Purdue quarterback Aidan O'Connell 'definitely not playing great football right now'
WEST LAFAYETTE - Aidan O'Connell is a straight shooter.
The Purdue sixth-year quarterback said what Boilermaker fans already know after Saturday's 24-3 loss to Iowa.
"I am definitely not playing great football right now," O'Connell said.
This came after a day where O'Connell had a season-low 168 passing yards and the most accurate passer in Purdue football history completed just 46.5 percent of his passes. It's the only time in his career O'Connell has completed less than half of his pass attempts.
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Sure, heavy winds played into that some, but it was two backbreaking interceptions that didn't happen because of the weather.
They occurred because O'Connell made a mistake.
Against Iowa's Cover 2, O'Connell was picked off in consecutive series in the second quarter, the first after sailing a throw over the middle intended for Tyrone Tracy that landed in the waiting arms of Iowa senior Kaevon Merriweather. The second was a check down to Dylan Downing that was thrown high and intercepted by linebacker Seth Benson.
"The first interception, he threw the ball way too fast," said Purdue coach Jeff Brohm, a former quarterback. "You've got to allow the receiver time to get down the middle a little bit in Cover 2. We just threw it way too fast. That's happened some this year.
"The second one was a simple check down that we threw it over his head. We've got to be more efficient there. If we can't be more efficient, we have to be more balanced and able to do other things."
O'Connell now has five interceptions in the past two games.
Saturday's loss to Iowa was O'Connell's sixth straight game with an interception. He has 10 interceptions and 10 touchdown passes in that span after tossing five touchdowns and no picks in the season's first two games.
"I have to go watch the film and try to work harder," O'Connell said. "Practice better, watch more film and try to maintain confidence and trust the guys around me."
O'Connell's bar is high after a 2021 season where he threw for 3,712 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and as he continues to climb up the career records list among Purdue's quarterbacks.
O'Connell knows he has to play better for Purdue to win.
It's why he chose to come back for a sixth season, to play well and, perhaps, set himself up to play football beyond college.
On Saturday, O'Connell became the sixth Purdue quarterback to eclipse 8,000 career passing yards. The other five - Drew Brees, Curtis Painter, Mark Hermann, David Blough and Kyle Orton - all played in the NFL.
But it was evident after Saturday's loss that O'Connell isn't thinking about the future. Not his own. Not his team's. Doing so, by looking at bowl projections or that Purdue controlled its own destiny in the Big Ten West entering the Iowa game, leads to setbacks like the Boilermakers have gone through the last two games.
O'Connell surely will be regarded as an all-time great when he leaves West Lafayette, but in the moment, he's a solid quarterback in a bit of a funk playing for a struggling team.
"He's had some good moments and other moments hasn't been as sharp," Brohm said. "That is part of playing quarterback and football. We have to help him get out of that slight slump a little bit. You've got to want to get out of it.
"That is quarterback play. You're going to get a lot of credit when things are going well. You're going to take a lot of blame when it's not going well."
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue football: QB Aidan O'Connell 'not playing great right now'
