Tag: Ryan Walters

Purdue head coach Ryan Walters offers blunt assessment of team after blowout loss to Wisconsin

Purdue head coach Ryan Walters had blunt assessment of team after blowout loss to Wisconsin

Purdue head coach Ryan Walters was clear in his assessment of the Boilermakers after their 52-6 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday:

“The most disappointing thing is, if I’m being completely honest, that we’re a bad football team right now,” Walters said postgame.

Related: Studs and duds from Wisconsin’s 52-6 win over Purdue: Trech Kekahuna emerges

The comments come after the Boilermakers dropped to 1-4 on the season with the blowout loss to the Badgers. It was their fourth-straight defeat, all by a decisive margin. The team currently ranks No. 114 in the nation in ESPN FPI and No. 89 in SP+ after the loss — challenging to be the single worst team in the Power 4.

It has been outscored 184-44 during its four-game losing streak. Walters even made changes after the third loss, firing offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and promoting analyst Jason Simmons to the role. The Boilermakers then managed just six points against the Badgers, while Walters’ defense allowed 52.

The assessment from Purdue’s head coach doesn’t lack truth. The Boilermakers have regressed significantly after a 4-8 season in 2023 in his first year at the helm.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, answered some questions with its performance on Saturday. Some still remain — mostly surrounding whether the team can replicate that performance against better competition.

Wisconsin’s first chance to answer that question comes next Saturday when the team travels to play a strong Rutgers (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) team.

Purdue continues with games against No. 23 Illinois, No. 3 Oregon, Northwestern, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State, Michigan State and No. 18 Indiana. The team has a real path to a 2-10 or 1-11 finish.

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Purdue is the worst team in college football in one key statistic

Purdue enters Saturday’s matchup with the Wisconsin Badgers after a rocky start to the season:

This story was updated to correct a misspelling/typo.

The Purdue Boilermakers enter Saturday’s matchup with the Wisconsin Badgers after a rocky start to the season.

Ryan Walters’ team began the year with a 49-0 win over Indiana State, signaling the program could be moving in the right direction entering his second year in charge. Three straight losses then followed. The Boilermakers fell 66-7 to Notre Dame, 38-21 to Oregon State and 28-10 to Nebraska.

That leads into Saturday. Purdue is 1-3 (0-1 Big Ten) on the season and just fired its offensive coordinator. Its offense ranks No. 106 in the nation with 21.8 points per game — a slot which drops to No. 130 in the nation if Week 1 vs. Indiana State is eliminated.

Somehow, the offense hasn’t been the team’s main issue. The Boilermakers’ defense currently ranks No. 117 in the nation with 33 points allowed per game. That side of the ball is the biggest big-picture concern as it is Walters’ specialty (he was a longtime DC at Missouri and Illinois before getting the Purdue job).

There may be many reasons for the team’s struggles on defense since Walters took over to start 2023. One statistic through four games in 2024 sums it up: Purdue is the only team out of 133 in the FBS without a single turnover forced.

The Boilermakers’ overall turnover margin of -6 (four interceptions, two fumbles lost) ranks No. 127 of 133 total teams. The most startling number is under the ‘turnovers gained’ category. It is the only team in the nation with a ‘0’ in the column.

This reality is notable as the Wisconsin Badgers enter Saturday badly in need of a victory. Purdue being unable to force turnovers is significant news for a Wisconsin offense that at times has struggled to take care of the football.

Wisconsin, on the other hand, enters Saturday with a turnover margin of -1 (six lost, five gained). Week 5’s loss to USC painted a good picture of how Wisconsin’s season has gone thus far: the Badgers capitalized on several USC turnovers in the first half and led 21-10 at halftime. Then the script flipped completely, Wisconsin gave the ball away in the second half and fell 38-21.

The Badgers and Boilermakers will kick off on Saturday at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

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Purdue announces former high school coach as new OC for matchup vs. Wisconsin

Purdue’s new play-caller has little college coaching experience

Purdue head coach Ryan Walters named analyst Jason Simmons his team’s new play-caller entering Saturday’s matchup with the Wisconsin Badgers.

The information came as Walters met with the media for his game-week press conference on Monday. It follows the program’s decision to fire former offensive coordinator Graham Harrell after Saturday’s 28-10 loss to Nebraska.

