Man, that was weird. On Friday night, the Huskies snapped a 3 game skid, beating Purdue 38-26, despite 5 turnovers. Let's get to what we learned!
Throughout most of this game, I marveled at the sheer insanity of what was taking place. That's about as "drunk" of a game as I've yet seen. From the opening interception, I was convinced that the Huskies were going to continue their slide. But, let's give credit where credit is due. Elijah Brown hung in there, and looked pretty good, in spite of the 3 interceptions. 302 yards and 3 touchdowns is not bad for a backup. And just going by qualitative results, when he was able to find his guys, he looked pretty comfortable, dishing the ball to his receivers so they could make plays out in space. That led to the Huskies going 4 of 7 on third down, by far their best effort of the season. But it wasn't all on Brown. The running game also looked the best it had all year. Down to what felt like their 8th or 9th running back (but in actuality, they were down to their 4th or 5th), it looked like it was going to be another uphill battle. Enter Trey Cooley.
A frequent target of my derision, Cooley had never tallied more than 22 yards all season, coming into West Lafayette averaging about 2 yards per carry. He had double that (and then some) on one 53 yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter. When the clock hit 0, Cooley had 113 yards on 8 carries, along with Brian Bonner's 13 for 64 and another touchdown. It was the most complete rushing performance the Huskies have had to this point in the season. Which is ironic, considering where the depth is in the running back room. Even Dezmen Roebuck and Chris Lawson got in the backfield for a few carries! It all comes down to adjusting what you call based on what personnel you have, and Coach Fisch made sure to highlight that in his postgame presser. "… the best opportunity we can give you to put you guys in the best possible position. And then as players, we need you guys to tell us what you want, to tell us what you need, to tell us what types of runs are best for you… I think Coach (Michael) Switz(er) did an amazing job this week of really listening to what those guys felt good about, and I think they put together a really good running plan." If this kind of coaching continues, then maybe this offense can be a part of salvaging the season?
The defense, while continuing to give up the big play, held Fame Ijeboi to 19 yards on 13 carries, after he torched the Golden Gophers last week for 195 yards and 3 touchdowns. While giving up 273 passing yards is not ideal (and to that point, neither is giving up 116 receiving yards to one receiver), that's a major feather in this defense's collective cap, especially after a disastrous performance last week against Iowa. But even then, this defense forced 2 interceptions, so that's also something to build on. Alex McLaughlin continued to do what he's always done, flying to the ball and being in on so many tackles, finishing with a team leading 7. The defense also stood firm when they absolutely had to, holding Purdue to 5/14 on 3rd down and 1/4 on fourth down. They also sacked Ryan Browne 3 times, all the while holding him to a 51% completion percentage, which is a pretty good mark, considering his efficiency coming into this game stood at about 69%. It was an absolutely needed performance to right the ship, and this unit played really hard in order to do that. Going into the bye week is yet another opportunity to get right ahead of a tilt with a Nebraska squad sitting at 5-1. Still, there's a nagging fear that this performance may have been fool's gold, considering the inconsistent play from a unit that was hyped as one of the best in the Big Ten in the preseason. It all comes down to 2 things: how good Purdue's offense ends up being and if the Huskies' defense can maintain positive momentum against Nebraska and beyond.
So, after this performance, I had one overarching question. Is this team good, or bad? It's a common question, given what we've seen in the past few weeks. There are certainly signs of a good football team in here if you know where to look. The running game got going, the top receivers had 103 and 97 yards (Chris Lawson and Dezmen Roebuck respectively), and the defense got 2 interceptions, so we're good, right?
Not so fast my friend! Elijah Brown still had 3 interceptions in spite of his 302 yards and 3 touchdowns, and some of his passes definitely looked shaky coming out. We're still banged up at running back, and I don't know if the defense is any good, considering that big plays and penalties are still an overarching issue for Fisch in year 3. But the playcalling for a backup quarterback was solid, and when Brown got in rhythm, he was finding his receivers with regularity. While those words from Fisch were encouraging, only time will tell whether he keeps this approach, though I believe he should. Calling what your players are comfortable with can only be a good thing, right? And it's great to see the emergence of Bonner and Cooley, even as they are banged up right now.
Time will tell whether the team will look different coming off the bye. There's a chance that Demond starts at Nebraska, but there's also a chance that Brown gets the ball again. If you're Coach Fisch, I honestly think you need to give Brown more reps, seeing as how the team seemed to respond to Brown more than Williams. Chris Lawson was also hobbled a bit, as he jogged off on the same play as Brian Bonner (Lawson's knee was bandaged, but he appeared unconcerned post game), so we'll see if the bye helps him recover. We also have to take a look at the ancillary running backs as well, like Ansu Sanoe (who was battling the flu bug) to see if they're available.
The ultimate question from this game is this: does this game define the 2026 Huskies as good or bad? Well, your guess, dear reader, is as good as mine. Because I don't know. One game doesn't typically define a season, good or bad. But I left feeling very encouraged about some things, and that's better than I would've said a week ago. Let's hope the coaches and players use the week off to help get right, and we'll see if this performance is a sign of improvement or just a mirage!
There's a much needed bye next week, before the Dawgs make their journey to Lincoln to play Nebraska on Halloween! Go Dawgs!
