Sure, there is some doubt among the old guard (such as B-Dowd's 48 year old brother) that Danny Hope knows what he's doing. However, we've also seen fans who staunchly support the embattled Purdue coach and are willing to write off last season to injuries, bad luck and poor moustache intimidation usage.
So here we are, looking ahead to the start of another football season, and while we'll provide our usual meandering preview to the season as we get closer to it, I thought it might make sense to "take the pulse" of the fanbase (assuming you all have a pulse). So below is the schedule for the upcoming season. Some of my early thoughts? Well, I'm glad you asked.
I like four of the first five at home, because if a good start is going to happen, this will certainly help. I don't like a month that goes @UM, @Wisc, vs OSU, vs Iowa. Zoinks. I think the Boilers have some pretty rough road games to handle, and if they win more than two of them, that will be an accomplishment that should be lauded. I'll reserve judgement on predicting a won-loss record right now, but I want to know what YOU think. So think it over, feel free to post your rationale in the comments, and vote in the poll to the right.
9/3 - vs. Middle Tenn St
9/10 - @ Rice
9/17 - vs. SE Miss St
10/1 - vs. Notre Dame
10/8 - vs. Minnesota
10/15 - @ Penn State
10/22 - vs. Illinois (Homecoming)
10/29 - @ Michigan
11/5 - @ Wisconsin
11/12 - vs. Ohio $tate
11/19 - vs. Iowa
11/26 - @ Indiana
9/10 - @ Rice
9/17 - vs. SE Miss St
10/1 - vs. Notre Dame
10/8 - vs. Minnesota
10/15 - @ Penn State
10/22 - vs. Illinois (Homecoming)
10/29 - @ Michigan
11/5 - @ Wisconsin
11/12 - vs. Ohio $tate
11/19 - vs. Iowa
11/26 - @ Indiana
21 comments:
We have the tools and talent to win 6 games and maybe more.
Now it comes down to execution, physical conditioning, willpower and coaching decisions.
Also:
1) We need a QB that can throw and run.
2) Our WR's need to get off the line of scrimmage and shed DB's. GET OPEN.
3) OL needs to be solid enough to open running lanes consistently, otherwise our O will falter.
4) LB corps-shed blocks. Be physical and attack the point of the run.
5) DB-continue to grow, be a force to be reckoned with. This will be a key to our success. A takeaway here, or even a pick 6, can make/break our game. This will be a key unit this year.
6) ST-COVER PUNTS and KICKOFFS. Also, starting beyond our own 20 would be nice once in a while.
Also may need a little luck and for the injury bug to stay away. Can we do it? Yes.
BTFU
Call me crazy, but I'm gonna say it. The last time Purdue won a share of the Big Ten championship was the last year that Jim Tressel was NOT coaching at Ohio $tate. We had some "okay" years since then, but the past 6 years have been really, really difficult... Ever since the year after The Fumble, Tressel's squads have won 6 straight B1G titles. Well, he's gone now, so there goes the one sinister variable keeping Purdue from dominating the landscape of the Big Ten and all of college football! Right? Right? ... Okay. Fine. 7-5, bowl loss.
In all seriousness though, I'd really like to see this team win at least 8 games this season. It's a huge stretch, sure, but I want to believe. And maybe, just maybe, with Tressel out, the voodoo curse is lifted.
And everything that AT said.
The optimism is encouraging but ultimately I have to disagree. I think our team has four strengths:
1.) Field Goal kicking
2.) Defensive line
3.) Secondary
4.) Running Backs (IF Bolden can return to near-100%)
With that though we have some major weaknesses. I haven't seen us cover a kick-off or punt well in years. Our linebacking corps in long on experience but they haven't really shown a lot over the last few years to inspire confidence (last year we continued to be eaten up on those short slant passes). We have two guys who may start for us at QB, but both have issues. Marve is coming off his second ACL surgery. Henry is exciting as a runner but is as scary as a kitten as a passer. I remember last year whenever he'd come in the opposing defense would stack the box because they knew he wasn't a threat to pass the ball. I'm sure he's gotten better, but he's got a long way to go before he's considered a QB whose arm you have to worry about. And regardless of who sits behind center, we have an inconsistent receivers unit.
