The only somewhat "trick" plays were a pass play from Tommie Thomas (which we knew was coming two weeks ago from one of our spies) and a nonsensical play where Justin Siller lined up at QB and handed the ball off. Whoooooo!!! Craaay-zeee!!
The Boilers were embarrassed tonight in their own building. It's as simple as that. And yes, Notre Dame was unquestionably the better team. But then, we said that from the start of the season, throughout this week, on the podcast and in our predicto for the game. So that was never really in doubt.
However, while the Boilers cannot control a talent disparity, they can control effort and discipline. They racked up 118 yards in penalties and only had 272 in total offense (versus almost 550 yards for ND). Curiously, the Boilers passed more than they ran, despite the fact that the run game has seemingly been a strength for this Purdue offense and, unlike last year, they actually have healthy, talented running backs. Bolden and Shavers got the ball 11 times for 22 yards -- combined. What? I don't know, either.
As I said, Notre Dame is much better than Purdue. However, they're not all that good and Purdue did not make them earn it by putting the Domers under pressure at all. Interceptions bouncing off DBs, Purdue unable to fall on fumbles, etc. This is not an opportunistic team at all. They don't create their own breaks, they don't get lucky, and so forth. And as we've said before, good teams make their own luck.
To beat -- or compete with -- a team like ND, Purdue needed to take advantage of easy picks and grab a fumble or two. Or return a kick for a TD. Or anything. They simply don't do those things.
Purdue did not look prepared to handle ND, either, and their adjustments -- if there were any -- did not slow the Irish down.
We would have liked to see Marve get a complete game and get to see what he could have done had he not come in down 14-0 and with the team reeling. He moved them down the field at times and, frankly, they just looked better -- though the results weren't ultimately much different -- with Robert at the helm. Marve's ball has a better zip on it and he appears far more confident. I like Caleb TerBush and don't want to disparage the young man, but he's simply not a better QB than Marve and I don't see how Coach Hope and the rest of the staff can possibly keep Marve from starting going forward. Sure, they're 2-2, not 0-4, but they're not good and the season is in serious danger of getting away from them. We think it basically already has, but if there's hope to hang on to anything, Marve is the guy to do it. Of that we are convinced.
I'm sure there are still those who will make excuses for why we shouldn't be disgusted with the direction of the program. However, yet again, there is no excuse for looking this disjointed, especially after an extra week to prepare.
As per usual, the defensive scheme was ineffective, the play-calling was uncreative and uninspired, and the players -- while amped to play tonight -- were undisciplined and sloppy. It's a systemic problem at this point and it's not going to just magically vanish one day. It's here to stay, for as long as this regime stays in place.
18 comments:
From the student sections, the alcohol was flowing and the energy and spirit was high. After the first pick, the students carried on and had a decent showing until the third quarter when the stands emptied like snakes leaving Ireland.
The players were not ready. I honestly think the atmosphere ended up being too much for them...
...Which now has me scared shitless about IU.
We need to get sumlin hope needs to go
Nowhere to go but up. Time to reboot this here program. If I knew any potentially great QB talent, for the time being I'd steer 'em away from Purdue, where any such young man is currently wasted on a coaching staff that has no idea how to manage a basic gameplan or dictate disciplined play (tonight, our 118 yards in penalties outdid our running game by 34 yards). This is becoming a disturbingly accurate simulation of the Fred Akers years. Having endured those in person on campus, I felt assured no such low could revisit us. Starting to question my resolve.
Saw this game with my local alumni group at a sports bar. 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter, everyone was checking their cell phones and planning where they were going next. By the start of the 4th quarter, everybody was getting their checks and getting ready to leave. With 8 minutes left in the game, I was alone at the table (for better or worse, I always watch a Purdue game to the end). This isn't to knock my fellow Boiler alums-- the game very quickly spun out of control and they know a stinker when they see one. There wasn't much to cheer for.
