Purdue football's moribund offense lets down Boilermakers in loss at Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Michigan − Purdue football's moribund offense let the Boilermakers down again.
Saturday night, the Boilermaker defense played as well as it could for as long as it could, trailing 20-6 late into the third quarter against US LBM coaches poll second-ranked Michigan.
Finally, the dam broke with Semaj Morgan taking an end-around 44 yards that broke the spirit of the Boilermakers and assured Purdue its football season is over in three weeks.
The Wolverines (9-0) rolled from there, winning 41-13 at Michigan Stadium.
More: Purdue football coach Ryan Walters on Michigan scandal: 'They aren't allegations'
Three observations from another prime-time opportunity turned embarrassment for Purdue football.
Purdue's offense is offensive to watch
The fact two field goals were reason to celebrate tells you all you need to know.
Ben Freehill's 32-yard field goal with 3:52 to go in the second quarter was the first field goal by Purdue since Julio Macias in the second quarter of a Sept. 30 win over Illinois.
That also was the last time Purdue's offense seemed to have a pulse.
Purdue has five offensive touchdowns in the past four games. One of those came while trailing Ohio State by 34 points in the fourth quarter. Another with 18 seconds to go on Saturday night.
Against Michigan, Purdue had 269 yards of offense − 75 on the last drive − and its two field goals came on short fields after recovering a punt that bounced off a Michigan player and stopping Michigan on fourth-and-inches at its own 34.
Purdue was given a short field on both of its first half field goals. Granted, Michigan has one of the best defenses in the country and after Burks' late touchdown, Purdue can say it put up the most points against the Wolverines this season.
Purdue is almost out of offensive linemen. So think up front are the Boilermakers, they brought in Austin Johnson, Purdue's third-string center, to snap and moved All-Big Ten center Gus Hartwig to right tackle in the second quarter.
"I am proud of the way they fought. They know kind of the situation we're in right now," Purdue coach Ryan Walters said. "There weren't any mental errors. They were communicating and on the same page. They fought. It's two fold on where we are just from an injury standpoint and just playing against arguably the best defense in the country."
Slow start defensively
On Walters' weekly radio show Thursday, he mentioned how he'd heard all week that his defense played great against Nebraska last week. Then he quipped, "not good enough."
It was a similar scenario at Michigan, where Purdue's defense kept the Wolverines at bay for the final 24 minutes of the first half, but gave up drives of six plays for 76 yards and seven plays for 67 yards, respectively, that ended in touchdowns on Michigan's first two series.
"We just had to settle down, that's what it was," Purdue safety Sanoussi Kane said. "We were playing too excited. We were ready for the moment, but we played too excited."
Nic Scourton and Kydran Jenkins look like the Big Ten's best two edge rushers. And they play for a 2-7 football team.
Hudson Card's decline
Purdue football's QB transfer from Texas continues to look out of place with the Boilermakers.
In the season's first three games, Card appeared to be trending in the right direction, completing better than 65% of his passes for an average of 275 yards per game in his first three starts of the season.
In his last three games, Card has totaled 370 yards passing at a 44.5 percent completion clip.
"For me, it's just to not hesitate and trust the guys around me," Card said. "I'm excited to have these last three opportunities to end the season the right way."
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue football's offense lets down Boilers in loss at Michigan
