Purdue Football head coach Ryan Walters addressed the media Monday afternoon in preparation of Saturday’s road trip to play at No. 3 Ohio State. Kickoff from Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, is set for noon ET live on Fox.
Q. After having a chance to watch the film, what were your impressions of Saturday against Northwestern?
RYAN WALTERS: Man, we were obviously right there in it. We had some guys that made some plays and missed a couple of plays, as well. That’s kind of how it goes when you’re in a tight ballgame. I did think the guys played hard and played tough and physical, and just didn’t make enough plays there at the end to win it.
Q. It looks like it’s trending toward Hudson Card to be the starter again. Can you talk about that decision and what you saw out of him on Saturday?
RYAN WALTERS: I thought he showed a lot of grit and toughness, made some really nice throws and found some easy completions. I thought he operated the offense well. He’s a talented individual. Just felt like he gave us the best chance to move the ball and generate some explosive plays.
Q. With the struggles, do you think the demeanor of the locker room has changed at all?
RYAN WALTERS: Obviously it was very disappointed and melancholy after the game. But they also see two of the last three games, we’ve been there right at the end in overtime, where that wasn’t the case early in the season.
I think they see the progress. Obviously losing sucks and all that comes with losing, but I do feel like and believe and have seen that they have held tight together and continue to work. We’ve had guys all through the building today and it’s their day off, getting extra film study in and extra work in the weight room, so I do appreciate this team’s resolve from that standpoint and their desire to dive into the work and dig into the process and continue to fight and compete.
Q. Can you talk about just the genesis of the Shamar Rigby–Jaron Tibbs trick play pass? I imagine you’ve been working on that for a few weeks. Just talk about the use of gimmick or trick plays overall.
RYAN WALTERS: It was a red area thought, just to generate an explosive play or try to get them off balance. I thought Shamar (Rigby) showed a lot of poise and guts. It looked like he was doing quarterback drills with us. So that was a gutsy play from a freshman, to be able to step up in the pocket and then throw an accurate pass to (Jaron) Tibbs to get us a first down right there on the goal line.
Q. What’s some of the motivation for the team moving forward here?
RYAN WALTERS: The motivation is in the competition and the opportunities to go compete in some of the great venues in this conference and against some of the premier teams in college football. So, that’s the motivation.
Again, like the want-to and the drive to continue to improve. Obviously we want to win games, and we are working tirelessly to do so, but the motivation is in the competition and the individual desire to get better.
Q. It seems like there’s been at least one gimmick play per game since you took over as play caller. Was that something you felt like was missing earlier this season or that you thought was just opening up?
RYAN WALTERS: You’re just trying to find ways to catch the defense off guard. When you show that you’re willing to call and execute trick plays, that poses problems for the defense to try to work on, what potentially could be coming. It’s just another way to try to get explosive yardage and trick the defense.
That’s something that I wanted to for sure implement and not be afraid to call during the game. They’ve worked out for the most part for us. Obviously, we had a chance with Max (Klare) on one of them into the boundary, but then one of the second-level defenders got the facemask on Hudson (Card) on that play.
Just trying to be creative and generate some excitement and some explosive yardage.
Q. When you say generate some excitement, is that as much for the team as it is with anything else?
RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, they have fun with it. Everything we do is for the players. They have fun with those type of plays. You should have seen their reaction after Shamar (Rigby) made the pass. So, that’s the thought process behind that.
Q. As this season progresses and you guys are still chasing wins, is there any balance shift at all between winning now and then also having to get game reps for younger guys to develop for the future?
RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, we’re getting game reps from younger guys just by nature of where we are from a roster standpoint. You look at Shamar Rigby, who’s a true freshman, obviously Ryan Browne is a redshirt freshman, Jaheim (Merriweather) has played some this year. He’s a freshman. (Jaron) Tibbs is a sophomore, CJ Smith is a sophomore, De’Nylon Morrissette is a sophomore, Max Klare is a sophomore, George Burhenn is a redshirt freshman, and sort of the list goes on. That’s just the offensive side of the ball.
Just in terms of right now, we’re trying to improve as a program and trying to win as a program and just by nature of where we are from a roster standpoint, those younger guys are getting valuable in-game experience against one of the tougher schedules in the country.
I think we’re doing both right now just by nature.
Q. When you were putting this last freshman class together, did you expect it to have a lot of reps on the field this year? Has it been more than you expected?
RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, it has been, and some of it’s by injury, but yeah, we knew — like I’ve said earlier, we knew that that first class was going to be huge for us, and then the class that we just took we felt like there was a lot of talented individuals in there that would be able to help us this year. (We) didn’t know how much they would be asked to contribute, but I have been happy with the way they’ve approached their craft.
Then also with the majority of the transfers that we took, we took some younger guys to help implement and develop and really fill gaps that were in our roster from a depth chart standpoint.
I knew we were going to be a young team this year. I didn’t know it was going to be this young, just like I said, by nature of some of the injuries we’ve had.
Q. You mentioned Saturday how tough it is to go through a season like this and keep a locker room unified, and from the guys we’ve talked to, it seems like nobody is off the train here. How or why has that happened, where you’ve managed for the most part to keep these guys playing together?
