Fresno State Football: First Look at the Purdue Boilermakers
The Bulldogs will hit the road to open 2023 against the defending Big Ten West champions. Here’s a first look at Purdue.
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New coach, same upstart attitude.
Fresno State Football: First Look at 2023 Non-conference Opponents
Purdue | Eastern Washington | Arizona State | Kent State
Fresno State football’s “anyone, anytime, anywhere” mantra will take them to the Midwest to begin the 2023 season, where the Bulldogs will face off with Purdue. One of the toughest assignments in the Big Ten, the Boilermakers have nonetheless demonstrated a knack to surprise from time and time and certainly did so in 2022, winning the Big Ten West division title for the first time.
That success bred a major overhaul, however, as Purdue heads into the fall with a new head coach, new quarterback, and many more new faces on their roster. Don’t mistake that newness with a lack of talent, though: The ‘Dogs could be in for a fight.
Location: West Lafayette, Indiana
Conference: Big Ten
Series History: This will be the first meeting between Fresno State and Purdue.
2022 Record: 8-6 (6-3 Big Ten)
Head Coach: Ryan Walters (first year). Just 37 years old, Walters’s ascension to the head job in West Lafayette was well-earned. He got his start as a defensive backs coach at Arizona in 2011 and bounced around for a time, linking up with Barry Odom at Missouri in 2015 and becoming co-defensive coordinator a year later. According to defensive SP+, the Tigers climbed as high as 18th during the 2019 season, though it wouldn’t be until 2021 that Bret Bielema courted him to Illinois.
That move paid major dividends for the Illini, who finished 19th and 3rd by defensive SP+ during Walters’s two seasons in Champaign. He’ll have a big challenge ahead of him at Purdue, where the Boilermakers had a charmed 5-2 record in one-score games last year, but he’s generated a lot of excitement in replacing Jeff Brohm.
Key Players
Devin Mockobee, RB
Where Purdue made most of its hay in the passing game, Mockobee proved to be a lifesaver after stepping into a starting role midway through the 2022 season. When all was said and done, he’d set a program record for freshmen with 968 rushing yards and scored nine touchdowns. Now that his grasp on the RB1 job is more secure, expect the Boonville, Indiana native to be featured early and often throughout 2023.
Hudson Card, QB
A former four-star recruit for the Texas Longhorns, Card made five starts and appeared in 22 games over three seasons but was never able to win the starting gig in competitions against Casey Thompson and Quinn Ewers. He could be exactly what the Boilermakers need, though, considering he’s completed 65.5% of his 194 career throws and averaged 7.9 yards per attempt with 11 touchdowns and a minuscule 1% interception rate.
Sanoussi Kane, S
One of the few veteran holdovers on defense, Kane made his first stint as a starter in 2022 count for a lot. He paced that unit with 72 total tackles and also contributed 4.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups, and two forced fumbles and could be a centerpiece for the defensive-minded Walters this fall.
Nic Scourton, LB
No one on the Purdue roster generated more buzz this spring than the sophomore from Bryan, Texas, so big things are expected of Scourton after he racked up 22 tackles, two sacks, and 11 stops (per Pro Football Focus) on 265 total snaps in 2022.
Gus Hartwig, C
Before a November injury cut his 2022 campaign short, Hartwig played like a key piece in Purdue’s explosive offense. He set a new career best and earned his third straight all-Big Ten honorable mention honor with a 71.9 overall PFF grade, allowing zero sacks and two quarterback hits in 809 total snaps.
Overview:
Offense
Despite the presence of quarterback Aidan O’Connell, wide receiver Charlie Jones, and tight end Payne Durham, the Boilermakers were more good than great overall on offense last year, ranking ninth in the Big Ten in averaging 5.34 yards per play and, among all FBS teams, 82nd with 1.97 points per drive and 63rd with 46.3% of available yards per drive earned. The big task now is, well, multiple tasks: The Boilermakers need to find replacements for all three of the aforementioned standouts after they were each selected in the first five rounds of the NFL Draft earlier this spring.
Card’s arrival from Texas should have settled things at quarterback and Mockobee will lead a running back committee that also brings back Dylan Downing and Tyrone Tracy Jr., though who else steps up in the passing game remains to be seen. TJ Sheffield (46 catches, 480 yards, four TDs) and Mershawn Rice (23-283-1) should lead the way, though it shouldn’t come as a shock if no one can singularly replace Jones’s 2022 production.
The better news is that the offensive line around Hartwig and sophomores Mahamane Moussa and Marcus Mbow should be in good shape. Purdue was active in the transfer portal here and brought in both Preston Nichols (71.2 PFF grade at UNLV) and Jalen Grant (27 starts at Bowling Green) to shore up its depth. If they can keep Card on his feet as well as they did for O’Connell last season (4.6% sack rate allowed, 35th in FBS) and open holes for Mockobee more consistently (44.7% opportunity rate, 109th), the Boilermakers could surprise once again.
Defense
The Purdue defense was something of a rollercoaster without a true calling card in 2022, allowing more than 7.0 yards per play in four different games and fewer than 5.0 YPP in five others. They also had a modest 6% sack rate which ranked just 71st nationally and a 15.6% stuff rate which was 96th, so even in spite of the personnel turnover it seems likely Walters will expect more in year one of his given his background.
The front six or seven has potential, though, not just in Scourton but in defensive end Isaiah Nichols, who transferred in from Arkansas, and linebackers Kydran Jenkins and Khordae Sydnor (14.5 combined tackles for loss, 8.5 combined sacks in 2022). On the back end, Kane and three-time all-conference honorable mention pick Cam Allen (49 tackles, six pass breakups, three interceptions) lead a unit which could skew a little younger depending on how competitions shake out.
Early Prediction
Both Fresno State and Purdue head into the fall with some similar questions to address, like breaking in a new quarterback and replacing big pass-catching talents, but Fresno State should catch the rebuilding Boilermakers at the right time to steal a road win thanks to a potent defense which could frustrate Card in his first start.
Fresno State 31, Purdue 24
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