Painting the wrong picture: Purdue’s Football outlook is not as bleak as it reads…

I read an article in the South Bend Tribune today that made me blink multiple times before I re-read the article. Here is the link to the article: LINK

I feel that the article’s intention was not to paint the picture of how Danny Hope is coming to Purdue to resurrect a fallen program. On the contrary, its intention was to highlight the intrinsic difficulties in following a respected coach of who was a campus icon.

That being said, the article reads almost with the air of an obituary for Coach Hope. Much of this editorial aftertaste is attributed to the closing of the article highlighting all the obvious issue that Purdue will be facing going into next season. Touching on Justin Siller’s dismissal and McBurse’s Clearinghouse process leaves a reading feeling sorry for Coach Hope’s position.

Personally, I do not thing that the cupboard is as bare as the article implies. I, of course, am always hopefully optimistic regarding our football team. I grew up in the Fred Akers/Jim Colletto years of Purdue football. Therefore, there is still a sparkle in my eye regarding the last ten-plus years of Boilermaker football.

Coach Hope has at his disposal a competent stable of running backs, bolstered by McBurse’s clearance to play by the NCAA. Jaycen Taylor will by cleared by fall and Ralph Bolden is an up and coming dual threat back who is just a sophomore.

Joey Elliot at QB is a fifth year senior who has had enough game experience and skill to actually vie for a starting spot last year against Curtis Painter, who is now with the Indianapolis Colts.

There are question marks as with every program. Will the receiving corps step up and deliver? Is the defense going to be able to carry the offense early in the season until the unit gels? Only time will tell on questions like this. But as writers and fans, these are the questions that entertain us until the season begins.

I think that the Boiler faithful is ready and excited for Coach Hope. Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke has done a masterful job of managing the alumni and fan base expectations through two major coaching transitions. Using the succession plan model has given both Coach Hope and Coach Painter head starts in public relations and recruiting setting both coaches up for success rather than failure. Coach Hope’s energy and passion have been well documented and on display to help inject tremendous positive energy into the team and the fans.

There is no denying that the last couple years of Purdue Football have lacked the passion and enthusiasm that existed during Tiller’s early years. However, Coach Hope is taking over at exactly the perfect time. Here’s wishing Coach Hope the wisdom, passion, and energy for a successful tenure at Purdue University.

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.

www.boilerfootball.blogspot.com

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.

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.