Six Points? Again?...

First and foremost, let me tip my hat to the defense for playing one of their better performances on the field that I can remember. I don't want to detract from what they did out there yesterday.

However, this post is dedicated to the lack of ingenuity and execution of the offensive team.

Now I should refrain from heaping all blame onto Curtis Painter, but he will get what is due to him.

For two games, our offense has been unimaginative and predictable. Two of the countries best defenses have shut us down, and this has been a terrible trend over the past 5 years. Hopefully, no pun intended, when Danny Hope's regime takes over this issue can and will be addressed.

As for Curtis, hopefully the wave of expectations that flooded over him this preseason has not stalled his development. Maybe, he has hit his talent ceiling.

He continues to display a cunning inability to look off of one receiver and go through his receiver progressions. When tipped balls, interceptions, and broken passes occur with CP it's usually due to a "aware" defensive back or linebacker tracking his eyes. It happened several times yesterday. Its one of those things that you say about a true freshman quarterback and how a fifth year senior distinguishes themselves from their youthful counterparts. Not with Curtis.

To end on a silver lining, Carson Wiggs shows how important the kicker is too a team as an offensive weapon. Kudos to the coaching staff for recruiting him. I look forward to 3 more years of watching him kick the ball.

Purdue At The Ohio State

Let's be very honest about today's game, Purdue doesn't have the urgency, heart, or talent to go into Columbus today and compete. It will be very entertaining to watch Terelle Prior rip the Boiler defense apart. We could be watching a very special talent.

Time and time again, Curtis Painter proves that he cannot perform against an elite defense. We were shut down by Penn State. His decision making ability has been consistently exposed during this season. I have personally taken a multiple week hiatus from bloggin about purdue football recently. I just haven't had the heart to write about it.

It similar to the heart being displayed by the team this season. We just haven't had the drive to get us over the hump. Maybe next year.

Bleacher Report

I have posted my editorial to the Bleacher Report.

You are all welcome to view it and critic it.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/60335-3rd-down-long-to-go

Editorial for Bleecher Report

My posting this weekend will be a bit light because I am writing an editorial regarding Purdue's season year to date for the Bleecher Report.

www.bleacherreport.com

I will still review the Central Michigan game this weekend

Are you kidding me…? Oregon 32, Purdue 26

I have taken a couple days of getting over the debacle of the loss to Oregon. I have spoken to several of my friends and colleagues regarding their perspective and feelings regarding what transpired this past Saturday.

The keenest observation is that everyone knew, even with Purdue up 17 at the half, that we were in serious trouble going into the second half. How many times have we seen this before?

On offense:
I really don’t intend to get real elementary or immature regarding this review, but can Curtis Painter hit a receiver? How many passes did he throw that were not even close? How many times did Bob Griese have to provide and excuse for receivers dropping the ball and/or Painter not being able to throw an accurate pass? A fifth year senior must be able to manage a game better than this.

On the other perspective, this is one of the better defenses that Curtis will see this year. Probably, THE best secondary he will ever until next year. However, during the fourth quarter when we were on offense, I had no confidence that our offensive unit was going to competently move the ball.

I don’t want to continue without highlighting one of the best football performances that we have seen in a long time from a boilermaker. Kory Sheets had 180 yards on 29 carries. Not to forget, his 2 touchdowns and the most important statistic, no fumbles. Kudos, Kory. Hopefully, you will continue to deliver results as the season goes.

On Defense:
I was very impressed for 3 quarters how the Boilermaker defense withstood the vaunted Duck offense with all the speed in the world. Brock Spack’s defense came in with a solid scheme that applied decent pressure on the Duck quarterback, Roper. For 3 quarters I was rubbing my eyes wondering what defense was on the field completely limiting the Ducks rushing attack to insignificant production. However, it appeared that the gas tank ran empty as the big burly backs from Oregon began to pound out large chunks of yardage at a time.

As the Oregon rushing attack began to breathe with new life, Purdue again demonstrated that it has no idea how to cover an athletic tight-end. Play after play, Dickson, the big TE from Oregon found the open part of the field and sat down until Roper was able to lob him the ball.

Special Teams:
Dan Dierking’s recovery of the botched kick-off for Oregon was an outstanding, athletic play. However, that play will be forever dismissed as boiler fans will only remember that Chris Summers missed two consecutive field goals, one which was to win the game.

Summary:
How many times during the Tiller era can we remember the Boiler teams not being able to close out games? My heart is still on the ground when Kyle Orton fumbled against Wisconsin. I have never been the same. Since that game, I no longer feel comfortable with any lead, knowing that we will always have to stop a star Tight-end, or that we are about to punt/kick-off to the opposing team.

Until the Boilers develop a killer instinct where we can finish off our opponents when our foot is on their necks, the fan base will never be able to rest easy until the clock runs 0:00.