quite pinpoint what the issue is. I know that Purdue doesn’t have the depth to keep up with some of these teams but you would think this would happen gradually throughout the second half not immediately after the half is over. Purdue needs answers if they want to win another game. Purdue loses again and is now 0-November since 2012.

In the first half the offense was clicking including the longest play from scrimmage by Purdue since the 2004 Notre Dame game. You might remember that play.

Purdue had their moments in the first half with none bigger than the series right before the end of the half. Minnesota had the ball with very little time left and was trying to put some final points on the ball before the half ended. Instead, Antonio Blackmon picked off the Minnesota QB and scampered all the way back to the two yard line. Once Blackmon went down there were only five seconds left in the half. Parker wouldn’t have been blamed for going for the easy field goal and going into the half with a 24-23 lead. Instead Parker went bold and rolled Blough out to the right and threw an easy TD pass to Brycen Hopkins. In that instant Purdue had momentum and the lead going into the half.

The second half was completely different. Purdue turned the ball over three times that saw Minnesota cash in on each turnover. That was really all you need to know about the second half. It’s such a shame that the second half ruined such a great performance by this team in the first half. You get a glimpse of what this team could be if there was more depth and much much more consistency. It gives me a bit of hope that a coach would be more likely to come here since they see that there is talent on this roster. So Purdue falls once again. They now sit at 3-6. Much more to come.