Ryan Walters Emotional in Postgame Presser Following Purdue's Loss to Michigan State
Ryan Walters cleared his throat and took a long pause before answering a question after Purdue's 24-17 loss to Michigan State on Friday night. The second-year coach was clearly emotional after the Boilermakers fell to 1-10, letting another opportunity slip through their fingers.
Following another disappointing outcome at Spartan Stadium, Walters was asked why it was more difficult to keep his emotions in check on Friday night.
After taking a few seconds to collect his thoughts, Walters answered the question.
"I don't know a locker room in the country that would be 1-9, going down like we went down in the first half and continue to fight," he said. "There's no finger-pointing. They've still been practicing their tails off. They've still been showing up and going to work every day.
"If you have kids — I don't know if you have any kids — when your kids work hard, you want them to have success. They're working hard, man. It hurts."
Purdue dug itself into a hole early, trailing Michigan State 24-3 at halftime. It looked like the Spartans were going to cruise to a victory and that the Boilermakers were going to roll over and play dead.
Instead, Purdue came out of halftime showing serious fight. They scratched and clawed their way back into the game, cutting the lead to 24-17 with 13:54 remaining in the game.
"Going into halftime, it felt like the game was getting away from us and the guys in the locker room, it just didn't seem like they flinched," Walters said.
Purdue had three more opportunities to tie the game, but failed to take advantage. Numerous dropped passes, a struggling rushing attack and an interception proved too costly in the last three possessions.
It marked the third time this season Purdue had found itself with a chance to get its first Big Ten win but came up short. The Boilermakers also dropped overtime contests to Northwestern and Illinois.
Now, there's just one game remaining on the schedule: at No. 5 Indiana. Purdue is 1-10 and remains winless in Big Ten play. As much as the blowout losses have stung, night's like Friday have been even more difficult to handle for Walters and the Boilers.
They've come close multiple times this year, but haven't been able to clear the hurdle.
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