I hate Notre Dame. I hate Touchdown Jesus. I refuse to watch the movie "Rudy" on principle. I hate Michael "Last Call" Floyd's stupid smirk when they had him in close-up while (man)handling his defender tonight. But more than anything, I hate it when Notre Dame players have a career best when playing Purdue. That happened at least twice tonight.
I've been slow to call for Hope's head-- the man has never had the benefit of a full healthy roster of his own recruits, and I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt for at least one season. But after watching this woefully unprepared team tonight, I can't help but think that the coaching staff is out of their depth, and most certainly out of their league. The players looked alternately scared, confused or disinterested for large portions of the game. I remarked that it was like somebody told them beforehand "you know you're going to get your ass beat tonight, right?," and the players all agreeing with that statement, and playing accordingly. While there were some sparks of inspired performance here and there for a play or two-- I agree that Marve seemed to have more confidence and moved the ball slightly more effectively than TerBush-- that's a bit like looking for a fleck of gold dust in a sand bar.
Back to Hope. he clearly believes in the latter-career Joe Tiller philosophy of not making halftime adjustments, ever. His staff is clearly at sea as well. I can not see this team making any sort of progress, let alone winning another 4 games on the schedule.
Much as I hate these parlor games, I was enraged by what I saw tonight. So much so, I couldn't help but start to think about Hope's replacement. Sumlin? That would be great, but it's doubtful-- for a start, Houston is rumored to be a dark horse Big 12 member soon enough, plus there's Burke's legendary cheapness-- Hope is the lowest paid coach in the B10--heck, Sumlin makes more than Hope already ($1.2M vs. $950K; source: coacheshotseat.com), so that's a non-starter. Maybe somebody slightly controversial and unemployed who can be had for cheap? Mark Mangino took a DOA Kansas team to the Orange Bowl and is a member of the Stoops coaching tree, and Jim Leavitt created the USF football program from the ground up and took them to the top 5. Knowing Burke though, that's not his style. He probably has an eye on Brock Spack-- sure, Spack's got the Purdue family link, had a run of truly fantastic defenses for a stretch as DC and certainly has a fire in his belly. Burke would point to his winning record-- an underwhelming 14-13 as of today at Illinois State, plus Spack would be so chuffed to come back, Burke could get him for $50K, a low-interest loan on a double-wide and a book of McDonald's gift certificates.
Make no mistake: as I did today at the sports bar, I will support my Boilers and yell my lungs out until the final whistle. But after seeing Purdue play on TV for the first time in a long time I was shocked. Clearly, changes need to be made on some level. I hope for the best, but I'm preparing for disappointment.
One of the things that annoys me the most about all this...is we're going to have to listen to Coach Hope's Tuesday conference and hear about how well we played.
Speilburg couldn't script a more cruel way to open the game- pass across the field/ body over the middle of the field into triple coverage- even if the underneath man were the target (which I assume to be the case.) Linebackers were out of position, ends were no where to be found, defensive backs got man handled...and listening to the rah rah Notre Dame broadcast on ESPN wasn't so thrilling either.
Micahel Floyd looked like a man among boys and we looked like...how we've looked for awhile.
Two weeks of preparation, and
Not even at ATTEMPT at a running game
Swiss Cheese Defense with poor hitting
Sloppy Penalties
That's call coaching. Or lack thereof.
I officially gave up on the Danny Hope era last night. When it hit 21-0 in the 2nd quarter I turned off ESPN, cracked open a bottle of wine, and joined my wife on the couch to watch CSI:Miami and two episodes of Friday Night Lights.
There is too much other disappointment in the world right now to follow Purdue football closely, or anticipate what should be "the fan's joy of game-day".
Even with an immediate coaching change, how could a real turn around occur in less that 5-6 years? Any opinions?
Its sad how far we've fallen. Not.....even....competitive.
I was in an alumni bar watching, so maybe someone can clear it up. What was the unsportsmanlike penalty on Purdue on third down as ND was going for their second score. Best I could see all our guy did was high five a fan. The refs called in taunting I guess?
Not like it really mattered in the long run.
