B1G Challenges in Western Indiana: Previewing the Purdue Boilermakers

When Virginia Tech's trip to Purdue was scheduled, many Hokies wrote off the Boilermakers as an easy win. Purdue's loss to a Rakeem Cato-less Marshall squad did little to change that perception.

Not so fast my friends. Purdue could present some significant challenges to a beat up Hokies team after two physical football games in five days. Defensively, Purdue has large and hyper-aggressive defensive linemen and linebackers that work downhill. Purdue's defensive front-four look to beat blocking through the gap and be disruptive rather than engaging and reading, like Ohio State attempted to do. The best player in the box for Purdue is 6-2 260 pound sophomore Ja'whaun Bentley. Bentley, an ESPN Freshman All-American last season, is a DeMatha product where he played with Hokies' receiver Cam Phillips. Bentley mans the mike linebacker spot for the Boilermakers, and often aligns to the wide side of the field when Purdue replaces a linebacker with a nickel corner. He is extremely aggressive. He is quick to commit to his keys, and he gets downhill quickly. He also does a fantastic job of getting downhill while avoiding blocks from offensive linemen. When he arrives, or he does get blocked, the collisions are epic.

Marshall calls a zone run on a 3rd-and-short with 240 pound former Richlands product Devon Johnson.

The right guard chips the defensive tackle and gets out squarely on Bentley. Bentley gives him a little shoulder fake, and then blows by the guard to his inside. Bentley then changes direction again. He pushes hard off his right leg, bounces outside, and wraps Johnson up for a loss. This is big-time football right here. Bentley reminds me of a bigger and faster version of Boston College middle linebacker Steven Daniels. Daniels, as you may remember, has performed magnificently against the Hokies in two consecutive Eagle wins.

Where Bentley and the rest of the Purdue defensive front-seven struggle is against misdirection plays. The defensive line and inside linebackers have a tendency to violently go after their primary read. As result, Marshall and Indiana State had great success with quarterback keepers, bootlegs, and other forms of play-action.

Bentley's aggressiveness is exposed on this play. Marshall runs an inside zone read. The Purdue defensive end and Bentley both crash hard on the dive. Marshall doesn't block the end, and instead releases the offensive tackle to block the outside linebacker Danny Ezechukwu.

Bentley and the defensive end absolutely crush the Marshall running back while Birdsong saunters for a nice gain. Exechukwu seems pretty content with being blocked on the play. Up front, this is pretty typical fare for the Boilermakers. Some guys look terrific one play. The next play it seems like they are disengaged.

Purdue has two multi-year starters in corners in 2014 second-team All-B1G selection Frankie Williams and Anthony Brown. The pair is very adept at getting off blocks and supporting the run. Williams finished No. 3 in total tackles for Purdue in 2014 and Brown was No. 5. Purdue doesn't appear to flip their corners based on boundary or field. For the most part, Williams aligns as the right corner and Brown aligns to the left. Williams is very adept at press coverage, however is only 5-9. Brown is not much bigger at 5-11. Against the press, the Hokies may look at flexing out Bucky Hodges and targeting Hodges and Ford down the hill. Make no mistake though; both are very solid players that can hang with the talented but thin Hokies' receiving corps.

The Hokies have struggled against misdirection offensive plays this season. Purdue's offense features misdirection play-action off inside zone read runs and an athletic quarterback that can throw the ball or run off of inside zone action. Up front, all five starting offensive linemen are back from last season. The Boilermakers will run varieties of the inside zone read from a dizzying variety of formations and motions. Quarterback Austin Appleby (JR, 6-5, 239) will run option keepers, bootlegs, and even triple option (using a motioning receiver or H-Back as a pitch man) off the inside zone action.

"(Appleby is) big, strong, throws the ball very easily," Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer said. "Flicks it, can hum it. He gets it there. He's a threat running. The big guys, kind of like Motley. Big guy and they can run it. I think he does a nice job for them."

Appleby isn't going to break long runs; however he is big, powerful, and athletic enough where a quarterback run must be defensed on third-and-intermediate down and distances.

The foundation is the inside zone and running back D.J. Knox (SO, 5-7, 197). Knox is similar to J.C. Coleman. He is diminutive in stature and isn't particularly elusive. Knox is a fullback in a tailback's body. He takes the inside zone handoff and gets downhill quickly. Knox loves to run through contact, and he will run over defensive backs if they do not tackle with correct form. The Y wham version of the inside zone seems to be the most comfortable play for Knox.

Purdue's offense builds off of the inside zone series with a wide variety of fakes, motions, and screens. On the play above, Purdue has pieces moving all over the place. First, a tight end flexes into a wingback position behind the left tackle. After he sets, the right side slot receiver jet sweep motions to the left. At the snap, Appleby fakes the jet sweep. The tight end crosses the formation like he is going to wham (kick out) the defensive end to the bottom of the screen.

And here's another wrinkle off of the read option.

