Purdue's offense hummed, at times today...but lapses by the defense, a very-early key turnover scoop & score and, get this, Special Teams problems doomed our Boilers bowl chances in RA today, with a 40-37 loss to MSU.
The Old Oaken Bucket becomes the Old Oaken Bowl for both IU and Purdue as, for the second season straight, this rivalry will end both teams' seasons.
Elliott managed the game very well all day, and followed his BT offensive POW with another great game- 39/55 373yds, 2TDs, 0Ints. Smith had 152yds receiving, and C. Smith caught everything thrown his way...Bolden, Taylor and Elliott combined for a solid 150yds rushing...but, the dreaded two-minute offense, or lack there of struck again as an obvious Achilles heel left Purdue looking like it had no idea how to handle a small clock and a small deficit.
Wiggs (uncharacteristically) pulled and missed a field goal and had a long one blocked...and the kick coverage was as bad as we've seen all season. Purdue's lanes were non-existent and the speedy Spartan returners shredded Purdue time and time and time again. Is anyone else sick of this crap? I hope Coach Hope is. This poor coverage is really the difference in the game- note that MSU's offensive output (362 yards) doesn't typically merit 40 points...but when you combine it with 229 return yards, it seems about right.
Purdue's defense, that came up with plays to stop MSU early in the game, couldn't seem to counter the adjustments made by Dantonio and company in the second half. In spite of big plays by Brandon King and David Pender in pass defense, Purdue's lack of aptitude covering the TE & RB was glaring.
So here we are- The Bucket-Bowl is horribly reminiscent of my time on campus...The lousy mid-late 90s when two 4 win teams would battle for state supremacy and no one cared outside of Indiana. Maybe that's not-exactly correct as a few recruits down in Florida might be watching...but, for the most part, you get the gist. I'm positive a 5-win season wasn't what Hope had in mind as he spoke about the 'special season' this year. But let's be honest- This was a pretty fitting end to the quest of a bowl game for '09.
13 comments:
When faced with MSU fans chanting "Go green, go white." substitute one color of your choice with "Go Home!"
How can Hope justify keeping the special teams coach on his staff?
He can't. Not even if Gibboney was a volunteer who brought donuts and coffee for the entire team every morning. There were a number of things that went wrong today, but special(ed) teams take the cake.
I will say that I really hate that first play. Even when Bolden didn't slip on the same play later in the game, it was poorly executed. It looked great when Orton and Painter ran it but that's because both had speed threats to throw the slant to. I just don't think the one step hitch scares many people.
Now if only there was something to occupy me until next fall...
I was disappointed with the play calling as well. How many runs up the middle for a loss can we call - especially when Bolden was hobbled later on. Why didn't we use Taylor more this season? We have two starter-quality running backs, but we rarely saw Taylor (41 carries on the season going into today). Frustrating. I'm not sure Hope is the kind of guy who will admit something (play calls) or someone (Gibbony) isn't working, and that drives me crazy.
That stretch play was garbage for us today. A couple of good runs but for the most part, the delayed handoffs went nowhere. We telegraph that play too much and just end up giving the defense enough time to react and plug the hole. With Bolden/Taylor's speed, they need to be getting the ball with time to hit the hole, not 2 seconds after it closed.
Not trying to complain, but I don't agree that the focus can be on the offense/playcalling. They had 500+ yards and 37 points against a Big 10 D. No it wasn't perfect, and the ridiculous fumble on the tricky play on your own 20 to start the game wasn't something I'd do, but the O was good. I also liked the lead draws -- pretty much all our big runs came on that. We don't have a ton of talent on O compared to our opponents (recruiting really slipped under Tiller towards the end), and I think the coaches put the players in good position to succeed today, at least for the most part. (Again, not saying it was immaculate.) Mgoblog.com broke down every play from the Purdue-Michigan game. If you can survive the fact that it was a Michigan site with a Michigan bias, they showed pretty demonstrably how the offense really does a nice job taking what is given to it and putting the guys in position. Is it perfect? No, but I don't get why the focus after today would be on the O or playcalling. (I will say there was a huge protection bust on the last play -- didn't block the DE. Dunno if that was Elliott, the line, or the RB's fault.)
The D and special teams are a completely different story. Backbreaking big plays on D and special teams in general killed the Boilers today. Tough loss. Not fun at all to see the season effectively end today. Other than a kicker with a booming leg, special teams were bad all year. I still hate our punt protection scheme with the three guys back.
Last, that penalty on the final kick return was huge. If they started from the 32 instead of their own 14, the fourth down is a makeable field goal attempt instead of, well, a fourth down attempt.
I'm not saying the play calling is the focus, but those wasted downs help kill drives.
After the Torri Williams fumble recovery, the announcer said something like "If I was Purdue, this is where I'd take a shot deep."
Of course, every Purdue fan watching knew the next play would be a run and it was - a 1 yd rush by Boldin. The drive stalls out and we punt from their 45.
I agree special teams and defensive lapses killed us, but that kind of offense doesn't help.
Sorry, I really don't think the offense is the focus, not when we gave up 40 points ... through last week, there was exactly one team averaging more yards per game than we got against MSU, and that team lost today (Houston).
524 is pretty darn good, about 50% more than our average output. 92 plays, 40 minutes of possession, 14 of 22 on third downs, only 1 turnover ... yes, the inability to throw deep does limit the offense, but when it works well, it's effective.
Yeah, the fumble sucked, but here's what I saw as symptoms of the big problem:
-- 86-yard kickoff return setting up an 8-yard FG drive
-- 73-yard TD reception (1-play drive)
-- 55-yard reception on a 60-yard TD drive (after a kickoff out of bounds)
-- 45-yard run on a 54-yard TD drive (after the blocked FG)
-- 43-yard kickoff return setting up a 7-yard FG drive
Five big plays that contributed heavily to 27 points. You can't ask the offense to score 44 points per game; you should be able to ask special teams to keep the other team inside their 30, and the defense, well, we know that story.
5-7 and the Bucket is a tolerable first season ... 4-8 and no Bucket would suck. But we're definitely part of the pool of suck at the bottom of the Big Ten with about 5 other teams ...
If nothing else, let's just remember who is going to win the whole thing this year -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw5JmGCKNLY
Matt, don't just put this on Home Holtz, Herbstreit also needs to be held culpable for making the pick of the Irish havint 10 or 11 wins.
Ah, missed that one. Apparently Herbie has been getting into Lou's "medicine."
Looking ahead, I just want our program to be a threat to win every week, and kick people's butts when they play in our house.
Jay, they're heading in the right direction. We'll get there.
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