And as far as the coaching staff is concerned, well...it's hard for me to look past some of the awful coaching decisions that have come up over the years (the timeout against ND immediately comes to mind). But I do appreciate Hope's enthusiasm and positivity. However, this is the crux season for his career at Purdue. If we don't make it to a bowl - regardless of injuries or "bad luck" - then it will probably be time for Hope to go.
Unfortunately, I don't see the team getting it done. I'll say we get five wins (MTSU, Rice, SE Miss St, Illinois, Indiana).
I think if the team can win the first three games, then any scenario is possible. If they drop one of those games, then the wheels and the john fall off the bus and it becomes a long and painful season.
I fall more in the camp of those not trusting the coaching staff. Here's hoping they prove me wrong.
For the last three years I have been optimistic and predicted winning seasons only to be laughed at and proven wrong by my realist friends. So this year I am going into the season expecting the worst and hoping for the best.
My prediction: We win 5 games: non conference minus ND and then Minn and IU. We may have some talent but at the end of the day we have a coach that calls screens or draws 98% of the time and every team knows it. Granted we have a quarterback who can't throw but even when Marve/Elliot played we refused to spread the field. Sorry to be a pessimist but unfortunately I think this football season will be like the last 3.
What scenario would you rather have?
1) Win 5 games this season and 5 games next season but pull 2 major upsets. Because of the upsets Danny Hope gets a contract extension.
2) Win 6 games this season and next season, go to a bowl and Danny Hope gets fired.
MTSU, at Rice, SEMO, Minnesota, and IU absolutely need to be wins under any circumstances. One of the things that truly frustrated me is that we had a lead on IU at home last year and for the first time in almost two decades they showed more resolve than us. That left a very bad taste in my mouth, and the injuries were not the reason we lost that.
Take those five and I am confident we can find another win somewhere else.
Here's the tough part, Travis...where else?
UM, PSU or Wisconsin...on the road?
Nope.
OSU or Iowa?
They'll be awfully tough regardless of whom is playing QB at either school.
Notre Dame or Illinois? Not impossible, but do you think their offenses will be better? I do.
But, MTSU is the one that, in spite of losing a QB, bothers me in the first group...they've become a pretty respectable program...and they'll probably have a chip on their shoulders a la Northern Ill a few years ago.
I would not be shocked if we came out of the non-con 2-2. Given our slip ups against "lesser" competition, I've got a bad feeling about traveling to Rice, and as much as I hate the domers, they're futher along than we are. Chalk up the latter part of 2010 to injuries. In the early games with a largely healthy roster we weren't world beaters. We were barely Western Illinois beaters.
I would be thrilled with 6 or 7 wins. I have lost faith in the coaching staff.
4-8 with a win over IU and i'll be fine. There's no point to being optimistic about Danny Hope; he has enough for all of us.
Middle Tenn St W
@ Rice W
SE Miss St W
Notre Dame L
Minnesota W
@ Penn State L
Illinois (Homecoming) W
@ Michigan L
@ Wisconsin L (thumped by eventual B1G champ)
Ohio $tate W (program in disarray by then)
Iowa L (let down game)
@ Indiana W
7-5
Not to put too fine a point on it, but name a single position where we have a talent advantage over OSU. We beat them a few years ago because Ryan Kerrigan was outstanding and our offense did just enough to get the win. I suppose it's possible that everything collapses in on the Buckeyes, but that's a huge supposition. I would love nothing better than to see OSU crumble and pull a 4-8 season, but they're talented enough to survive with this season intact. Next season though...
My OSU win depends on how many rats jump ship at O$U. I can see them facing a season with unexpected vacancies in skill positions - much like we faced last year, but for VERY different rea$ons...
