Even Uncle Pat's Pissed (Purdue v. MSU...and other college football notes)

Bryant dejected after Senior Day loss to MSU

Uncle Pat is one of my favorite people. He graduated from Purdue in Engineering in 1970. I respect him because I'm very different from him in a lot of ways. He's level-headed, mild-mannered and not angered easily. He and I are alike in that we both love Purdue and find Purdue football to be one of our favorite past times. I got to see Uncle Pat after the debacle at Ross Ade this afternoon and he called it one of the worst performances he's seen in a long time. He also said the team looked "pretty sad." That may not sound like much, but from this guy, it is a whole lot. He also said what he saw on the field was getting kind of old...That's important, because those within the Purdue family that are complacent with things as they are seem to be coming few and far-between.

It's kind of funny, the numbers look good, in parts...Good amount of points, Painter put up a lot of yards, had two rush TDs and a pass TD...But my Boilers stunk it up. MSU showed more will, more grit, more guts and executed much better than Purdue. On third down, when they needed yards, they'd get them, usually through the air. Spack's defense seemed to have no idea that the tight end was eligible for most of the afternoon. While the Boilers focused on stopping the run, MSU decided to chew up the field through the air...and it worked well. Hoyer looked very sharp; and I've watched him this year and he's not that great of a QB; but he looked pretty great this afternoon. Purdue's defense allowed the Spartan offense to move with ease for the majority of the game...in fact, I don't think I saw the MSU punter all game except twice. They dominated the time of possession, (get this) executed an effective game plan & even had the onions to attempt & succeed in executing a fake punt to salt the game away.

It was Senior Day...usually a very big day, especially when such a large class says goodbye to their home stadium. But those same Seniors didn't step up and even made mistakes during key situations as the game slipped into the loss column.

Selwyn Lymon had a great grab and run after the catch, and Kory Sheets looked like a legitimate weapon on more than one occasion...But Painter threw an int that was returned to the three...and another that was turned into three points moments later. And Bryant had a disgusting fumble that was returned for a TD. There's your game- 17 points gift-wrapped and handed to Sparty...how very hospitable of our Boilers.

The 10-win season that some thought was a possibility is now off of the table...and so is a quality bowl. Best case scenario is another 8-win regular season filled with moral victories and actual victories over patsies followed by an invite to a lousy bowl...and the worst case (and maybe likely) scenario is a 7-win regular season capped with a loss to a mediocre-at-best IU team (to make it three losses in-a-row) and a who-cares bowl invite.

Thank goodness that while some within the Purdue family accept 7.5 wins/season as good-enough, there are other programs that push for something greater. That outlook is what makes college football great.

So Sad for you, Brutus
Alright, not really...in fact, I don't know if it could have happened to a better group of people. As I watched Illinois put the game away in Columbus, no less, I was happy. I couldn't help but remember the blogsters and message board visitors from tOSU all but planning their trips to the BCS game...the only question to them was, who would their opponent be?? Sorry guys and gals wearing nuts around your neck, but you probably shouldn't have believed it was a done deal until it was over. I don't really care about the Big Ten's strength at this point and am now into survival mode. Its every team for themselves.

Seeing the sweater vest lose was good fun.

A New Record!
UND set an all-time program record by posting its ninth loss of the season! Congrats Manatee and all of the Irish fans...and congrats on your moral victory, Jimmy!

BCS Clarity
I dislike judges deciding who wins a boxing match...and refuse to call figure skating or gymnastics "sports" because judges decide who has danced the prettiest or had the best form...I've got the same beef with college football. Votes, polls and beauty contests are simply too important in the existing system. Furthermore, having just one game to decide who is king of the college football universe is ridiculous, even in an "ideal" year when there are only two undefeated teams. But, what's shaping up for this post season is exciting for all anti-BCS football fans out there. There could be between 5 & 7 one-loss teams at the end of the 2007 season...Regardless, the pointy-heads, academians and sports whores will tell us that it worked out perfectly in the end.