Wasted opportunities and talent… Purdue gives heartless performance against Northwestern

In Purdue’s 26-48 loss to Northwester on Saturday, fans of the Boilermakers are left shaking their heads at what could have been this year. Curtis Painter gives another performance that leaves the viewer sick to their stomach following Purdue’s fourth straight loss. Finally, we are realizing that Purdue is wasting the talents of Kory Sheets who gives another gutsy performance as he begins winding down his Boiler career.

The offense was again unimaginative as fans begin to look forward to the Danny Hope era at Purdue. Numerous balls were batted down at the line, predictable passing routes were being jumped by the secondary, and the coaching staff made questionable lineup changes midway through the game. I understand the point in pulling Curtis Painter, however, if you going to go to a backup, why not try developing your young talent? I was expecting to see freshman Justin Siller get placed into the lineup in the second quarter. However, Joe Tiller decided to go to senior Joey Elliot, who consequently turned the ball over with his first series, and then a three-and-out for his second series prior to getting injured.

The defense really struggled in the secondary, especially with the first half coming to an end. We gave tremendous cushions to the Wildcat receivers as Northwestern confidently marched down the field to score with a few seconds left on the clock. The defensive line did not get any pressure on C.J. Bacher at all on this day.

I do want to end this wrap up on a high note. We are witnessing some consistently impressive performances by Kory Sheets. Not only has he become Purdue’s all-time leader in touchdowns this year, he is week in and week out the spark plug for this stalling Boilermaker offensive unit. The more touches Kory gets, the better. He has the big play ability to take the pigskin to the house on every possession. He wrapped up the dismal offensive show this weekend with a brilliant 78-yard scamper long after the game was decided. What I like most, he didn’t celebrate at all. He dropped the ball and walked off the field. He knew there was little to celebrate about his team’s performance over the weekend.

The Purdue Boilermakers may win a couple more games this season; however, I doubt that this is the way they intended to send Joe Tiller off during his farewell tour.

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