I'm calling for Pat Hill to replace Danny Hope.
Look at Hill: Wins at Fresno State. (Sure, not tons, but hell, I live in Fresno, I'm amazed any people come here) Has an attitude that says he'll play anybody anywhere and think he can win. His teams are pretty disciplined. He actually game plans for his opponents.
Plus, he has a mustache. A really really fantastic mustache.
Don't worry, guys. Danny Hope is encouraged!
Yes, Danny is always encouraged and remember fans....we're all idiots that don't know one tootin' thing about the game of football. So what we perceive to be horrible coaching doesn't matter because Danny the great has it all under "his perception of control".
I've watched a lot of bad Purdue/UND games...that one was pretty high (or low) on the list. This isn't UND with Coach Slurry who's contending for a national title, this was a .500 UND team who has a barely-serviceable quarterback and a pretty lousy running game. They ran a bland offense and Purdue provided no resistance...on the other side of the ball, the play calling and overall game play was timid at best and nothing close to inventive (remember, we were told by Hope that they had a great two weeks of practice and they were READY).
The best players aren't getting chances to make plays and the worst/least-prepared players are almost always in the position to be horribly exposed with great regularity.
Have we had enough yet?
I can tell you a RA with around 38,000 in the stands will send a message to Burke loud and clear. You know where we stand- support the players...keep on it- they sweat and bleed for our colors...but this coaching staff looks like they were just called up from the IHSAA.
@patsloan
NCAA Rulebook Rule 9, Section 2, a.-(h) Going into the stands to interact with spectators, or bowing at the
waist after a good play.
So yeah illegal. It's one thing to be psyched and confident for a game. But Allen made one play. One. Given the lack of success on this team and how the season has gone so far, his focus should have been on his play, not entertaining the crowd. I don't blame Allen or the team alone, as its the coaches responsibility to instill discipline in their team. This team is defunct and the program is on the verge of slipping into irrelevance and the dark ages again. Case and point: I'm a student at Purdue. Freshman, sophmore, and even last year I still made sure to attend most of the games. This last weekend, I went home. I knew what was coming. There is a reason Purdue has lost 17,000 season ticket holders. I don't expect to win the big ten every year-but I expect us to be competitive. A coaching change wouldn't be a bad idea, as Hope has done one thing well and that is recruit. We have talent again. But that talent will be gone soon and we won't be able to recruit it back with the last few years results.
During the Danny Hope era, season ticket sales have fallen from 34,523 in 2009 to 31,701 in 2010 (~8%), and from 31,701 in 2011 to 28,914 in 2011 (~9%.) Using a conservative estimate of $300 per season ticket, we can conclude that season ticket revenues decreased by $846,600 from 2009 to 2010, and $836,100 from 2010 to 2011. Seeing no improvement this year, it is reasonable to project another 9% fall in season tickets sales. According to USA Today, Purdue University is paying Coach Hope $900,000. Add this to the $800,000 in ticket sale losses and Coach Hope is costing the university $1.7 million. Spending this $1.7 million on a qualified coach would help improve the product on the field and increase the return on investment ticket holders justifiably demand. This in turn will increase season ticket/single game ticket sales. Why can't the AD see this?
@patsloan - I happened to be standing next to Mike Golic on the sideline at the time, and he had a better view of it since he's a freakin' giant. I saw the ref signal unsportsmanlike conduct and was basically freaking out about the call because I couldn't see it, but then he told me what he saw and, sure enough, a few seconds later on the replay, there it was... So I got to talk football with Mike Golic. Unfortunately, he was in "Irish Mode" at the time, so it wasn't particularly enjoyable football talk. Love the Mike & Mike in the Morning show.. hate the guy as an Irish alum. I did go up to him before the game though and welcome him to West Lafayette. Figured he at least deserved some courtesy.
Anyway, I digress. Stupid, stupid penalties. Discipline is a huge issue on this team. Unfortunately, it's not our biggest issue. I'm losing faith in the coaching staff, fast.
Your football program reminds me of our basketball program
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