Purdue v. Northwestern Prediction
This will be fun to watch
This will mark Brohm's second year as head coach at Purdue after what was a miracle season last year rallying Purdue to its first winning record since 2011, and a bowl win since 2011. This season will have a bit more expectation than last year as we start this season with not only a home opener, but a B1G opener against Northwestern oh and did I mention that its under the lights.
This is a hard game to predict as I keep looking at the data to somehow see if any team has some sort of advantage coming into this game, but I see more flaws on each team than any sort of advantage so lets start of with the home team
Purdue
Last season record: 7-6 (Win vs Arizona in Foster's Farm Bowl)
Defensive Stats
Passing yds/gm: 242.5
Rushing yds/gm: 132.9
Purdue's defense put up serious numbers last season in the way of the rushing game while also allowing just 20.5 points per game which is pretty impressive. The major strength for Purdue going into the 2018 season is the offense as most if not all of last years starters with return. We will most likely have Blough as our starter as I don't think Sindelar will be ready as he is still recovering from that ACL injury. And with some of the new recruits we have for this season I really think we can be dangerous on offense. What I can see Purdue exploit when gamely comes around is the passing game. As Northwestern last season allowed 249.5 yds/gm on average which is not much but any advantage is great.
Now on defense. Last season this was the backbone of our entire success but this is now our biggest question mark. We will have a lot of fresh faces that will need to step into their roles to make this defense work. This can lead to holes in key areas where we were solid at. this could be an issue as NU's offense last season was more run oriented and we allowed only 132.9 yds/gm that can be something NU can exploit to their advantage.
Northwestern
Last season record: 10-3 (Win against Kentucky in Music City Bowl)
Defensive Stats
Passing yds/gm: 249.5
Rushing yds/gm: 107.7
Northwestern huge success last season was offense as they put up 233.8 yards in the passing game as well as 174.2 yards rushing per game on average. Defense on the other hand was excellent at stopping the run with only giving up 107.7 yards and their only weakness that stands out is stopping the pass in which they gave up 249.5 and like I said with Purdue, that while its a small difference Purdue is for the most part a balanced team with a slight lean towards the passing game and they can exploit that to their advantage.
NU's biggest question mark for this game is Clayton Thorson who went down with a ACL injury in the first half of the Music City Bowl. As of right now he's recovery well but we wont know until two week out if he'll play or not. Thorson had a terrific sophomore year with 280 completions for 3182 yards with 22 TD's and 9 INT's. But had a mediocre junior year with 262 completions for 2844 with 15 TD's and a whopping 12 INT's. The other question is which Thorson will return, will it be the one that had an excellent season throwing the ball of the one that sub-par season at best. And does this injury add another variable to consider
Verdict
This is going to be a very fun game to watch and I'm really looking forward to this match up but for this game I have to go with Purdue on this one, and for a couple of reasons. While yes Purdue's defense is not going to be as experienced as last year's but if Nick Holt can work some magic and get this defense to be decent we have a shot, as well as Purdue has a experienced offence with a lot of potential to score a ton of points this season. But the real reason for this decision comes from NU's quarterback situation. there is just too many unknowns right now with Thorson being out, and the fact that a lot of NU's backups just don't have the experience like Thorson, and the only one that does is TJ Green who only threw one pass for 5 yards against Bowling Green last season. And if Thorson is cleared which one is it going to show up. And with that Purdue seemed like the better choice for this game
But hey if I'm wrong, I'm wrong.
Boiler UP
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