Purdue football and men’s basketball discussion just a week before the Boilermakers’ first gridiron contest with Indiana State. Tom Dienhart and Mike Carmin share their thoughts on the season opener, while Brian Neubert tackles football and hoops in the 50-minute show.
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Six Keys to Six Wins for Purdue
After Purdue went 4-8 in Ryan Walters’ debut season, it hopes to return to postseason play in 2024. Though oddsmakers in Las Vegas set Purdue’s win total at just 4.5, the Boilermakers will look to reach six in order to make a bowl game.
It won’t come easily, as Purdue’s schedule features four of the top eight teams in the preseason AP Poll . What does Purdue need to do to reach the six-win mark? GoldandBlack.com provides six keys.
HEALTHY HUDSON
Hudson Card showed flashes of the high-caliber play that Purdue wanted when he transferred in from Texas ahead of last season. Though he battled injuries for most of the season, he saved his best for last. Card racked up just shy of 300 total yards and four touchdowns against Minnesota before throwing for 275, running for 85 and totaling four scores in the comeback win over Indiana.
The native Texan must continue playing at that level for the Boilermakers to exceed expectations. The first step? Staying healthy. Fans saw the difference a season ago. When Card is at his best, he’s among the better quarterbacks in the Big Ten. While buzz generates around true freshman Marcos Davila , Purdue needs Card if it wants to win in 2024.
STRONG SEPTEMBER
We’ll chalk up Indiana State on August 31 as a win. After all, the Sycamores enter with just three wins over the past two seasons at the FCS level. That sets up for a crucial September.
The Boilermakers play three games: Notre Dame, Oregon State and Nebraska. The Fighting Irish never go down easily, as their physical style presents challenges for every opponent. Purdue will likely enter as a two-score underdog on its home turf.
A trip to Corvallis looks unsettling, though countless questions linger about Oregon State. The Beavers replace their head coach, quarterback, nearly all of their starters and no longer have a conference to call home. Still, cross-country trips rarely result in easy wins. Purdue will need a strong performance to fly home happy in the wee hours of the night after an 8:30 p.m. E.T. kickoff.
Then, Purdue gets no time to rest up, as Nebraska comes to town to kick off Big Ten play. While the Cornhuskers missed out on a bowl after closing on a four-game losing streak in 2023, they handled Purdue with ease in Lincoln. Matt Rhule’s team led 24-0 late into the third quarter and cruised to a 31-14 win. True freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola arrives with much fanfare as the “golden boy” to lead the Huskers back to prominence.
If Purdue turns the calendar to October with a 3-1 record, it will be well on its way to a bowl. At 2-2, the margin for error gets thin, but it’s a possibility. 1-3? Not gonna happen.
HIGHWAY TO HELDT
Purdue’s defensive scheme generates lots of isolated matchups for rush ends to attack. This showed a season ago when Nic Scourton and Kydran Jenkins combined for 17.5 sacks. With Scourton off to Texas A&M and Jenkins moving to inside linebacker, someone needs to emerge as a threat to get after the passer.
Enter Will Heldt , the promising true sophomore from Carmel. Heldt showed flashes as a freshman, and a strong spring game continued to fuel the hype. Now, it’s his time to benefit and put pressure on the opposing quarterback. If Purdue can continue to generate an effective pass rush to pair with an improved secondary, the defense could step forward in 2024.
PAVE THE PATH
The Boilermakers struggled along the offensive line a season ago, leading Walters to look to the transfer portal to bolster the unit. On paper, it looks much better. Ball State transfer Corey Stewart and New Mexico transfer DJ Wingfield look poised to earn starting roles, while Notre Dame transfer Joey Tanona oozes potential.
Once Purdue pairs the transfers with high-level veterans Gus Hartwig and Marcus Mbow , while Mahamane Moussa , Jalen Grant , Luke Griffin , and others provide capable plug-and-play pieces, it could have its best offensive line in recent memory. Despite a shaky offensive line, Purdue pieced together a nice run game in 2023. The run game could be improved while better protecting Card.
BIG TIME PLAYERS MAKE BIG TIME PLAYS
That’s the saying , right? With so many new faces at skill positions, Purdue’s potential breakout stars might come as new faces for the fan base. At wide receiver, Jahmal Edrine missed all of 2023 after transferring in from FAU, while CJ Smith , De’Nylon Morrissette and Kam Brown all came in this winter. In the defensive backfield, Nyland Green and Kyndrich Breedlove arrive as highly-touted transfers to join an army of talented true freshmen.
Big plays come and go, and they’re hard to predict. They can, however, shift momentum and change a game on a dime. With four games against top-eight opponents, a trip to Wisconsin, and several “toss-up” games on the schedule, Purdue must find ways to separate itself. The staff wants to create big plays on both sides of the ball. If the Boilermakers can deliver with some fireworks, the pressure then turns to the opponent rather than on the Purdue sideline.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The game’s third phase hampered Purdue time and time again in 2023. The field goal kicking was an abject disaster, as two kickers combined to go eight-for-17 on the season. Inconsistency marred the punting game, as Purdue needed to flip the field regularly. Though Tyrone Tracy’s kickoff return touchdown against Fresno State provided a highlight, Purdue’s special teams unit needs drastic improvement.
Enter Spencer Porath , the highly-regarded true freshman kicker from Brownsburg. Can a true freshman handle the big moments that come with the job? There’s only one way to find out. Purdue replaced Australian Jack Ansell with another Aussie in Keelan Crimmins , a Mississippi State transfer. He’ll need to pin the opponent deep with more regularity, helping Purdue’s defense. While the return game plays a limited role in today’s game, Purdue will take all the help it can get. Though a small percentage of a game’s snaps come on special teams, the mistakes seem to hurt exponentially more.
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