Mr All Turk: AWalk [barely beats out Drew Smith]
All Turk Awards: AWalk, Smith, Lowry, Henry, Godwin, Harris, Lancaster, Niswander, Mertz, North, Frazier,Jackson, Long, Vault.
Head Coach: Fitz: Grade B+
Another 4th quarter winning drive. I liked him taking Thorson out of the game as well and overall he got his team focused and prepared. I realize it isn't pretty and quite boring but he is doing a very good job coaching, trying to manage a very difficult QB situation. 3 Turnovers and we still won by 7....that's pretty damn good.
DC: Hankwitz: Grade B+
I have no idea why some of the reports said that Purdue moved the ball good against us. They had 3 explosion plays, like big explosion plays, all in 2 drives. First drive of game[play of first drive] and first drive of second half. That said, we shut down the run as Purdue could barely run the ball. I was very impressed with our defense in the context of our offense putting our defense in terrible position with 3 TO's and plenty of 3 and outs. But our defense responded by preventing any points after each TO. Well done.
Came in with a vanilla defensive plan with little to no pressure on the QB. Nice adjustments from Doc by bringing pressure in the second half. Other than a few predictable blitzes that we got burned on RB screens, our defense pretty much locked Purdue down. I would have given this defense a C+/B-, but over the last 1.5 quarters they forced Purdue into 3 and outs. I think we closed the game with like 5 three and outs in a row. Nothing else, just 3 and outs. Now that's a helluva way to close out this game. Awesome!
OC: McCall: Grade B
He is managing with a QB who simply has little to no confidence. So much so that Purdue had 11 guys in the box repeatedly BEGGING us to throw the ball. Nobody has confidence in Thorson and with plenty reason. That said, McCall wiggled enough trick plays to keep Purdue honest, and then focused almost entirely on the run. I think that was a good move. Although he may not have that option next week, it really paid off for our team over the last quarter as our OL took over. Utilizing Long/Vault more was also a plus, and Long showed once again that he is the second coming of Jason "If loving you is wrong, I don't wanna be" Wright. It wasn't pretty but McCall isn't responsible for the lack of execution, and he I felt he had a good pulse for the game.
OL: Grade B
The OL gave Thorson plenty of time on passing downs but Thorson continuously had happy feet and booted out of the pocket rolling out exclusively to his right into trouble instead of stepping up in the pocket. The OL also had some decent run blocking. I give these guys a lot of credit because we had two solid starters out [mogus, Park]. I believe this was North's best game. No low snaps and two really nice blocks that I saw. Mertz is proving solid. Olson needs serious work and lost his battle.
RB: Grade B
The fumble by Jackson could have cost us bigtime. That said, Him and Long pulled us to victory.
WR: Grade Incomplete
Really a nonexistent force today. No fault of their own, just poor QB play. Nice catch and jump by McHugh, and AC is our 3rd down deliverer. Didn't check the stats but I wonder if our wide outs had more than 6 receptions??? Again, poor QB play.
QB: Grade: D+
Thorson. Doesn't get it and is NOT comfortable in the pocket or even throwing the ball. His legs are useful though and proved once again a running threat. Consistently had happy feet when it appeared that he only have to step up in the pocket. He has strong tendencies to bail out and run to his right. Bummer game. He looked decent against Nebraska but looked very poor against PSU and again today. He really has to trust his OL more.
DL: Grade B+
Really plugged up the run all day. Virtually no QB pressure as Purdue had a big OL and our DL wasn't quick enough to get to the QB. Doc sent in the backers to mix things up and that bailed us out. Really disappointed in Ifeadi. Is pretty much irrelevant now. Needs to get stronger and bigger to have a chance. Lowry was a beast. Gibson had a decent game as well.
LB: Grade A
AWalk and Smith played awesome. Smith had sure sacks when it counted and a really nice hit to stop another drive. Hall had better games.
DB: Grade B-
Got absolutely burned a few times but good on run support and otherwise decent on pass plays. Nice INT by Henry.
Special Teams: Grade B+
Punts were awesome. Kickoffs were what Fitz ordered. Kickoff returns were awesome. Punt return could have been better as Shuler I think should have let one bounce instead of fielding it at the 8. It was debateable. FG unit/Xtra point: not pretty. Low snaps again.