Purdue enters Saturday’s game in Madison, Wisconsin with a 1-3 record after three consecutive losses to Notre Dame, Oregon State and Nebraska, respectively. The team is averaging just 21.8 points per game, ranked No. 106 in the nation. That total plummets to 12.6 when Week 1’s 49-0 win against Indiana State isn’t considered.

The Boilermakers are hoping the move to Simmons as the play-caller will help redirect the offense in the right direction. The unit has talent — headlined by QB Hudson Card and RB Devin Mockobee. It needs to find a rhythm, or the losses will continue.

Simmons joined Purdue as an analyst this season after spending 2023 as running backs coach at Miami (OH). He was previously the head coach at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Indiana from 2018-22, that after holding the same role at Noblesville High School from 2016-18.

His resume lacks any significant college football coaching experience. His one year at Miami (OH) in 2023 is his only at the college level.

Wisconsin and Purdue will kick off at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT in what is nearing a must-win for both programs.

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Ryan Walters has had the Notre Dame game circled on his calendar

The Boilers will bring it this weekend

For many teams across the country, facing Notre Dame football is like its Super Bowl.

While the Irish opponent this weekend, Purdue, does play some of the top teams in the Big Ten, this one might mean more for the Boilermakers. Their head coach, [autotag]Ryan Walters[/autotag], knows how big this game is for his program.

He told Nathan Baird of the Indy Star that “I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say that this game was circled on my calendar.” It makes plenty of sense, as both teams reside in Northern Indiana, and recruit against each other for a number of prospects inside and outside of the state.

Purdue Boilermakers head coach Ryan Walters leads Purdue onto the field Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, ahead of the NCAA football game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue Boilermakers won 49-0.

The Irish have to know that they’ll get the best effort from Purdue this weekend, and have to be ready. Otherwise, we’ll continue to have an uneasy feeling about how the rest of Notre Dame’s season will play out.

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Ryan Walters on Notre Dame: Purdue to face ‘angry football team’

Will this be a good or bad thing?

Purdue expected to face a ranked Notre Dame team to come to Ross-Ade Stadium. It didn’t expect to be facing a team fresh off losing its home opener to Northern Illinois. So coach Ryan Walters realizes that his team will need to be especially smart in preparing for the upcoming game.

Walters knows the Irish have something to prove now more than ever, and he doesn’t anticipate them to be so demoralized by losing to the Huskies that just won’t bother to come out and play. In speaking with the media in West Lafayette, he said what should be expected:

So the question is whether the Irish are so angry that they’ll double down on their focus or whether they’re so angry that they’ll lose their focus. This game against the Boilermakers will tell us a lot about this year’s team. Whether that turns out for the better or worse is up to them.

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Ryan Walters doubles down on Michigan football allegations: ‘Just calling a spade a spade’

Bold strategy, Cotton. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Ryan Walters caused quite a stir days before his Purdue Boilermakers headed to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines. The maize and blue have been in the middle of a media firestorm amid allegations of illegal sign-stealing. Walters said on his weekly radio show that “they aren’t allegations,” noting he has proof there was impropriety involved with the Wolverines.

After Michigan football beat his Purdue team, 41-13, Walter was asked about his comments and reasserted himself.

“Just calling a spade a spade, really, in terms of advantages or disadvantages,” Walters said. “Just stating what happened.”

While Walters said he didn’t anticipate his comments would make it around the country via the media, he said he would say the same thing over again if given the opportunity.

“I didn’t think so,” Walters said. “Again, I usually tell the truth, it’s not like a big deal, you know what I mean? But yeah, I would say that I made breakfast Friday morning and got a cup of coffee and turned on “SportsCenter” and I was on the ticker. That was like and ‘Oh, OK,’ moment. But again, I’m not shy about speaking truth, and if I could do it over again I’d say the same thing.”

The investigation into Michigan football by the NCAA has just started, and the Wolverines have not received a notice of allegations. In the meantime, despite that, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti is considering punishing the maize and blue in the interim, despite there being no notice of allegations provided by the NCAA at this juncture.

Head coach of Michigan football’s next opponent, Purdue, goes off

If nothing happens between now and Saturday night, it’s gonna make for an awkward postgame situation. #GoBlue

If the Big Ten lets the NCAA investigation into Michigan football play out just a few days more without taking action, it’s going to be more than a slightly awkward postgame situation for Jim Harbaugh and Purdue head coach Ryan Walters.

