Sunday, November 20, 2011

Ugly Play Yields Yet Another Ugly Loss on Senior Day

Seven days ago, an inspired Purdue team played a physical and talented aOSU team even before putting the 'Nuts away in overtime.  After a week of (presumed) smiles, praise, sunshine, lollipops, flowers, fresh-baked cookies and sunshine being blown up their collective backsides, Bad Purdue showed up to lay an egg this week.

Iowa was already bowl eligible (somehow), but my eyes told me that this Hawkeye team wasn't very good. They made stupid plays like fumbling the ball inside the Purdue 10 after receiving a gift from the Boilers, giving Purdue a cheap TD, dropping interceptions that were in their chests, dropping open passes and were generally as sloppy as the weather around the game.

It was a chilly day in the high-40s/low-50s with intermittent spits of rain and gusty wind.  The wind affected the play on the field pushing Purdue to not kick or pass when going into the wind and forcing an attempted pooch by Wiggs to net 7 yards.  Wiggs also had an ill-advised near-fake in which he kicked the ball right into an Iowa defender. On top of that, Purdue had a botched fair catch kickoff that gave Iowa the ball.  So what had been rock solid for a few weeks, special teams, simply was awful...but they weren't the only ones.
If McNutt was Superman yesterday, Purdue left the kryptonite back in Mollenkopf
Last week, Purdue was sure-tackling and did a good job pressuring aOSU's mediocre Frosh QB.  This week, they gave Vanderberg weeks (it seemed) to sit back and find McNutt as he tormented Purdue's highly-touted, but seldom-productive corners.  But in their defense, how can you hold coverage for 5, 6, 7 seconds as one of the nation's best receivers just runs around the defensive backfield as if playing in the backyard.  But when they did pressure him, get this, it worked.

One of the few plays in which the front got to Iowa's QB, he kind of wet himself, fumbled the ball and Purdue got a gift of a TD as he was standing in his own endzone.  At the end of the half, it was 21-14, and it felt and looked like it should have been 28-7.

After watching Marve on this day in the first half, it was clear he was the better quarterback.  He was quicker on his feet, both literally and figuratively, he was shooting darts and playing with a chip on his shoulder.  Make no mistake about this- I like TerBus as a kid, but just don't think of him as a very capable quarterback...and I don't blame him for being what he is.  He's been out of high school for four years and has only shown he can manage a game an not screw up too badly...that's not a bad thing if the defense looks like aOSU's or Penn States...but this defense doesn't.  Thus you need a gun slinger.

But Hope came into the game with the idea that he hadn't seen anything in the previous contest that would make him switch starters.  Hmmm...guess I saw a different game last week.

No matter, even with the wind at their back, Nord was baking up a blend of screen passes, poorly-timed quarterback draws and ill-advised runs inside the tackle when Bolden was very effective on the outside, yet again.  Purdue didn't use any of its advantages of quickness by putting Bolden, Edison and Bush in one-on-one situations, but instead seemed stubborn and bull-headed to the point of never checking out of obvious bad play calls OR making any adjustments at half time that might have yielded results.

At the end of the day, Purdue had lost a 31-21. Furthermore, Purdue was not bowl eligible as they squandered the opportunity that was presented to them on a gleaming silver platter. So now, they're facing an unenviable situation of heading South to their rival who will be playing in their bowl game next week as they have only one win.  Sounds like an easy thing to do, right? Just beat one of the worst teams in the nation, and they'll put a choke hold on their only bowl bid in the last four years.  But, a home game versus a mediocre opponent after coming off of a big win would seem like a pretty good situation to be in too, right??

Purdue will play the depleted Hoosiers in Bloomington at 3:30 on BTN.  I can guarantee that Wilson will have a Santa-sized satchel full of tricks, treats and toys for the Purdue defense. And on the other side, who the hell knows what Hope, Nord and Emanuel will have prepared for the only team in the FBS without a win versus another FBS foe. But, after watching this week's game, I feel this coaching staff might be fighting to keep its job...actually, I hope so.  If not, Burke can put himself on the list, along with Hope, of employees on the athletic department's payroll who simply are not doing what they were hired to do.