All Turk Awards: AWalk, Smith, Lowry, Henry, Godwin, Harris, Lancaster, Niswander, Mertz, North, Frazier,Jackson, Long, Vault.
Head Coach: Fitz: Grade B+
Another 4th quarter winning drive. I liked him taking Thorson out of the game as well and overall he got his team focused and prepared. I realize it isn't pretty and quite boring but he is doing a very good job coaching, trying to manage a very difficult QB situation. 3 Turnovers and we still won by 7....that's pretty damn good.
DC: Hankwitz: Grade B+
I have no idea why some of the reports said that Purdue moved the ball good against us. They had 3 explosion plays, like big explosion plays, all in 2 drives. First drive of game[play of first drive] and first drive of second half. That said, we shut down the run as Purdue could barely run the ball. I was very impressed with our defense in the context of our offense putting our defense in terrible position with 3 TO's and plenty of 3 and outs. But our defense responded by preventing any points after each TO. Well done.
Came in with a vanilla defensive plan with little to no pressure on the QB. Nice adjustments from Doc by bringing pressure in the second half. Other than a few predictable blitzes that we got burned on RB screens, our defense pretty much locked Purdue down. I would have given this defense a C+/B-, but over the last 1.5 quarters they forced Purdue into 3 and outs. I think we closed the game with like 5 three and outs in a row. Nothing else, just 3 and outs. Now that's a helluva way to close out this game. Awesome!
OC: McCall: Grade B
He is managing with a QB who simply has little to no confidence. So much so that Purdue had 11 guys in the box repeatedly BEGGING us to throw the ball. Nobody has confidence in Thorson and with plenty reason. That said, McCall wiggled enough trick plays to keep Purdue honest, and then focused almost entirely on the run. I think that was a good move. Although he may not have that option next week, it really paid off for our team over the last quarter as our OL took over. Utilizing Long/Vault more was also a plus, and Long showed once again that he is the second coming of Jason "If loving you is wrong, I don't wanna be" Wright. It wasn't pretty but McCall isn't responsible for the lack of execution, and he I felt he had a good pulse for the game.
OL: Grade B
The OL gave Thorson plenty of time on passing downs but Thorson continuously had happy feet and booted out of the pocket rolling out exclusively to his right into trouble instead of stepping up in the pocket. The OL also had some decent run blocking. I give these guys a lot of credit because we had two solid starters out [mogus, Park]. I believe this was North's best game. No low snaps and two really nice blocks that I saw. Mertz is proving solid. Olson needs serious work and lost his battle.
RB: Grade B
The fumble by Jackson could have cost us bigtime. That said, Him and Long pulled us to victory.
WR: Grade Incomplete
Really a nonexistent force today. No fault of their own, just poor QB play. Nice catch and jump by McHugh, and AC is our 3rd down deliverer. Didn't check the stats but I wonder if our wide outs had more than 6 receptions??? Again, poor QB play.
QB: Grade: D+
Thorson. Doesn't get it and is NOT comfortable in the pocket or even throwing the ball. His legs are useful though and proved once again a running threat. Consistently had happy feet when it appeared that he only have to step up in the pocket. He has strong tendencies to bail out and run to his right. Bummer game. He looked decent against Nebraska but looked very poor against PSU and again today. He really has to trust his OL more.
DL: Grade B+
Really plugged up the run all day. Virtually no QB pressure as Purdue had a big OL and our DL wasn't quick enough to get to the QB. Doc sent in the backers to mix things up and that bailed us out. Really disappointed in Ifeadi. Is pretty much irrelevant now. Needs to get stronger and bigger to have a chance. Lowry was a beast. Gibson had a decent game as well.
LB: Grade A
AWalk and Smith played awesome. Smith had sure sacks when it counted and a really nice hit to stop another drive. Hall had better games.
DB: Grade B-
Got absolutely burned a few times but good on run support and otherwise decent on pass plays. Nice INT by Henry.
Special Teams: Grade B+
Punts were awesome. Kickoffs were what Fitz ordered. Kickoff returns were awesome. Punt return could have been better as Shuler I think should have let one bounce instead of fielding it at the 8. It was debateable. FG unit/Xtra point: not pretty. Low snaps again.
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