Purdue’s football season depends on whether QB Hudson Card makes it

Purdue fell to 1-2 with a 38-21 loss to Oregon State.
Game on Saturday: Nebraska (3-1) at Purdue (1-2), 12:00 p.m.

CORVALLIS, Oregon – In the space of three games, Purdue football’s passing attack went from nearly perfect to nearly invisible.

A one-dimensional offense undermined all other positives in a 38-21 loss to Oregon State on Saturday night. After the game, coach Ryan Walters told his team that they needed to be the most improved team in the country this week as Nebraska comes to Ross-Ade Stadium for the Boilermakers' Big Ten opener.

The game also shows a stark contrast at the most important position on the field. The early play of rookie quarterback Dylan Raiola has shown the Cornhuskers a brighter future after their recent slump.

Purdue vs Oregon State grades: Boilermakers suffer early defeat

By comparison, Purdue's passing game is starting to look like the anchor that could derail any chance of progress. Quarterback Hudson Card completed 7 of 17 passes for just 56 yards on Saturday night, including 32 yards on his only touchdown of the night, which went to tight end Max Klare.

Factors outside of Card's control have contributed to two consecutive misses. He doesn't call plays. He doesn't catch the passes he throws. He played Saturday night without two of three projected starting receivers, with Jahmal Edrine joining CJ Smith in what sounds like long-term inactivity.

None of this changes a bitter truth for the Boilermakers. Without a positive performance from Card, this offense — and this team — will face a much lower ceiling than they believed just four weeks ago.

“There are a lot of reasons right now,” Walters said of the ineffectiveness of the passing game. “After today's performance, I really have to make an assessment. That's two weeks in a row where we haven't come together.”

Purdue might have found a way to beat Oregon State if its offense had been just bad in the first half. They couldn't overcome a self-destructive offense – scoring points on the first drive and giving up seven more on the second drive.

The map was included in both.

On fourth and 1 from their own 28-yard line on the game's opening series, the Beavers showed what they could do. Instead of charging forward against Purdue's questionable run defense, they tried to attack. Kydran Jenkins applied pressure, defensive end Will Heldt held firm in coverage, and the offense took the field for the first time in excellent scoring position.

Devin Mockobee ran 10 yards on his first run and 7 yards on his second. On the third and first attempt, the ball seemed to bounce when Card winced on a zone read in the middle of the game. Oregon State recovered the fumble.

“We had an assessment that we shouldn't have made – we should have just made it,” Mockobee said. “It was just a mix-up.”

So the defense stepped up again. Jenkins sacked Gevani McCoy on the third down and forced a punt. On the first snap of the following series, Card made a simple pass to Reggie Love III coming out of the backfield. But when Love missed the ball, his ankle hit him and bounced straight to Oregon State linebacker Zakah Saez.

He ran 20 yards for the game's first touchdown. Murphy's Law, Purdue learned, applies from coast to coast.

“We are not yet able as a program to overcome these kinds of self-inflicted wounds,” Walters said.

Card was asked for interviews after the game but was unavailable. A week earlier against Notre Dame, he had taken more of the blame than he deserved for the offense's weaknesses. The lack of run support and the inability to win physical tackles on offense put him under constant pressure.

His experienced perspective on the demise of that passing game would have been insightful. He started with a record-setting 24-of-25 performance against an underdog Indiana State. Card capitalized on his connections with Edrine and Klare and dismantled a lower-ranked opponent with composure and precision.

After outshining the Sycamores, however, the passing game slacked and nearly ground to a halt, with Card averaging just 4.39 yards per attempt in losses to Notre Dame and Oregon State.

The ineffectiveness isn't entirely his fault. That bizarre pick-six wasn't the only disappointment in receiving. On the following series, Card rolled left on 3rd-and-7 and threw the ball back across his body to an open Jaron Tibbs. The receiver had both momentum and space and would have gotten more than one conversion had he caught the ball.

Instead, the ball bounced off his hands. Maybe not the easiest catch, but probably one that makes the difference between teams like Purdue winning or losing games against teams of the same caliber.

A lack of complementary execution on offense continues to pose a challenge for the defense. By the end of the third quarter, Oregon State had run 59 offensive plays to Purdue's 30. Time of possession was in the Beavers' favor, 31:22 to 12:48.

Jenkins was diplomatic about this disparity after the game. The defense needs to be better at executing. Even when they're exhausted, they need to make plays to get off the field.

It didn't help that a defense already without cornerback Nyland Green — a projected starter who had yet to play this season — also lost safety Antonio Stevens, defensive tackle Joe Anderson and defensive end CJ Morton during Saturday's game.

And despite all of these disadvantages, Oregon State only averaged 5.6 yards per play through three quarters. For the game?

When needed, however, the Beavers could do what Purdue couldn't: rely on the passing game.

The best example of this came during the two-minute drill at the end of the first half. Facing a second-and-8 attempt inside his own 20-yard line, McCoy threw a 15-yard pass over the middle to Darrius Clemens. He then hit Trent Walker over the middle for another 34 yards.

A few more passes secured Everett Hayes field goal position, giving Oregon State a 17-7 lead.

McCoy completed seven passes on that drive. Purdue completed seven passes in the entire game.

Mockobee finished with 168 yards on just 10 attempts. He managed runs of 28, 26 and 63 yards. Love managed another 66 yards on the ground.

Purdue's running game needed a bounce back after being stifled by Notre Dame. It did what it was supposed to do against Oregon State's porous run defense. It came into the game 119^th in the country in yards allowed per carry.

What will the Boilermakers offense accomplish the next time it faces a merely adequate run defense?

Before the season, Card was aware of the responsibility he bore. He knew his optimism about improving the offense was partly due to building on last season, when he showed off both his strengths and weaknesses. He said any quarterback would welcome that challenge.

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Graham Harrell also needs to find a solution quickly. Card's second year in this system should pay off beyond dismembering Indiana State. The current schematic approach simply isn't working.

Nobody is asking Hudson Card to turn into Drew Brees. He does need to turn into something more dynamic and consistently strong.

Otherwise, nine Big Ten opponents remain, most of whom showed last season that they know how to beat a one-dimensional Purdue offense.

Follow IndyStar Purdue Insider Nathan Baird on X at @nwbaird.

Purdue’s football season depends on whether QB Hudson Card makes it

ByVanessa

By Vanessa

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