Lack of winning eliminates Purdue’s chance to win in East Lansing

It’s a miracle the Boilermakers have any legs left considering how much they’ve shot at them this season. The season-long trend of self-inflicted miscues reared its ugly head Friday night as the Boilermakers put themselves in yet another hole they couldn’t climb out of.

A disastrous first half began to unravel when Devin Mockobee put the football on the turf in the second quarter, with the Boilermakers already down 10-3. Mockobee’s second fumble of the season gave the explosive Spartans a golden scoring opportunity on the heels of a field goal moments earlier.

Then the defense continued the not so funny trend. As Michigan State looked to score off the turnover, Dillon Thieneman looked to secure his first interception of the season, but a pass interference call on freshman cornerback Tarrion Grant nixed plans that would have given the Boilermakers the ball in Spartan territory.

The penalty got Michigan State inside Purdue’s ten-yard line, where the defense held up two plays and forced a third-and-goal from the 9-yard line. Jeffrey M’Ba was subsequently flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for shoving a Spartan offensive lineman, giving Michigan State another set of downs and a touchdown just two plays later.

Purdue’s struggling field goal unit made it a trifecta later on the following possession when Bennett Boehnlein botched a high snap and Ben Freehill sent the attempt into the back of his long snapper Nick Levy’s head. It was the second red zone drive that went without a touchdown in the half.

The Boilermakers, as they have done with regularity this season, fell apart through the first 30 minutes of play. That would allow Michigan State to jump out to a 24-3 halftime lead as the Purdue defense struggled to get off the field.

Throughout the first half, the Purdue defense was able to get Michigan State on third down and long on multiple occasions. That’s when Aidan Chiles was able to make his magic happen. Purdue entered Friday with the second-worst third down defense in the conference, allowing opponents to sustain drives 48% of the time.

That mark went up against one of the worst third down offenses in the conference as Michigan State shot 38% entering the game, with the Spartans going 6-7 on third down in the first half and 6-14 for the game, but up for two missing with a pair of fourth down conversions.

The Boilermakers had four instances of third-and-eight or longer in the first half, and the Spartans converted on each of them. The longest of those was a 3rd-and-17 where Thieneman snagged a momentum-changing interception had it not been for the aforementioned penalty that Ryan Walters was visibly frustrated with following the game.

The Spartans also cashed in on all three of their red zone opportunities in the first half and held a 21-3 margin in that category over the game’s first 30 minutes. Michigan State entered the day with a 72% mark in that area, which was lower than even the Boilermakers in the Big Ten. However, Purdue’s worst-ranked red zone defense opened up an opportunity. One that the Spartans took full advantage of.

The game-winning plays Purdue has lacked all season were once again absent for the entire first half.

Facing a 21-point halftime deficit, however, the Boilermakers came alive as the winning plays began to materialize. Hudson Card headlined that charge as he threw for 201 of his career-high 324 yards in the second half and began showing up in big moments.

On Purdue’s first scoring drive of the third quarter, Card danced around the pocket on fourth down to find Shamar Rigby to keep the drive alive. That sparked the offense, which quickly moved down the field for its first third-quarter touchdown in over a month on Devin Mockobee’s two-yard run.

The next possession followed a similar trend as Purdue faced a 3rd and 21 near midfield, which saw Card heave the ball downfield to Jaron Tibbs to give the unit another scoring opportunity. Short then hit Max Klare on the next play to cut the Michigan State lead to just seven with 13:56 left.

Throughout the onslaught, Kevin Kane’s defense showed up in a big way after the break. The Boilermakers held Michigan State scoreless while surrendering just 73 yards of offense and not giving up a third down conversion. The lockdown play by the defense allowed Purdue to claw its way back into the game and threaten a monumental comeback bid.

The script had suddenly flipped, and the Boilermakers took a page out of Michigan State’s book in the second half. As the surge increased, it gave Purdue an opportunity to come up big down the stretch, but the momentum waned over the final 13 minutes of play.

The Cards’ brilliant day was marred by an interception on a tipped ball on the Michigan State side of the field before the Boilermakers got the ball back with an opportunity to tie things up. The Purdue signal caller dropped a dime to a wide open Jahmal Edrine on the second play of that drive, one that would have seen him waltz into the end zone. Instead, the perfect pass fell to the Spartan Stadium turf as Edrine was unable to hang onto it.

Purdue bounced back from the missed opportunity and moved into Spartan territory again, but another down halted the momentum. Jaron Tibbs was unable to recover a first down that put Purdue in a 4th and 6 scenario where Card was hit while throwing and handed the ball back to Michigan State to milk the clock.

Aidan Chiles ruined Purdue’s hopes of a come-from-behind upset, converting on fourth-and-inches with 2:00 left, putting the final nail in the coffin.

Friday night was the third game where the Boilermakers came back from a significant halftime deficit and had a win in their sights. The previous two saw a failed two-point conversion against Illinois, followed by a failed fourth-down attempt against Northwestern, both leading to Purdue defeats in overtime.

East Lansing served as the latest disappointment in Purdue’s disappointing 2024 campaign. Ultimately, the Boilermakers haven’t shown the ability to make the type of plays necessary to win games. A game-clinching score, a stop to give the offense that opportunity, a game-changing turnover. Nothing.

It goes down from big plays against top competition to decisive moments in close matches. It was a trend that continued in the final moments despite signs of life against the 4-6 Spartans.

Maybe winning all three of the aforementioned gut-wrenching games wouldn’t drastically shift the narrative of this team, its head coach and the direction of the program, but it would take a historically bad season off the table.

With Friday’s loss, Purdue dropped a tenth straight game, the longest losing streak for the program since the 1-11 campaign of 2013. These Boilermakers are now just one game away from tying the all-time mark of 11 consecutive losses, which is as far as I know , a record dating back to 1908.

Now, that ominous mark is fast approaching with a potential top-five Indiana team waiting in the wings. A team that Purdue will need to play perfectly to compete with in Bloomington next Saturday.