The defensive end squats to brace himself in anticipation of the block, but the tight end passes him and heads to the flat. Appleby fakes the inside zone and reads the defensive end. When the end commits to the quarterback, Appleby flips the pass to the tight end. This may go into the record books as a pass completion; but it is essentially a triple option pitch.

Purdue does not have elite speed at wide receiver. Danny Anthrop (SR, 6-0, 186) will catch a ton of short passes, screens, and quick outs off jet sweep motion. Anthrop is similar to the Hokies' Sam Rogers in that Purdue uses him blocking, passing, and in motion. Anthrop has been slowed with a sore knee, and the other Purdue receivers are big bodies that are not run-after-the-catch breakaway threats.

Purdue's drop back passing game presents the biggest advantage for the Hokies. The receivers struggle to get off man coverage. The Boilermakers use basic spread passing concepts (double slants, levels, stick routes). Appleby is a talented quarterback, but Purdue fans though never know when "Bad Appleby" shows up. In 2014, Appleby threw more interceptions than touchdowns (52.9%, 1,449 yards, 10 TDs, 11 INTs); and he opened the season against Marshall with a four interception performance including this doozey on the first offensive play of the game.

Purdue runs a double slant at the top of the screen. The Marshall safety aligns 10 yards deep and the Marshall corner shows press, then bails out into outside leverage. Appleby reads the outside leverage and assumes that, with the safety deep, the inside slant will occupy the inside linebacker and there will be an open window for the outside slant to come open. This assertion is exactly what Marshall's defensive coordinator wants Appleby to think. The corner bailing out and showing outside leverage triggers the expected slant read, and the safety is actually a robber. At the snap, the safety is jumping the outside slant the entire way. Appleby never even sees him. The Marshall safety intercepts the pass and returns it for a touchdown. Bud Foster and Torrian Gray have been using this kind of coverage concept for years. Last week, Andrew Motuapuaka had a pick six in almost the exact same type of outside leverage-robber combination. The Hokies have an opportunity to mix coverages and force Appleby into some interceptions.

That is, if they can force Appleby into third and long situations. Tech's precarious situation at mike linebacker could wreak havoc with the Hokies' run defense. With Andrew Motuapuaka sidelined for up to 4 weeks with a sprained MCL, the next man on the depth chart is Sean Huelskamp. Bud Foster has often discussed how much he likes Huelskamp, and against Furman he played . However, Huelskamp is an undersized 212 pounds. In base alignments he will be asked to attack the back side bubble on zone runs. Will he be able to fit his gap and hold ground against Power 5 caliber blocking? True freshman Carson Lydon has the physical tools to be a very good mike linebacker; however the coaching staff initially chose to redshirt him this summer. Lydon will get a look if Huelskamp can't hold up against blocking. It would be difficult to expect Tremaine Edmunds or another inexperienced player currently at a different position to come over and learn all the calls and the defensive keys for the mike spot in one week.

Edmunds is an intriguing candidate though. Foster has committed to getting Edmunds on the field this season, and I think Foster envisions Edmunds as a backer who will spend much of his time aligned on the line of scrimmage as an edge defender. Edmunds has prototypical NFL outside linebacker size and plays with a heavy shoulder. That heavy shoulder could mean that he would be even better at setting the edge in the run game at the backer spot than Clarke when his time comes.

Despite the promise of Edmunds at backer, the need is immediate at the mike spot. McKinnon and Jamieon Moss have three years at backer in Bud Foster's system, and have shown in spring ball that they can be serviceable. The mike spot is a more dire need.

A mike linebacker close to the size of Edmunds isn't unprecedented. Jake Houseright was 6-4 and over 240 pounds. Bruce Taylor was 6-3 and over 235 pounds. George Del Ricco was a taller player. Edmunds has terrific bend in his hips for a big man. In high school, Edmunds played a very similar role to the mike linebacker. He demonstrated an uncanny ability to find the football. He is an excellent form tackler. With his tremendous bend, Edmunds gets underneath the pads of much smaller blockers pops them back, and finds the football. His size and range by itself makes him an intriguing prospect.

Foster believes Edmunds can be a multi-year starter at backer, so it's not likely he will take this route. Huelskamp will get the start this week. Lydon is slotted to back up Huelskamp. If that is the path Foster sticks with until Motuapuaka is healthy, one way to mitigate Huelskamp's size disadvantage is to stay in more Bear looks. By covering up the guards and center, it is very difficult to get a blocker out to the mike linebacker on interior running plays. Chase Williams was an undersized mike linebacker, and he was able to stay away from blocks much better when the Hokies lined up in the Bear.

With Edmunds or another bigger body in the lineup that can play downhill at the mike spot, Foster is afforded the luxury of being able to mix and match between the Bear and more of a base four-man look. The bigger body can also help against power teams. Looking ahead at the Hokies' schedule, Tech's first ACC contest is against Pitt. The Panthers have replaced All-ACC back James Conner with 230-pound redshirt freshman Qadree Ollison that has rushed for 288 yards in two games. Having a big, talented, ranging mike linebacker that has the bend to stick a big back in the hole would be a nice luxury to have as the Hokies open ACC play.