In three plays — less than a minute off the clock — Ohio’s guard was down against Purdue.
The Boilermakers ran the ball right through the Bobcat defense to open Friday’s game and gained 50 yards in three rushes, which was already more than Ohio had allowed the previous week against Hampton in 32 attempts.
“We did not get tested in the first game,” Ohio defensive line coach Pete Germano said. “We knew we were gonna get tested in the second game. If we did the things that we were supposed to do correctly, that game should have been a (close) ballgame.”
Instead, Purdue blew out the Bobcats, 44-21.
Disregarding Purdue’s passing game, which featured a double flea flicker touchdown and a gluttonous 12.3 yards per pass attempt, the Boilermakers’ ability to run rampant was uncharacteristic for the Bobcat defense.
In total, Ohio allowed 263 rush yards on 44 carries (six yards per carry), which was the first time any team had run for 200-plus yards against Ohio since Tennessee (ranked No. 16 at the time) did so last September.
No team had gained six yards per rush against Ohio since Appalachian State on Dec. 19, 2015 at the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.
Purdue’s offensive onslaught was diverse enough — mixing long and short passes, running inside and outside the tackles — that none of Ohio’s defensive position groups are particularly to blame.
Germano noted that the defense’s biggest problem was its inability to stay on the same page and fill the gaps on the field that needed to be filled.
“If you’re supposed to be in (play) X, but everybody’s in (play) Y, at least everybody’s wrong,” he said. “But we had guys sometimes running X and Y. We had two different things going on.”
This Saturday against Kansas, a team that has lost 41-straight road games, the Bobcats need to emphasize pressuring the quarterback. They only sacked Purdue’s quarterback once, and against a Jayhawk offense that threw 62 times against Central Michigan last week, that probably won’t be enough.
“Last year (we) were kind of up there in sacks,” said defensive lineman Sam McKnight, who’ll play Saturday after missing the first two games with a cyst on his right knee. “This year, we’re not doing so good.”
The game against Purdue wasn’t all bad. Ohio won the second half, 14-10, and Germano said he was pleased to see his group refuse to quit. He said the defensive mistakes that were made are “so correctable.”
Well, Saturday serves as a chance to correct them.
“Whether we didn’t get enough of a pass rush and (Purdue) had too much time to throw, or some of those long runs where we got cut off or what have you, we’re not pointing fingers,” Germano said. “We as coaches and we as players, we on defense have got to get better.”
