What Ryan Walters said after Purdue was shut out by No. 2 Oregon football

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – No. 2 Oregon defeated Purdue 35-0 on Friday night at Ross-Ade Stadium.

Ryan Walters recapitulated the Boilermakers’ (1-6, 0-4 Big Ten) loss, which heads to next week.

Below is a transcript of Walters’ postgame press conference.

No. 2 Oregon (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 22 Illinois (5-1, 2-1)

• When: Saturday, October 26th
• Time: 12:30 p.m. PT
• Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene
• TV channels: CBS
• Electricity: You can watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or with DirecTV Stream (free trial). If you already have a cable provider, use your credentials to watch this game on cbssports.com.
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RYAN WALTERS

To rule out the offensive:

“Especially early on, we had self-inflicted wounds on early downs, such as negative yardage on early downs. I thought we could move the ball, especially on the floor. But we have a false start or a misinterpretation where we keep it instead of giving it and you take a negative distance play. Now you’re third and long and that’s hard to do, especially against a talented team.”

About Ryan Browne:

“There were mistakes early on. I thought he played hard. I thought he handled the offense well. But did he play perfectly? No. There’s no way he did it. Some of the plays he made a week ago, we just weren’t able to make those types of plays because of the type of opponent we were playing. But he will continue to develop. Apparently he’s a redshirt freshman in his second start. Obviously disappointed with the atmosphere, the game and everything that was possible from a chances point of view. I thought our fans came and showed themselves. It was a beautiful evening and a beautiful stage to create something special and I’m just disappointed we couldn’t do it.”

In the plan for the bye week:

“Because of the short week, we have to release them tomorrow. We come in on Sunday, finish the game and watch the tape. We’ll be practicing early next week to get Northwestern off to a quick start and add a few new touches here and there on offense and defense. We will start recruiting at the end of this week.”

Regarding the status of the Hudson Card:

“It just wasn’t resolved in time. He was not in full release of the minutes. But he’s doing well now. So expect him to be available next time we play.”

On the question of whether they will play two quarterbacks in the next game:

“Let’s get to the week and we’ll evaluate it.”

On the question of whether the crime was more extensive this week:

“We will continue to add wrinkles over time based on what the opponent presents as possible things we can attack or exploit. We get CJ Smith back next week. I think this will be huge for us. We have to move on. I thought we were able to move the ball when we were clean, but we weren’t able to convert on some of the third-and-long throws and definitely can’t take negative yardage plays on early downs.”

On his use in the offensive:

“I felt comfortable because I could take the calls I wanted. I will continue to improve. I’m very grateful to the offensive staff and some of their ideas and communication on game day. But we had zero points today, so obviously we didn’t do a good job.”

On Corey Stewart’s status:

“I think he’s fine.”

To maintain buy-in:

“I didn’t have to beg them to keep playing or stay involved. I think that when you have mistakes, you have to be able to state the reasons for the mistake and find solutions on how to improve. I think when you can do that and point to something tangible, it gives a sense of hope and an explanation of how you can get better. We have a group of guys who are proud and want to compete and play. We don’t have to beg them to prepare, practice or play.”

When they have the answers on offense:

“Obviously we had an explosive performance last week against a really good opponent. We just played against the second largest team in the country. We also have a lot of young people playing. I thought we could move the ball, but what were we on third down? 4 of 12 on third down and we made negative 0 yard plays early. I think we’ve done everything. I think over time we will come up with more answers as we diversify what we do, especially in the throwing game, and we will continue to improve.”

When starting slowly:

“You have to execute. On the first drive we moved the ball, then we had a false start and now you’re suddenly behind the chains. This is not possible when trying to start a ride. We’ll continue to look at it as a team and continue to emphasize the importance of starting fast, but you can’t run plays with negative distance. There should be no penalties at the start.”

On Nyland Green:

“It’s not his foot. He had a pretty serious injury and his status is uncertain at this time.”

For the rest of the year?

“I’m not sure. We’ll see.”

Regarding the pre-snap penalties:

“I think part of the problem tonight was some of the snap operations. We changed and moved a lot so that they communicated a lot. So maybe we’ll look at what our cadence is and how we can sort of clean that up so we don’t get defensive. I think that’s what got us tonight.”

On Browne’s death:

“I thought he handled the dropback a week ago really well. There were a number of reasons why the drop back game didn’t happen tonight. Whether it was the time he had or the openness of people. He’s also a redshirt freshman in his second start, so there will be a learning curve. I know he had a great week a week ago. But he’s still a redshirt freshman and will continue to improve.”

On if the bye week changes due to circumstances:

“We are sticking to our process. I’m confused why we should change our process.”

If what they are going to do is different than what they would do on another week off:

“It’s a bye week. We’re sticking with our bye week plan.”

— James Crepea covers that Oregon Ducks and Big Ten. Listen to this Ducks Confidential Podcast or subscribe Ducks Roundup Newsletter.