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

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.

September 20th, 2008: Hosting the Central Michigan Chippewas

The primary source of my preview is www.cmuchippewas.com

The Central Michigan Chippewas will meet Purdue again in what is budding into a very entertaining relationship between these two teams. I am getting the impression that CMU will be very happy when Curtis Painter moves on to Sunday football.

CMU is looking to become the first MAC program to win their conference championship 3 years in a row. This, on any level, is an impressive feat. A total of 44 lettermen including 16 starters return from 2007, but just 12 seniors appear on the preseason roster.

Eight starters return to an offense that ranked among the best in the nation last season. MAC Offensive Player of the Year quarterback Dan LeFevour returns seven of his top nine targets from 2007 and four starters are back on the offensive line.

This is an offense that proved last year can put points on the board and move the ball all over the field. Fortunately for Purdue, we were able to win the footrace through Curtis Painters 500+ yard performance for the record books.

Quarterback
Junior Dan LeFevour has developed into one of the top signal-callers in the country. He accounted for 47 touchdowns a year ago (27 passing, 19 rushing, one receiving) while becoming just the second player in Bowl Subdivision history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.

The two-time All-Mid-American Conference first team selection already holds CMU career records for passing yards, completions, touchdown passes and total offense. Among Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks who return in 2008, LeFevour ranked second in total offense (341.0 ypg) and scoring (8.7 ppg), fourth in rushing (80.1 ypg) and 13th in passing yards (260.1 ypg) in 2007.

Running Back
The most competitive position on either side of the ball is running back. Seniors Ontario Sneed and Justin Hoskins, junior Marcel Archer and sophomore Carl Volny comprise a foursome that combined to rush for 1,364 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2007. The group also combined to catch 56 passes a year ago.

Hoskins, a starter in nine games last season, ran for 664 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first season in the Chippewas’ backfield. Sneed started five times and accounted for 514 yards and six touchdowns after leading CMU in rushing in 2005 and 2006.

Wide Receiver
Dan LeFevour’s top two targets—All-MAC second team receivers junior Bryan Anderson and sophomore Antonio Brown—return after record-setting campaigns in 2007. In all, seven players who caught at least 10 passes a year ago are back.
Anderson (90 receptions, 1,132 yards, 10 touchdowns) and Brown (102 receptions, 1,003 yards, six touchdowns) were the most prolific pass-catching combination in school history in 2007, totaling 192 receptions for 2,135 yards and 16 touchdowns. Anderson set a single-season school record for touchdown receptions, while Brown set a new standard for receptions.

Offensive Line
The Chippewas must replace three-year starter Eric Tunney, but four other starters return to the offensive front.

Left tackle Andrew Hartline is the leader of the group, having started all 39 games over the past three seasons. He started all 14 games at left tackle last season after spending the 2005 and 2006 seasons at right tackle.

Tight End
Redshirt freshman Rocky Weaver is the favorite to take over the starting role at tight end. He caught a 39-yard touchdown pass in the Chippewas’ spring game, a play that saw him make a catch in the middle of the field, absorb a hit and out-run the secondary to the end zone. Weaver will be challenged by classmate Brandin Friske and senior Andre Moore.

Defense

Defensive Line
Four players with starting experience return to fill three spots on the Chippewas’ defensive line. CMU must replace All-MAC third team pick Steven Friend at tackle, but senior nose guard Casey Droscha and junior ends Frank Zombo, Sam Williams and Larry Knight all return.

Zombo tied for third in the MAC with 7.5 sacks last season and led the Chippewas’ defensive linemen with 62 total tackles. Droscha was in on 52 stops, including a team-high tying 11 tackles for loss. A former walk-on, Droscha is one of just three seniors in the defensive two-deep entering the season and will be looked upon to fill a leadership role.

Linebacker
The biggest holes CMU needs to fill are at linebacker. Sophomore Nick Bellore returns after starting all 14 games and registering a CMU freshman-record 102 tackles last season, but All-MAC first team selections Red Keith and Ike Brown are both gone.

A number of candidates will vie to replace Keith and Brown, including sophomore Matt Berning, junior Tim Brazzel, seniors Jonathan Lapsley and David Lawrence and redshirt freshman Mike Petrucci. Junior Calvin Hissong also will compete for playing time after moving from the secondary during spring practice.

Secondary
Nine different players started at least one game in a secondary that was decimated by injuries last season. Junior cornerback Josh Gordy, who missed four games due to injuries in 2007, is CMU’s top returner in the secondary. He intercepted four passes last season, including a school-record tying three in a win over Army.

Juniors Tommy Mama and Kirkston Edwards and sophomore Vince Agnew all are candidates to fill the corner position opposite Gordy.


Summary and Prediction

This looks to be another high-flying, run and gun shootout. I am looking for an all-around improved defense to better limit the Chippewa offensive capabilities. There will be more points than the Northern Colorado game, but I still think that Purdue should take care of business this time.

Keep in mind, CMU is very familiar with our mode of operations. The will be scheming against Curtis Painter, however, I think Kory Sheets will be established very early in the game and this will lead to the passing game opening up.

Final Predictions: CMU 24, Purdue 35