RYAN WALTERS: I think from a leadership standpoint, just talking from the staff, you have to be consistent in your approach. You can’t ride the wave of emotion and start acting on impulse because I think then (that) creates doubt, and you don’t want doubt to start creeping in. That’s when you start getting a locker room divided or undetected emotions.
I think through the failures that we’ve had this year, we’ve been able to point out reasons why and have done our best to provide solutions so that you can point to areas where you can improve. And I think if you provide those and then you see the improvement from some of those areas of mistakes, then it generates and keeps belief within your roster, and I think that’s where we’re at.
Guys have been working their tails off, and there are improvements in play, like I said, two of the last three games in overtime, where that wasn’t the case earlier in the year.
We’ve got guys that like football and love the process and want to get better. I think that’s why there hasn’t been any division in the locker room.
Q. Jason Simmons said something about the maturity and character of a lot of these guys. Is that a specific trait when you’re recruiting that you’re looking for in individuals?
RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, obviously you want to get mature individuals (on) your roster, especially at a place like Purdue where academics are high and schoolwork is challenging. And I do think this place provides an environment where guys can dive into the work because it’s not like a party school, or we’re not in a big city where there are a lot of distractions.
I think getting mature guys and also the nature of the environment that they’re in just provides opportunities for growth from a maturity standpoint pretty early in their careers.
Q. The sort of passing rhythm Hudson Card was able to get into Saturday, the ability to make plays down the field, that seemed pretty hard to come by early in the season. What was different Saturday?
RYAN WALTERS: I can’t speak to really what was going on earlier in the season. I know right now from a game plan standpoint, we try to scheme plays where we can push the ball down the field based on the type of coverages that we’re expecting to see.
We’ve had continuity in the offensive line, as well, so I think protection has been good as of late, and I think the relationship between Hudson and the wideouts, including the tight end room, just has continued to grow.
If we dial up the right scheme and guys are running the right route, Hudson (Card) can get them the ball pretty accurately, and I think that’s sort of what we saw on Saturday.
Q. Ohio State is a who’s who of talent everywhere you turn. Specifically when you look at their offense, a lot of balance, a lot of places to go, how do you deal with that in their home environment, and then looking at them from the defensive side, what kind of things can you maybe do to try to exploit that?
RYAN WALTERS: You look at just their team in its entirety, very, very talented roster. You couple the talented roster with the level of coaching that is at Ohio State, I’ve got a lot of respect for a lot of those guys on the staff there. That’s why you get a team like Ohio State.
Offensively they’re able to be balanced because of the amount of playmakers they have on the field. They’ve got the top two running backs are two of the better backs in the country. Tight ends are versatile both in the run game and in the pass game, and then obviously the history of the wideouts that they have there sort of speaks for itself. And then they’ve got as talented a freshman receiver that I think we’ve seen.
Then on defense, you see a lot of guys on the field that you’re going to be seeing on Sundays, and I think they have depth at a lot of different positions, as well, so they stay fresh. They throw a lot of different coverages at you to keep you off balance, and they’ve got two of the better man cover corners in our league.
Obviously, it’s going to be a big challenge. Looking forward to playing in a venue that’s as historic as Ohio State and looking forward to going and competing against the best. That is why you play in this conference. That’s why you come to a school like Purdue, to be able to go compete with and give your all against some of the better teams in the country.
Q. When you guys took Jireh Ojata, did you think it might take this long into the season before he started to acclimate the way he needed to at this level and get a peak, consistent performance?
RYAN WALTERS: When you get a guy from the level that he was at and his background is not playing football for a while or later in his career I should say, we didn’t take him expecting him to have to contribute right away. There was a lot of potential there, and it was just a matter of how quickly he could reach that potential to be able to help us on game days.
We’re kind of seeing where his potential is starting to be realized, and I think he’ll continue to get more run throughout these last four games because of the way he’s worked and the amount of growth that he’s had just from an understanding perspective and knowing how to play football and the physicality with which it’s required to have success at this level.
Q. You talked about being in overtime two of the last three games. You came back from 17-3 the other day to get to overtime and 27-3 I think at Illinois. Is the strong start maybe what this team is missing from having three or four wins at this point?
RYAN WALTERS: Yeah, I do think that that has — obviously when you’re having to battle back, it puts the stress on having to make plays late higher. The first play of the game, we miss an explosive. Then later in the drive, I think it was the second series, Hudson (Card) barely gets his arm hit and Max (Klare) is wide open, could have walked in, and I think we ended up with a field goal on that drive.
We’re close. There are plays that are right there. We’ve got to find a way to break through in those types of moments to capitalize on those types of plays, and we will. I’ve got every confidence in these guys that we’ll get that done because of the way they’ve worked and the way they’ve handled adversity up to this point.
Q. With Hudson Card set to start at quarterback, is there a predetermined plan for when or if Ryan Browne is going to play?
RYAN WALTERS: As we dive into the game plan process, if there are opportunities where Ryan (Browne) can help us more so than Hudson (Card) can in trying to move the ball, we’ll play the best 11 that give us an opportunity to.
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