Ohio at Purdue: Depth Charts

The first home game of the season comes with excitement, as Purdue more than held its own against Louisville Saturday night. It is also a short week, so let’s take a look at the new Depth chart for the week:

Offense

QB: 1. David Blough 2. Elijah Sindelar 3. Jared Sparks

RB: 1. Tario Fuller OR Markell Jones OR D.J. Knox OR Richie Worship OR Brian Lankford-Johnson

WR1: 1. Anthony Mahoungou 2. Corey Holmes 3. Jared Sparks

WR2: 1. Jackson Anthrop OR Terry Wright 2. KeyRon Catlett

WR3: 1. Gregory Phillips 2. Isaac Zico

TE: 1. Cole Herdman 2. Brycen Hopkins 3. Darius Pittman

LT: 1. Grant Hermanns 2. Eric Swingler

LG: 1. Shane Evans 2. Michael Mendez 3. Peyton Truitt

C: 1. Kirk Barron 2. Shane Evans 3. Bryce Brown

RG: 1. Matt McCann 2. Bearooz Yacoobi

RT: 1. Dave Steinmetz 2. Ethan Smart

On paper, there are no changes, but we know there are a lot of questions. David Blough and Elijah Sindelar played a roughly equal amount and both did some good and bad things. Since Sindelar started it did keep the streak alive of Purdue not having the same starter for the opener in consecutive seasons since Curtis Painter. Blough is still listed as No. 1, but both will probably play until one separates himself. At least Brohm kept Blough in as the “hot” QB in the third quarter, unlike Hope against Notre Dame. We also did not see the Jared Sparks package.

At running back Jones is listed among the 5, but he is definitely out for at least a few weeks:

Well, Markell, unfortunately, hurt his knee a little bit. And we had a pretty good game plan going in to get him the ball, even in the passing game and that kind of was wiped out pretty early.

He's had a good fall camp and he's really been into it, so it's unfortunate that this has knocked him out a little bit. I'm not sure when the timetable will be for his return.

But the other running backs have to step up. You know, we had a little bit of cramping on defense, but you know, for the most part, I think everybody should be back and okay.

One of the things I was disappointed about the Louisville game was the lack of a running game. Purdue never really tried to get the ground game going. Fuller got the start and finished with 29 yards on 8 carries. Knox had 25 yards on 4 carries. Worship had just one carry, but he did catch a TD pass. Fuller also had 3 receptions. Purdue finished with only 51 yards rushing and needs to have at least 3 times that

I was very pleased with the offensive line, however. It gave up 4 sacks, but they were mostly coverage sacks and the line held up for the most part. It only gave up 15 yards total on the 4 sacks.

Defense

DE: 1. Austin Larkin 2. Antoine Miles

DT: 1. Eddy Wilson 2. Lorenzo Neal

DT: 1. Gelen Robinson 2. Keiwan Jones

DE: 1. Danny Ezechukwu 2. Kai Higgins

WLB: 1. T.J. McCollum 2. Andy Chelf OR Sawyer Dawson

MLB: 1. Ja’Whaun Bentley 2. Garrett Hudson

SLB: 1. Markus Bailey 2. Rob Simmons

CB1: 1. Josh Okonye 2. Antonio Blackmon

CB2: 1. Da’Wan Hunte 2. Kamal Hardy

FS: 1. T.J. Jallow 2. Simeon Smiley

SS: 1. Jacob Thieneman 2. Navon Mosley

The only change was Wilson to No.1 tackle over Neal. Neal also must sit the first half against Ohio as part of a suspension after his “targeting” penalty and ejection (one of three horrid officiating calls that helped give Louisville a touchdown.).

There was a lot to like defensively too. Bentley was all over the place with 10 tackles and two forced fumbles. Okonye had 9 tackles and the only tackle for loss in his Purdue debut. McCollum also had 9 tackles. The defense was actually aggressive and though third and long was still an issue, it was a breath of fresh air. Considering Louisville got 7 points from a picks six, the defense really played them to a draw. Now it just needs some sacks and it would have had a few if Lamar Jackson wasn’t Lamar Jackson.

Specialists

Punter: 1. Joe Schopper 2. Jake Herr

Placekicker: 1. J.D. Dellinger and Spencer Evans

Kickoffs: 1. Spencer Evans 2. Myles Evans

Long Snapper: 1. Ben Makowski 2. Ryan Sadkowski

Holder: 1. David Blough 2. Elijah Sindelar

KR: 1. Markell Jones 2. D.J. Knox

PR: 1. Jackson Anthrop 2. Isaac Zico

Dellinger and Evans split placekicking duties, but I was surprised that the long FG attempt was Dellinger and not Evans since Evans has the bigger leg. Evans had three of five kickoffs as touchbacks, which was very good. Both Evans and Dellinger hit two extra points.

On returns KeyRon Catlett stepped in for Jones and returned 4 kicks for 51 yards. With Jones out, he will get more chances (even though Jones is out Purdue kept him listed here). Schopper averaged an impressive 48.6 yards per punt on 5 punts.