11/2/2026 Boilermaker Water Cooler Chat: Halloween Horrors Edition
Rants, ravings, and somewhat sensical opinions following the wild, wacky, and wide-wide world of Purdue sports.
Everyone knows, at this point, that Halloween is my time of year. The weather was incredible. Our neighborhood had several trick or treaters. My favorite holiday, capped with several sneaked chocolate bars, skittles packets, and a series of cocktails, combines for a perfect Saturday night.
When I was a kid, I would go to the neighborhoods with the most houses, the richest families. I would strive for the king-sized candy bars while hitting as many houses as I could in those few hours. While we would always get a good haul of sweets, inevitably some houses would hand out less than stellar treats. You’d get the occasional popcorn ball. Those black and orange taffy pieces that are rock hard. Some home-made cookies. One time I got a travel sized toothpaste. These people mean well, but it’s just a different vibe than kids are looking for.
… and who could forget that we are in the Midwest. Several Halloweens get rained or even snowed out. Sometimes it’s too cold to enjoy the festivities. You end up dressing as Spider Man wearing a winter coat and holding an umbrella. Those Halloweens are bummers.
I am never a fan of when Purdue football plays on Halloween. It inevitably distracts me from the aforementioned candy, cocktails, and trick or treating. It also doesn’t help that the Boilermakers handed out popcorn balls and rock hard taffy this week.
Thanks Purdue.
The Game:
Purdue 17, Penn State 31
Purdue’s special teams showed up. Purdue’s offense showed up for a half. Purdue’s defense didn’t show up. Purdue ho-hummed itself to a 14 point loss against a listless Penn State program.
Ryan Browne threw for 142 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs. Purdue rushed for 33 yards total. That is, for those of you math majors, 175 total yards. For perspective, Purdue’s punter, Dylan Drennan punted for 191 total yards on 5 attempts.
Purdue’s defense couldn’t stop the run, giving up 269 yards on the ground. Penn State controlled the line of scrimmage, controlled the clock, and controlled the scoreboard. Not the best showing for a Purdue team with 2 weeks to prepare for this contest.
Break It Down:
Earlier in the day on Saturday, I made a fool of myself. Because I am “Midwest Nice” and I try to make friends with every human that I pass by, I decided to compliment someone in Walmart.
Judging a book by its cover, you would assume that someone wearing a green blazer, bow tie, corduroy pants, and heavy brimmed glasses, on Halloween would be wearing a costume. I meant well, but I was wrong.
Judging a book by its cover, you would assume that someone wearing a gold football helmet, a white jersey over shoulder pads, is a football player. Was Saturday’s contest fielded by trick or treaters wearing their Halloween costumes in Happy Valley and not Big Ten athletes? I am just kidding…
Purdue has shown so much improvement this season. They really have. I get disheartened when there appears to be a lack of effort. Not just the players. There was no bye-week wrinkle installed in the offense. There were no changes in the defense. That is coaching effort. Still love this team. It is what I do. Performances like what happened on Saturday are just frustrating.
What Went Well:
- Jalil Hall: Scooped a blocked punt and scored on a 31 yard return in the second quarter. A huge play when the game was close early. These are the types of plays that Purdue needs to keep things competitive, and it is nice to see big things happening on special teams.
Opportunities for Improvement:
- 33: … yards rushing is going to get you beaten nearly 100% of the time. This mostly falls on the offensive line. There was absolutely no push on the front, so the running backs were trying to make something out of nothing. The line has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but Saturday was not one of those flashes.
- 269: … yards given up on the ground is going to get you beaten nearly 100% of the time. Whether or not it was a simple draw play, or a designed carry, a poor rushing offense looked like me playing NCAA ’08, easy mode, on my PS2. Purdue’s defense is a pick your poison situation. As in, no matter which poison is offered, rushing or passing, the defense is poisoned.
Big Man on Campus:
Due to popular demand, there will be no BMOC award presented this week. Coffee is for closers.
Basketball is Back, Baby!
After an up and down preseason, Matt Painter’s squad starts playing the regular season this week. A new look team looks to fill the void of 4 starters (Smith, Loyer, Kaufman-Renn, Cluff) but have some talented (if not unproven) players ready to take the reigns of the program. With two games this week, Purdue is hoping to get the season off to a strong start.
Things to keep your eye on:
- Starters: Throughout the preseason Purdue ran with the starters of Omer Mayer, CJ Cox, Gicarri Harris, Caden Pierce, and Daniel Jacobsen.
- Key Contributors: Look for opportunities off the bench for Antoine West, Luke Ertel, Jack Benter, Raleigh Burgess, and Enzo Shahrvin.
- Strengths: Purdue will be able to bomb away from 3 with the best of them. In two of the exhibitions, Purdue scorched the nets, taking the majority of their field goal attempts from beyond the arc. That comes with a downside, as in their third exhibition against UConn, the shots didn’t fall, and the game was lopsided in the wrong direction.
- Weaknesses: Purdue will struggle to rebound this season. Losing Cluff and TKR on the front lines will absolutely hurt. Look for Pierce and Jacobsen to be leaned on heavily to clean the glass.
Boilerball is back! I am excited to see how this team matures over the season!
A Look Ahead:
Purdue basketball will play two games this week, including a Monday Night tilt against #15 Gonzaga in Las Vegas (7:30, TNT). Boilers will follow that up with a Friday night contest against my hometown team of Valparaiso (6:30, BTN). Boilermakers open up as a small dog (-4.5) against the Zags on Monday.
Purdue Football will lick their wounds and attempt to get back on track against a struggling Maryland team. The Boilermakers open as a nearly touchdown favorite (-6.5). Also, I will be in attendance for this game. If you happen to see me, would love for ya’ll to come by and say hi!
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