Purdue Football: 3 takeaways from failed comeback vs. Northwestern

2. Jeff Brohm has to continue to address the trenches

Purdue has done a nice job of recruiting under Jeff Brohm. There is still a lot of work to do, however. With Rondale Moore still out, David Bell has carried most of the load. Bell had nine receptions in this game along with running back Zander Horvath. No receiver had more than three catches in this game.

One would think there would be another option at receiver outside of Bell with Moore not playing.

The lack of a second option affected Purdue’s performance against Northwestern. It also did not help the Boilermakers had no running game either on Saturday afternoon.

The Purdue offensive line has lots of holes. Purdue running backs had no lanes to run through at all in this game. It became obvious Brohm abandoned the running game this afternoon. If Purdue does not address the offensive line, they’ll never know how good this offense can become.

Defensively, the trenches held the running game of Northwestern, but that is also attributed to the lack of talent at running back. Peyton Ramsey had all day to throw on most drop backs. Purdue registered no sacks or quarterback hurries. Northwestern had a plan to block Purdue’s only pass-rusher, George Karlaftis. With him neutralized, Purdue had no plan to get to Ramsey.