Bowl hopes dim, still possible for Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE − The light at the end of the tunnel is dimming.
But Purdue football can still see it and, entering a much-needed bye week, the Boilermakers are still reaching for it.
“We’re sitting at two wins right now,” Purdue football coach Ryan Walters said after Saturday’s 41-7 loss to No. 3 Ohio State at Ross-Ade Stadium. “Everybody in this building will tell you that these seniors that are here deserve to play in the postseason.”
Six wins are required for bowl eligibility. Purdue is 2-5 with five games to go.
A win at No. 2 Michigan on Nov. 4 seems improbable.
That means the Boilermakers will need to go 4-0 against Nebraska, Minnesota, Northwestern and Indiana.
Right now, those four games are keeping that dim light shining.
“There’s no reason to go into the rest of the season thinking, lets pick a game here, pick a game there,” said redshirt sophomore Devin Mockobee, who over the past few weeks has begun rounding into the player Purdue had at running back a season ago. “We’re still in it to win it all. That’s how I’m going to play. That’s how I want the rest of us to play.” But first, that bye week.
If Purdue could place it anywhere on its football schedule, it seems like the Boilermakers couldn’t choose a better time to have a week where there’s no upcoming opponent.
Purdue is bruised and battered. Lineman Luke Griffin was carted off early in Saturday’s game, the second offensive lineman to be taken off the field in as many weeks after Marcus Mbow suffered a season-ending injury at Iowa. Mahamane Moussa had to be helped off the field in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Hudson Card played games against Illinois and Iowa at far less than 100 percent. Running back Tyrone Tracy and receiver Abdur Rahmaan-Yaseen didn’t play against the
Buckeyes. Kicker Ben Freehill went through warmups Saturday but didn’t play and the Boilers went 0-for-3 on field goal attempts.
“Having the opportunity to have a week to get our bodies back and then, obviously, just mentally, too, just kind of step away for a little bit and then that allows you to come back even stronger,” Card said. “We know what we have in this last stretch. We know we have must-win games the rest of the season.”
A road trip to Nebraska, not an easy place to play by any means regardless of the Huskers’ current struggles, is up next.
It is without question a must-win if that tunnel has a pathway to the other end — in this case a bowl game.
And, let’s be fair, Ohio State is the best team Purdue has played this season and it was the first time the Boilermakers were not competitive.
Purdue’s performance, regardless of the team on the other side Saturday, was more about itself than it was the opponent.
“We can’t keep letting guys score 20 points on us in the first half,” linebacker Nic Scourton said. “As a good defense, you don’t let that happen.”
Good defenses don’t give up 41 points and good teams don’t lose five times in seven games.
Right now, Purdue is not a good football team.
The Boilermakers are not a bad football team, either.
They’re just a team. One searching for something to grasp onto.
Right now that’s bowl eligibility, and even that is slipping away, but still achievable.
“We’ll have a five-game stretch where I feel like we can go compete and get some wins,” Walters said. “Looking at everybody in the locker room, everybody is obviously disappointed in where we are right now, but I don’t think anybody is defeated.”