Purdue's Impressive Wins:
#23 Boston College - 30-13
@ Nebraska - 42-28
Total Offense Ranking:
Purdue - #47
Illinois - #90
Passing Yards Per Game:
Purdue - #13 (320.2 ypg)
Illinois - #118 (150.2 ypg)
Thoughts...
David Blough is a good quarterback. He currently has 1,318 yards passing while throwing for 7 touchdowns to 1 interception. David completes 68.2% of his passes and he has a very good 155.5 QB rating.
In my opinion, this is the best quarterback the Illini defense will face up to this point in the season. David is ranked 18th in the country in QB rating and he can also beat you with his feet, however, he tends to stay in the pocket and throw.
Purdue has a plethora of wide receivers that will create difficulties for the young Illini secondary.
Rondale Moore is a stud.
R. Moore - 41 rec (13th in the nation), 457 yds, 4 tds
Rondale can also beat you on the ground.
R. Moore - 7 car, 136 yds and a 76 yard TD run.
Now Rondale struggled against Eastern Michigan only making 3 receptions for 16 yards and if I'm Hardy, I'm bumping him at the line of scrimmage wherever he lines up with safety help keying in on him. Much easier said, then done, but we can't allow him to get to the next level and make explosive plays (gains).
I mentioned that Purdue has a plethora of WR's and they do.
Brycen Hopkins makes big catches and is a good WR. He's averaging 18.1 yds per catch and has 308 total receiving yards. He's going to be a tough match-up.
Isaac Zico is also averaging 18.1 yds per catch and has 272 total receiving yards. He's a tough match-up too.
Terry Wright is averaging 16.9 yds per catch and has 152 total receiving yards, which would lead our team as of today. Ricky Smalling has 150 total receiving yards.
Then you have Jared Sparks who has 17 receptions and tends to be more of a possession receiver.
Like I said, Purdue has weapons and Blough is really good at spreading it around and checking down to the open receiver.
In my opinion on defense, our secondary has the most difficult challenge and will either win or lose the game for us.
Purdue can run the ball too, but Illinois has a much stronger run game.
Total Rushing Yards Per Game:
Illinois - #13 (260.8)
Purdue - #73 (169.8)
D.J. Knox has 390 yds, 5.6 avg, and 5 tds. Now, Boston College shut him down and his stats reflected (20 att 51 yds). In my opinion, we need to shut the run down and create as many 3rd and long situations as possible. Our defensive line needs to get into the backfield and disrupt Purdue's running game.
Reggie Corbin has been our best back so far. He has 59 car, 464 yds, and averages 7.9 per carry. Mike Epstein has also been very productive with 57 car, 387 yds, and averaging 6.8 per carry. With those featured backs and AJ (44 car, 258 yds, 5.9 per carry) running the ball, I'm hoping we can take advantage of Purdue's run defense (#69 - 162.4 total yards per game).
I think this is going to be the deciding factor on how close we can keep the game. It really boils down to our run offense vs. PU's run defense and PU's pass offense vs. our pass defense.
A couple other interesting stats to keep in mind:
Purdue's pass defense isn't all that. We rank #119 (289.4 yds per game) and PU is at #117 (284.4 yds per game).
It'll be interesting to see what Rod Smith dials up against PU. We can pass against Purdue, they really are not a stout defense.
Cudds Prediction:
Illini - 30
Purdue - 26
#23 Boston College - 30-13
@ Nebraska - 42-28
Total Offense Ranking:
Purdue - #47
Illinois - #90
Passing Yards Per Game:
Purdue - #13 (320.2 ypg)
Illinois - #118 (150.2 ypg)
Thoughts...
David Blough is a good quarterback. He currently has 1,318 yards passing while throwing for 7 touchdowns to 1 interception. David completes 68.2% of his passes and he has a very good 155.5 QB rating.
In my opinion, this is the best quarterback the Illini defense will face up to this point in the season. David is ranked 18th in the country in QB rating and he can also beat you with his feet, however, he tends to stay in the pocket and throw.
Purdue has a plethora of wide receivers that will create difficulties for the young Illini secondary.
Rondale Moore is a stud.
R. Moore - 41 rec (13th in the nation), 457 yds, 4 tds
Rondale can also beat you on the ground.
R. Moore - 7 car, 136 yds and a 76 yard TD run.
Now Rondale struggled against Eastern Michigan only making 3 receptions for 16 yards and if I'm Hardy, I'm bumping him at the line of scrimmage wherever he lines up with safety help keying in on him. Much easier said, then done, but we can't allow him to get to the next level and make explosive plays (gains).
I mentioned that Purdue has a plethora of WR's and they do.
Brycen Hopkins makes big catches and is a good WR. He's averaging 18.1 yds per catch and has 308 total receiving yards. He's going to be a tough match-up.
Isaac Zico is also averaging 18.1 yds per catch and has 272 total receiving yards. He's a tough match-up too.
Terry Wright is averaging 16.9 yds per catch and has 152 total receiving yards, which would lead our team as of today. Ricky Smalling has 150 total receiving yards.
Then you have Jared Sparks who has 17 receptions and tends to be more of a possession receiver.
Like I said, Purdue has weapons and Blough is really good at spreading it around and checking down to the open receiver.
In my opinion on defense, our secondary has the most difficult challenge and will either win or lose the game for us.
Purdue can run the ball too, but Illinois has a much stronger run game.
Total Rushing Yards Per Game:
Illinois - #13 (260.8)
Purdue - #73 (169.8)
D.J. Knox has 390 yds, 5.6 avg, and 5 tds. Now, Boston College shut him down and his stats reflected (20 att 51 yds). In my opinion, we need to shut the run down and create as many 3rd and long situations as possible. Our defensive line needs to get into the backfield and disrupt Purdue's running game.
Reggie Corbin has been our best back so far. He has 59 car, 464 yds, and averages 7.9 per carry. Mike Epstein has also been very productive with 57 car, 387 yds, and averaging 6.8 per carry. With those featured backs and AJ (44 car, 258 yds, 5.9 per carry) running the ball, I'm hoping we can take advantage of Purdue's run defense (#69 - 162.4 total yards per game).
I think this is going to be the deciding factor on how close we can keep the game. It really boils down to our run offense vs. PU's run defense and PU's pass offense vs. our pass defense.
A couple other interesting stats to keep in mind:
Purdue's pass defense isn't all that. We rank #119 (289.4 yds per game) and PU is at #117 (284.4 yds per game).
It'll be interesting to see what Rod Smith dials up against PU. We can pass against Purdue, they really are not a stout defense.
Cudds Prediction:
Illini - 30
Purdue - 26
