Boilers blanked, totally dominated by No. 2 Ducks

The Purdue Boilermakers (1-6, 0-4 Big Ten) suffered their sixth straight loss of the season, 35-0 on Friday night, against the No. 2 Oregon Ducks (7-0, 4-0).

Heading into the season's second and last bye-week, head coach Ryan Walters isn’t switching up the game plan.

“Why would we change our process?” Walters said after Friday’s game. “It’s a bye week, we'll stick to our bye-week plan.”

The Boilers entered the weekend hoping to replicate their success against top-ranked teams in previous years, but left the game as the bottom-ranked team in the Big Ten and the only team to have one win.

Purdue started the game incredibly slow. Three empty drives on offense and 3 Oregon touchdowns in the first trio of trips resulted in the Boilers trailing 21-0 at halftime.

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel came out the gate firing on all cylinders, effortlessly moving the ball down the field with 120 yards passing in the first quarter alone.

Purdue’s offense showed signs of life throughout the game, relying on the ground game to pick up the few first downs they earned.

The Boilers outran the Ducks with 208 yards to Oregon’s 131. Senior running back Reggie Love III led the Boilers on the ground with 93 yards rushing.

Despite an effective ground game, the offense was never able to convert in key moments, converting just four of 12 third down attempts and zero for three on fourth downs.

“I think the biggest thing is self inflicted wounds," Love III said. “You know, we get we start moving the ball, and then there's pre-snap penalties here and there.

“If we get rid of those, I feel like we'll make a lot of plays for a lot of points.”

On the defensive side of the ball, there were few positives for the Boilermakers.

While the Boilers were able to contain the Oregon rushing attack and intercept Garbiel once, the Duck's air raid offense proved to be too much for Purdue to handle.

Oregon finished the game with 290 yards in the air and two passing touchdowns.

The Boilermakers season is far from over as the team still has plenty of heavy lifting left.

In the last five games of the season, Purdue will face three top-25 teams, with two of them ranked in the top five.

These matchups are what’s keeping the Boilermakers motivated, as they hope to play "Spoilermaker" down the stretch.

“I think the motivation lies in the schedule and the opportunities we still have,” said sophomore linebacker Hudson Miller. “I think one big message consistently has been, put your head down and work. So I think we, as a team, take the opportunities in stride.”