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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 8 • 20 BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com W ith 2:59 left in the game Sat- urday, Purdue had an op- portunity to tie, needing a touch- down to get to overtime vs. No. 8 Michigan State. It wasn't an easy task, not against one of the country's bet- ter defenses and having to go 95 yards. The Boilermakers weren't up to it. In 90 seconds, Purdue had progressed only 17 yards, and on a third down Austin Appleby threw a pick-six as he was nearly being wrestled to the ground. It all but ended the game. Offensive coordinator John Shoop thought Purdue had op- portunities on the drive but missed them. "We needed to see an outfit that had enough grit to go 90- some yards in the two-minute drill," he said Tuesday, as Purdue readied to take on Minnesota. "Our guys are tough, we practice two- minute, we practice things, and we were in four-down territory every step of the way, so we didn't have to manufacture anything. "We have to be - come a better team passing the football for us to take that next step. We're start- ing to develop an identity running it, our quarterbacks can keep them off-bal- ance with some run- pass checks, but we really have to be able to pass the ball better on third down or just drop-back when we need to, and we didn't then. And what needs to happen is a little bit of everything, from play design to play call to blocking to route running and to throwing. We talk a lot in our meeting rooms that no one is a free agent and that it's never just one person. We use language like us and we and not me or I or him." According to unofficial num- bers, Appleby was 4-of-12 on pass- es thrown farther than five yards through the air — he was excel- lent in the short passing game, hit- ting on 20-of-25 — showing that Purdue needs improvement in its downfield passing game. That said, the Boilermakers scored 31 points against a defen- sive unit was allowing 10 less on average, and did so despite having only 11 yards in the third quarter. "There was some good things, and in some ways we had some production," Shoop said, "but in all sports you have to be good when it matters and son of a gun we've got to do a better job of coming out in the second half and putting our best foot forward, playing like we did the other three quarters." BETTER PRODUCTION UP FRONT Purdue's defense gave up more than 500 yards to the Spar- tans, including 294 on the ground. Much was the responsibility of Purdue, which wasn't as active as it had been in recent weeks and managed only one tackle for loss. "They got blocked," defensive coordinator Greg Hudson said matter-of-factly. And the Boilermakers didn't get off those blocks, like was needed. "That's part of the job descrip- tion," he said. "It's in the manual." Purdue played with a new linebacker trio, shuffled due to Sean Robinson's torn ACL, with Ja'Whaun Bentley playing in the middle, Danny Ezechukwu on the weakside and Jimmy Herman on the strongside. F O OT BA L L Offensive Coordinator John Shoop Defensive Coordinator Greg Hudson Missed Opportunities Tom Campbell Offensive coordinator John Shoop said the Boilermakers need to improve all phases of its downfield passing game, including protection, and it all doesn't fall on the right arm of Austin Appleby.