ISC Purdue

9/15/2025 Boilermaker Water Cooler Chat: Silver Linings Edition

Rants, ravings, and somewhat sensical opinions following the wild, wacky, and wide-wide world of Purdue sports.

It has been a while since I have been in a fight. Growing up as a rabble rousing , feral, ragamuffin, scoundrel, boy, running amuck in the Northwest Indiana wilderness, fights were bound to happen. The last several decades, however, I have hung up my fighting shoes, and have concentrated on more manageable fights considering my rapidly advancing age.

Professional wrestling. Ok, not really. Well, kinda. Boxing. MMA. Movies about fighting. You know… consuming fighting media from the comfort of my living room. My days of getting punched in the face are long over, whether or not I’ve earned it.

You see, if you’ve been in a fight, or watched a movie about fighting, you know how the tale goes. Rocky, for example, trained for an entire movie. There were montages, one handed pushups, punching meat, running up stairs. He screamed at the air in several moments of passionate, testosterone fueled moments of exhilaration. He was right where he needed to be. The hero was surely to triumph.

Then Rocky promptly lost to Apollo Creed. (Editor’s note: Spoiler Alert).

You can fight hard. You can put yourself in position to succeed. Sometimes you are just out matched.

The Game:

USC 33, Purdue 17

Boilermakers endure a several hour rain delay, which dampened the field, the crowd, and the overall excitement of the day. The fans that stuck around and timed their buzz correctly, tried to will their Boilers to victory. Purdue fought hard, but crucial mistakes at the worst of moments doomed the good guys in a soggy Ross Ade Stadium.

Quickly in the game it became apparent that there was no stopping the Trojan offense. This is not a slight on the defense, but rather incredible praise for USC. Jayden Maiava showed why he is an early Heisman candidate, throwing for 282 yards and rushing for a TD. USC went 4-4 on fourth down, did not punt, and were only stopped by a missed field goal, or the end of the half. Boilers, in order to have a shot, would have to play mistake free football…

Well… Our Boilermakers moved the ball all day. Ryan Browne passed for 305 yards and TD, while rushing for another. While those statistics are encouraging, the USC defense snagged 3 interceptions, two of which in the red zone, and a third on a promising drive. One of those interceptions was in the endzone. Another was a blown up play, in which Browne was hit as he threw, and the ball fluttered into the awaiting hands of the largest human being on earth (Editor’s note #2: He is not the largest human being on earth, but he is up there), who, at 365lbs rumbled across the field and scored. Huge point swings at inopportune times. Boilers gave the ball up 3 times, on drives where they were in scoring territory, and lost by 2 scores.

Purdue – USC Photo Gallery by Mark Elsner: https://iscpurdue.com/purdue-football-vs-usc-8-13-25/

Break it Down:

Opportunity slipped through the Boilermaker fingertips. Make no mistake the better team did win this game, as USC is incredibly talented. Their QB, their WRs, their RBs, all elite players. Purdue was right there and couldn’t keep the game clean enough to take down the Trojans.

When you are clearly out “talented”, then you need to assure that you play mistake free football, and Purdue did not do that. Not all of the mistakes were self inflicted, some were instigated by the USC defense. However, there are silver linings to this game.

1. Purdue showed that they deserved to be on the field against teams the caliber of USC.
2. Purdue kept fighting. At points in the second half, Purdue looked like they were in position to make a game out of this, and did not fold like the 2024 squad would have.
3. Coach Odom continued to attempt to make adjustments, continued to add new wrinkles. When the coach continues to fight, the players will continue to do so.
4. Good teams win, great teams cover.

What Went Well:

• Offense: Was potent for huge parts of this game. The Boilermakers garnered 23 first downs, threw for over 300 yards, and moved the ball against a skilled USC defense.
• 5: Penalties for the game, for 60 total yards. Purdue continues to be disciplined this season. While 5 isn’t perfect, USC had 9 penalties for 103 yards, comparatively.
• Double Digit: Tackles for Myles Slusher (12) and Charles Correa (11). They were all over the field last night.
• Wrinkles: It may have been a broken play, but the errant QB throwback ended up working out in Purdue’s favor. Yes, it resulted in a touchdown, but it wasn’t perfectly executed. The concept, however, is what makes that play more important than the 7 points it garnered. Purdue showed that it has some trickery in their bag. Defenses are going to have that in the back of their head going forward.
• No quit: Past Purdue teams would’ve folded after that endzone interception. Last year this game would’ve ended up being 67-13. Not this team. Deep into the game I felt that Purdue still had a shot.
• 2001 Rose Bowl Team 25th Anniversary: Great to see all the players, staff & families that visited Ross-Ade on Saturday. A team that will always be remembered in the annals of Purdue Football.

Opportunities for Improvement:

• 3: Turnovers when Purdue was in position to score. This is the story of the game. All interceptions. Giving up red-zone turnovers is like a double whammy. You are effectively losing points, while giving the other team opportunities to score. Boilers lost by 2 scores. Not all of these were Browne’s fault because…
• Protection?: USC brought the heat, and Browne was getting massacred for big parts of the game. Purdue gave up 5 sacks on the day. On several of these plays the protection scheme completely missed. Whether it be the running back blocking the wrong man, or simply linemen being beaten, a quarterback cannot complete passes from their rear end.
• Big Ten Officiating: Is in mid-season form. Several missed calls throughout this game affected the momentum of the game. Let me be clear, I am absolutely not saying that the officiating is why Purdue lost. I am, however, pointing out that my non-sportsfan wife was pointing out that there were missed facemasks, horrible spots, and missed holds throughout the entire game. Both sides. Awful.

Big Man on Campus:

Due to popular demand, there will be no BMOC award this week. Coffee is for closers.

A Look Ahead:

Things do not get any easier this week, as the Boilermakers travel to South Bend to take on the #24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Notre Dame, got their standard high preseason ranking, but has lost their first two contests of the season. This Irish squad is 0-2 on the season, with their playoff hopes clearly on the line. What I am trying to say is, they are angry, they are desperate, and they are licking their chops.

Oh, and good news for our faithful ISC readers, South Bend is just a hop, skip, and jump from my humble abode in Northwest Indiana. Such a quick trip that yours truly will join ISC Photographer Mark “The Best in the Business” Elsner from press row next week. A little ISC road trip! The next thing you will hear from me, will be in the Notre Dame pressbox. Hopefully it is a happy day for the Boilermakers!

Purdue will open as a significant dog against Notre Dame. It will absolutely be a tall order for the Boilers to take care of business in South Bend, as Purdue has only won once in Notre Dame Stadium in the last several… generations. Touchdown Jesus has been a bastion of nightmares for the Boilermaker faithful. We’ll see! Stranger things have happened!

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