Alot of unknowns at this point.
We have prove commodities in our kicker, secondary, and our DT's.
We have a sub-par LB corps that has 2 under-sized guys in Carlino and Holland and unproven talents in Higgs, Beckford, and Gilliam. Lucas is a fine LB and will be a force if healthy. However, none are good enough against the drag routes across the middle and are inconsistent, at best, against the run. That will NOT bode well against the ND's, Wiscy's, OSU's, and Iowa's of the world.
Our best DE single-handedly carried the pass rush for the front line last year. Gaston and Short are good, yes, but your job is easier with Superman taking away 40% of the line and you're left with a one-on-one sceanrio. How do they respond? I like our DC, but there's not a whole lot of experience outside of the duo in the middle. This is where the coaching, which has been questionable thus far, comes into play. What will we see?
Our secondary will be tough and can hang with some of the best receivers in the land. However, it all comes down to how they can handle the possible lack of a pass rush. Is this going to be like 2005when we had poor pass-rush ability with a solid secondary that relegates our safeties as extra LB's making tackles on run plays time and again?
Offensively, I like our O-line. It has some solid pieces to it and alot of starts, (79), amongst its members. Is that enough? Can Terbush, the forgotten man in the QB rotation, be the guy? Henry is electric as a mobile/scrambling type, but is found wanting as a passer. Marve is good, but woefully injured. I think his time has passed. I like him, I think he's been a model teammate and student, but he's not a long-term solution. Again, this is where Nord's ability to gameplan is to be tested.
I think Shavers and Pegram can take the load off Bolden's shoulders and give us a stable of consistent backs; but they have to pass block and keep the heat off the QB. Bolden is VERY good at that while Pegram and Shavers will most likely struggle.
Our receiving corps is depleted without Smith, but a healthy Ross, Edison, and Torwudzo can be very good as a core group. Mosters as a slot or out-route guy along with Carter and Sinz as the starting TE's may be a good surprise for us.
Special Teams...well, improvement is easy to see when your past performance is a bucket of crap. A bucket of puke would be an upgrade. Maybe Gibboney can achieve that; a bucket of puke.
I see 6 wins, but it will mean the IU game is the deciding factor. We HAVE to win 3 of the 4 NC games to even come close to a bowl. A .500 record there will mean home in December and Hope on a bus out of town with Sumlin or Olsen on speed dial.
I love optimism, but there are more questions than answers here and I just cannot see us being better than mediocre.
Call me cautiously optimistic, and we finish at an even 6-6.
Of course I expect to see a sea of Old Gold and Black at the Rice game in Houston with JMoney and me leading the cheers for the Good Guys from out of town!! :):)
I say 4-8. I also say 2-2 in the offseason and that fans demand for tickets to my "Fire Hope" bandwagon like Boilerdowd demanded tickets for the NKOTB reunion tour.
Should be 12-0 now that Patrick Bade is coming over to play TE. C'mon Gary Harris. Please go to Purdue!
GB, were you in line near me? I waited in the rain and snow to see Donnie and the boys do their thing.
Long live, NKOTB!!!
I mean, they stink.
I am in the plurality that believes a 6-6 season is most likely. Where I disagree with most of you is the Mich. game. Purdue has a shot at this game. Michigan is reorganizing and relies on "Da Nard" for their offense. The older guys remember that they can actually win there. I don't see this game as part of the Murderer's Row as others do.
Even with coach Hope, there should be no possible way to lose to Middle Tenn St, Rice and SE Miss ST. Minnesota and Indiana should be wins. Therefore I see 5-7 because cant see If we do pull off an upset, we probably offset it by losing one of the 5 that should be automatic wins. Sorry, but coach Hope hasn't given any indications that he's able to win more than 5 games in a season even by scheduling weak opponents out of conference.
boxercr -- hope you're right, but one (barely) win there in 40+ years is not a good sign.
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