Purdue striving for elite offense, but Notre Dame poses biggest challenge

WEST LAFAYETTE − Purdue football 's offensive coordinator looked at a game where the Boilermakers just scored 38 points and amassed nearly 500 yards, averaging 8.1 per play.

Josh Henson sees those numbers and delivers a harsh truth.

"The last two games, I still think there's so many things on our side of the football we could've done to win the game," Henson said. "We're good in execution right now, but we can be elite and that's what we need to be striving for."

In a double-overtime loss to Wake Forest on Sept. 12, it was the ability to convert red-zone drives into touchdowns. At Rose Bowl Stadium in the Sept. 19 loss to UCLA at Rose Bowl Stadium, it was three turnovers and a formation penalty that negated a touchdown.

Defensive failure offsets offensive progress for Purdue football at UCLA

The 52-38 loss to UCLA also marked the first time this season Purdue couldn't establish the run game, a combination of missed blocking assignments and running backs missing open holes, Henson said.

Much improved but still not perfect in an imperfect game, which is always the standard.

Still, the offense has an identity, which for the past two seasons it has not.

Establish the run and let Ryan Browne pick apart defenses in the passing game. Through three games, that's led to 118 points. That's more than the Boilermakers accrued over a four-game stretch last season and surpasses their cumulative total from the final eight games (109).

"The development of our players that stayed in the program, they are all better than they were last year at this time," Purdue head coach Barry Odom said. "The additions we had and some playmaking ability that we brought to the roster certainly helped. I think quarterback play has been outstanding for three weeks."

"Now all that is over. How good can we get this week? The challenge with that is taking on what we've done really well and then grow that."

Purdue's offense certainly sees an upgrade in competition at Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday.

Notre Dame through three games has allowed a total of 23 points and forced eight turnovers.

Consistency of execution, Henson said, is why Purdue's offense finds itself where it is right now: leading the Big Ten and third nationally in passing yards per game, with Browne being the league's third-best in completion percentage.

Purdue is the only team with two of the Big Ten's top 11 leaders in receiving yards (Asaad Waseem, 321, fifth; and Xavier Townsend, 267, eighth). That duo ranks higher than any other tandem in a power conference in receiving yards. Even coming off just 47 yards on 17 carries against UCLA, Fame Ijeboi is eighth in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game. Fifteen different receivers have caught a pass, and five have touchdown receptions.

Purdue's offense is executing at a high level.

Now, can the Boilermakers do it against perhaps the stoutest defense on their schedule?

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.