Tennessee football vs. Purdue: Five Boilermakers to watch for against Vols
Quarterback. Senior. Aidan O'Connell. 1. player. Scouting Report. 848. Pick Analysis
6’3″ 210 pounds
With both of his top receivers out and no running game to speak of, this is Aidan O’Connell’s chance to prove that he is what makes this offense go. It’s also Jeff Brohm’s chance to prove his offensive genius in the passing game. Both of these guys together could show a lot.
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Remember, O’Connell was a walk-on to Purdue in 2017 and fought for his chance to start. He earned it in 2019 with three starts and then started the first three games of 2020 before suffering a season-ending injury. Then he came back this year and had the season of his career, helping Purdue get back to a bowl game with some huge wins.
O’Connell completed 289 of 393 passes (73.5 percent) for 3,178 yards (8.1 yards per attempt), 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has minus -111 yards rushing, showing that he is purely a drop-back passer, something rare in the game today.
However, if he carves up Tennessee football, he could turn pro, or he could take advantage of the COVID eligibility ruling and come back next year with the chance to be the Pittsburgh Panthers’ Kenny Pickett that season. It’s not a crazy though, as he is great from the pocket, and this will be the chance for him to prove his greatness beyond what anybody expected.
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Brohm and O’Connell, with no help, could pull this off if Tennessee football isn’t helpful. Four years ago, Brohm held Josh Heupel’s offense to three points when he was offensive coordinator of the Missouri Tigers. Don’t count him out and don’t count out how dangerous O’Connell is. UT will be doing that at their own demise.