Although I thought Purdue would lose this game, I was still in a foul mood afterwards, in spite of my BS counterpart being in town for his only game of the season.  Thanks Coach Hope for ruining my pal J's visit back to his alma mater.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Look, I love BS but I loathe your love of Marve. Marve had a horrible game, finishing 7/18 for 95 yards and 2 picks. Terbush went 10/16 for 86 and a TD, and led the other TD drive for Purdue as well. Marve has more raw talent, but his decision making is atrocious, and I don't understand how you guys back him. Season stats also don't lie either. Marve has a 5.55 yards per attempt to Terbush's 6.75. TD/Int for Marve is 3/5 while its 11/6 for Terbush. Completion percentage? You better believe it...54.2% for Marve, 61.5 for Terbush. I know you all want to see Marve get to play a whole game, but I want to see entire games without him.

Anonymous said...

From a fundamental point of view the sticking with a two quarterback rotation when it is clearly not working, the missed tackles and the lack of halftime adjustments (especially offensive) is maddening.

Those looking for humor need to look no farther than Hope's post game comments. Try and figure out what game he watched?? Can you say CLUELESS.

Thank god for Matt Painter and Basketball.

CaryNW87 said...

If a Bucket loss guarantees that Hope is out, I think I'd take it.

4thandshort said...

Why not promote Brian Cardnial from intern to AD. In other news SEC do to away with players going to class all together.

Anonymous said...

A Rhianna song made me think of Kevin Sumlin: "I fell in love (with Sumlin) in a Hope-less place!"
So, Sumlin looks to be taking Houston to a BCS game, and Burke is still clinging to Hope. If Sumlin finishes the year undefeated, scores of schools will be lining up to throw money at him. Purdue better be one of them.

boilerdowd said...

Unknown- you have seen entire games without Marve, three, in fact.

Conversely, we haven't seen Marve start a game.

We don't like the two QB system...we just think the wrong guy has been starting. Plus, a gameplan designed around dink and dunk offense might suit 19, but is not ideal with Marve at QB. TerBush needs plays designed to get the ball out of his hands quickly because his reads are slow and his delivery is slower...but Nord seems to call the same plays for both QBs.

Neither QB is complete, I won't argue there. But one has had ample time to show improvement while other has been given less than 20% of the offensive downs.

CaryNW87 said...

We're going about this all wrong. Here's an approach that Burke might understand:

Sumlin 2011 Salary: 1,300,000
Sumlin 2011 Wins: 11
Cost per Win: Approx. 118,000

Hope 20111 Salary: 900,000
Hope 2011 Wins: 5
Cost per Win: 180,000

boilerdowd said...

Burke's response:
http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/892/F854238.JPG

CaryNW87 said...

"Nord was baking up a blend of screen passes, poorly-timed quarterback draws and ill-advised runs inside the tackle when Bolden was very effective on the outside, yet again. Purdue didn't use any of its advantages of quickness by putting Bolden, Edison and Bush in one-on-one situations, but instead seemed stubborn and bull-headed to the point of never checking out of obvious bad play calls OR making any adjustments at half time that might have yielded results."

I'll go ahead and cut and paste this into next week's post game summary.

CaryNW87 said...

More number fun:

First Three Seasons:

Akers 10-22-1 (finished 12-31-1)
Coletto 9-24 (finished 21-42-3)
Hope 14-21

So, Akers "coached" one more season after his third, winning just two more games in that time.

Coletto did whatever he did for another THREE seasons (?!), and only managed 12 wins in that time.

Bad coaches don't stay bad, they get worse.

boilerdowd said...

That's pretty sobering, Cary...here's a counterpoint that I can't explain- Kirk Ferentz:

12-21 @ Maine in three seasons

For some reason, hired as Iowa's HC after working under Frye.

4-19 after two seasons...
7-5 in the third...
11-2 in the fourth; BT champs.

I'm by no means saying this is Hope's road...just stating a case for a coach that was pretty lousy that got a lot better.

If they beat IU, he'll be back.