In an interview on Thursday, Walters blasted the Wolverines over the alleged sign-stealing scandal, saying, “They aren’t allegations. It happened. There’s video evidence. There’s ticket purchases you can track back. We know for a fact they were at a number of our games.”

The investigation is ongoing and Michigan football has not been able to defend itself publicly amid an intensifying series of accusations.

Per reports on TheWolverine.com and elsewhere, the University of Michigan is confident the NCAA has a firm grasp on the situation and the university was confident enough in the findings that it OK’d Harbaugh’s contract extension on Tuesday. What has happened since has been nothing short of a media firestorm surrounding the Ann Arbor program.

The Big Ten commissioner is reportedly meeting with U-M president Santa J. Ono on Friday to discuss the next steps.

Purdue’s football coach says he doesn’t ‘like that N on the helmet’

Purdue head coach Ryan Walters made some interesting comments about the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Monday afternoon.

Purdue head coach Ryan Walters made some interesting comments about the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Monday afternoon. Walters is 2-5 in his first year in West Lafayette and told the media that his team will be ready for the environment of Memorial Stadium.

Yeah, you know, 91,000 plus that are a sea of red. My history with Nebraska started at a very young age. Obviously grew up a fan at Colorado, my dad playing there, and that was the hated rivalry, right? And so you remove yourself from that as a coach, and the first time I got to play against Nebraska again was in 2021. My first season at Illinois. I just remember them running out of the tunnel in Champagne and the feelings just come back, right?

Walter’s father, Marc, played quarterback at Colorado from 1986-1989. Ryan played safety for the Buffaloes from 2005-2008. The head coach went on to say that he still has strong feelings about the old Colorado-Nebraska rivalry.

It’s like, man, I really can’t stand that color. Don’t like that N on the helmet. And so, definitely, this has been a big week. We’ve explained to the guys how crazy it gets out there. They are die-hard fans, win, lose, or draw, so we’re looking forward to a great venue to play a competitive and tough football game.

Nebraska and Colorado have met 72 times on the football field, with the Huskers leading the series 49-21-2. Nebraska and Purdue will meet this Saturday in Memorial Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.

Find a photo gallery of Nebraska’s first seven games below.

WATCH: What Purdue head coach Ryan Walters said about Ohio State after the game

Watch and hear what Purdue head coach Ryan Walters thought about Ohio State after the loss to the Buckeyes Saturday. #GoBucks

Any designs the Purdue Boilermakers had at pulling off another upset of Ohio State in West Lafayette went out the window pretty quickly in the second half Saturday. The Buckeyes pulled away and gave some younger guys some reps in a dominating 41-7 win in some sloppy conditions inside Ross-Ade Stadium.

Purdue head coach Ryan Walters was impressed by Ohio State and brought a a reflective and somber mood to the postgame press conference. He sat in front of the media to discuss what he saw from his team and to give credit to the Buckeyes.

In case you missed any of his comments, we’re sharing the complete 15 minute presser thanks to PurdueSports YouTube channel. During his remarks, Walters talks about Ohio State being where he wants to build the Boilermakers to, the ability of the Buckeyes’ offensive players to make plays in big moments, and the respect he has for the program

Count this as one more down, and a huge one now on tap for Ohio State as it prepares for what will be a top five matchup against Penn State on Saturday. We’ll have plenty of coverage leading up to the game, so come back and check it all out throughout the week.

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Know your foe Purdue: Which Boilermakers could give Ohio State problems

Who on Purdue scares you the most #GoBucks

Let’s be honest here, as an [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag] fan, the depth of [autotag]Purdue[/autotag] knowledge isn’t very high.

The Boilermakers aren’t a team that is vying for anything nationally, they have first-year head coach in [autotag]Ryan Walters[/autotag] and are currently just 2-4 on the season. What they have going for them is that the Buckeyes have not fared very well playing in West Lafayette, since 2000, Ohio State has a record of 3-5.

Not great results for the Buckeyes on the road facing a mid-tier program. The reality of the situation is that Purdue plays up when Ohio State comes to town and these are a few of the Boilers that could give the Buckeyes problems.