Washington faces another B1G team this week fighting for two wins. This time it’s Purdue at home. Let’s dig into their offense and see how they could challenge the Huskies on defense this Saturday.
In numbers
Points per game: 19.4 (#111)
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Rushing yards per game: 128.8 (#92)
QB sacked percentage: 4.76% (#45)
Passing yards per game: 225.7 (#71)
Seconds per play: 24.5 (#29)
Third attempt conversion: 36% (#95)
Average possession time: 26min 24sec (#131)
Key players
RB Devon Mockobee would have been the star player of this offense if not for a season-ending injury suffered three weeks ago. In his four-year career at Purdue, he rushed for nearly 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns. They were 2-5 and 0-4 in B1G play when he got hurt, so who knows what real impact he was having. But he was their only true home run threat in the backfield. Now they’ve taken a committee approach with the duo of Antonio Harris (44 carries, 251 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Malachi Thomas (43 carries, 221 yards, 0 touchdowns). Backup quarterback Malachi Singleton, a dual-threat transfer from Arkansas, has been helping in the running game with 37 carries for 182 yards. Overall, the running game has been decent without Mockobee, although much less explosive.
Now let’s move on to the actual quarterback, Ryan Browne. The 6-4, 210-pounder is in his third year in the program and is a strong, athletic running back at the position. On the season he has 47 rushing attempts designed for 254 yards and four touchdowns. He’s not afraid to lower his shoulder and moves a little more than you’d expect from someone his size. On the other hand, he has lost the ball five times. In passing, he completes 60.5% of his passes, 1,898 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. PFF notes nine “great throws” and 11 turnover-worthy plays. He’s a high-level player who has some explosive ability, but he makes too many mistakes and doesn’t get enough help around him. Once he starts throwing more than 10 yards downfield, his numbers plummet. But ultimately, it’s the mistakes that doom him: He had three interceptions in the red zone against USC, threw a pick six in the fourth quarter against Minnesota and had another turnover in the final minutes against Rutgers. Both Minnesota and Rutgers were absolutely winnable games at the end, which added to the pain.
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At the receiver, they are fighting. As a unit, they are second in the B1G in dropped passes with 23. WR Michael Jackson III leads with 53 receptions for 471 yards and a touchdown and will primarily line up outside. First-team WR Nitro Tuggle is the relatively deep threat on the outside, with an average target depth of over 13 yards. It’s a strange case with Purdue’s receivers: As a group, they have the same number of contested catches as they do throws.
Last but not least, the offensive line actually isn’t that bad, all things considered.
The scheme
This is a quick passing, high RPO scheme to take advantage of Browne’s strengths as a signal caller. They’ll try to get upright with deep passes down the wing occasionally, but they simply don’t have the receiving talent to win enough 50/50 balls. They move at a decent pace.
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When at its best, this offense avoids turnovers and allows Browne to make plays with his legs, with a few completions thrown in for good measure. They scored 30 on Notre Dame, so it’s possible for them to get into the end zone against a talented defense. But in most other games it’s been hard work.
Final thoughts
This is a team that seemingly can’t get out of its own way on offense. Turnovers, dropped passes, and mistakes have plagued this team all year. They seem to be playing hard and keeping many games close for longer than opposing teams would like. They only average about five penalties per game, which is a decent number for 30th in the nation. Digging a little deeper, they average around three penalties per game at home, but jump to seven when away from home.
Clearly, after last week, you have to keep in mind that no game in this conference is a guaranteed win. Like Wisconsin, Purdue is desperate to win and play hard for their coach. However, I think the Boilermakers have a lot to overcome offensively (road penalties, drops, turnovers, and general lack of playmakers) that Washington should be able to score enough, even if it’s just 21 or 24 points, to win the game.