Purdue at Oregon: What's in a Boilermaker, Anyway?

Was it really only a week ago?

It seems like forever and a day.

Oregon’s season was full of promise. The Duck’s were going to avenge last year’s only loss on their home field. The Chip Kelly era was going to start with a bang, an offensive shootout for the ages.

A few hours later, it was all over. A game, a coaching debut, and a collegiate career.

I’m not going to say anything more about LaGarrette Blount and the aftermath of last week’s game. I’ve already chipped in my two cents about that. This article is only going to be about football.

There is plenty of football to talk about. Perhaps the only silver lining the Ducks could take away from Boise (which I learned this past week is officially pronounced boy-see, not boy-zee) was that their defense actually played fairly well.

To be sure, the Broncos left a lot of points on the field. They suffered from critical turnovers and two missed field goals. But the run defense, Oregon’s biggest question mark coming into the season with three new defensive linemen who were lacking in bulk, held the Broncos to under three yards per carry.

This is even more impressive considering the defense was on the field for more than 40 game minutes, and nearly 25 game minutes in the first half.

The pass defense wasn’t “lock down” but it certainly wasn’t awful. After carving Oregon’s defense into deli thin slices at Autzen last year, Kellen Moore went 19-29 for 197 yards and a touchdown. Once again, there were a lot of mistakes made by the Broncos themselves that kept those numbers low, but any time a team runs that many plays on a defense and has less than 200 yards passing it is an accomplishment.

A repeat performance against a multi-dimensional Purdue offense will be a hard to come by if TJ Ward, last year’s leading tackler and a veteran presence in the secondary, cannot go. He was held out of practice Monday and is questionable for Saturday. If he can’t go, his backup is a freshman. Then again, the Ducks did OK without him in the second half on the blue turf.

While the defense held its own, Oregon’s offense seemed to have missed the flight. The running game was non-existent, turnovers were committed, and it took the Ducks more than a half to get a first down. They ended up with only one; I repeat one, third down conversion in 10 tries and no fourth down conversions in two tries.

With Blount gone, this offense will run almost entirely through Jeremiah Masoli. But he has to realize that it isn’t his job to do it by himself. Last week, he seemed to be trying to force plays, and it never worked out well. The spread option is about taking what the defense gives you, not staring down receivers or deciding who needs to get the ball before even seeing the defensive alignment.

The Ducks' offensive line endured the growing pains we all knew the young unit would. While the pass protection was consistent, there was far too much penetration on most of the runs the Duck’s tried. This may have been exaggerated by Blount not being in top shape after the off season, but it was still not good to see a team that lives off the run allowing defenders into the backfield.

Purdue comes off a solid victory against Toledo in their opener. A prolific offensive performance covered for a defense that surrendered 31 points and 493 total yards. Running back Ralph Bolden was stupendous for the Boilermakers, running for 234 yards on only 21 carries with 2 touchdowns. His running mate Jaycen Taylor wasn’t shabby either, gaining 81 yards on 14 carries and another pair of scores.

Last year, the Ducks offense struggled in West Lafayette for most of the game and allowed the Boilermakers to build a 20-3 lead in the second quarter. But a critical punt return in the third quarter started a comeback for Oregon, and a pair of missed field goals cost Purdue a chance to pull the upset.

For Oregon to sweep the series, the offense has to get back on track. Without Blount, the running game will rely on smaller, speedier backs LaMichael James, Andre Crenshaw, and Kenjon Barner. Remene Alston is in the midst of academic trouble, leaving the Ducks with no room for injuries. In fact, Darron Thomas has been practicing with the runners this week just in case.

But the young backs have a lot of promise, and Crenshaw is a proven senior. For the Ducks' offense to improve they must get their bread and butter, the read option running game, going again. They have the runners in the backfield to do it, be it Masoli or his mates. But the offensive line must improve on their run blocking from last week.

The Ducks pass protection was quite good on Thursday but Masoli never looked comfortable on the blue turf. The Duck’s also managed to drop several catchable balls. On drop back passes Masoli’s first look needs to be tight end Ed Dickson. The senior is a matchup nightmare and has been called the best pass catcher on the football team.

Getting the ball to him will loosen up coverage on the young wideouts and allow them to get open and gain Masoli’s confidence.

In the aftermath of last week’s offensive debacle, Oregon’s best hope to beat Purdue is for the defense to have a repeat performance and hold a big play Purdue offense in check. Assuming Allioti’s guys hold up on their end, some consistent performances from Dickson and the running backs will get the Ducks back to .500.

A few extra turnovers and a big play or two on special teams would certainly create a welcome margin for error for the young offense though.

The old saying goes that “the night is darkest just before the dawn.” Last Thursday night might have been the darkest moment for Oregon football in the history of the program. Let this Saturday be the dawn of the Chip Kelly era.

THE CALL: Oregon Ducks 24, Purdue Boilermakers 20