Anyway, over the coming weeks, we'll be delving into more of a look at the upcoming Purdue football season. I thought it might be nice to get some poll thoughts -- and, of course, your comments here -- as to what concerns you.
This week we'll be polling on what major categories are your top concerns. Next we'll get your take on what you're most confident about. And after that... we'll be only a month away from another season of Dannyball.
Brace yourselves.
9 comments:
pretty much everything that was a concern last year.
But a toss up between QB's/Coaching.
Probably Coaching
Much like headphones_on, I'm going to have to go with QB's/Coaching.
And it's not a toss-up, it's both. It's a coaching staff who very well might split snaps between *3* different QB's, because splitting snaps between 2 worked oh so well last year.
We need a QB and a backup and a third-stringer. I don't know which one should be the QB or the backup, but Henry is clearly the third-stringer. And that may still include bringing him in for Wild Pete sets (btw I just coined that, I think it's a better deal than "Wild Siller"), but he's still the third-stringer.
Our offense is complicated enough that the 1's need to practice together 80-90% of the time, and that means that you have to know who the 1's are.
Pick one, Hope, pick one...
I'm actually most concerned about the defense. Pass defense was pretty bad last year. My 2nd concern is our receivers. Seems like all of our experienced receivers are undersized, and that puts more pressure on the QB to be more accurate. Our receivers don't run the best routes. A couple times last year, the Purdue radio commentators said that the receivers don't come back to the ball on their routes like they should.
The QB situation used to really bother me until I saw the QB stat sheet during game-on-the-line moments(where the game was either tied or we were heading down the field to possibly tie it). I can't remember if I saw that here or on H&R. Anyways, Marve had an extremely high interception rate and low completion rate during these pivotal moments. Terbush on the other hand, had much better and more consistent stats during game-on-the-line situations. Personally I love watching Marve play, but from a statistics perspective I can see why Hope tried to utilize both. The stats were night and day. However Marve is just too talented to keep off of the field. He was a risk but if he gets it together, he could be really good. Seeing that he's finally 100% healthy, maybe that won't be as much of an issue this year. Who knows.
I would say QB situation (why he won't name a starter) and the lack of control of his players would be interesting polls. Both issue seem to be lingering over this team.
Yeah, the control of players hasn't quite gotten to the point that it was near the end of Tiller's tenure, but it's definitely starting to look worse. Up until this last incident I didn't think it was that big of a deal because of how bad it was in '05-08. I remember Kirsch climbing into the stands and flipping off the student section, a player trying to abduct a girl in a parking garage, guys on the offensive line fighting in the locker room and getting sent to the hospital, a couple rape court cases, etc... So up until this week it just seemed like stupid stuff. I still think it's better than it was 5 years ago but we definitely need to keep it from getting to that point again.
I have to go with linebackers. I think the QB situation will work itself out (famous last works as I said that last year too), and the coaching decisions HAVE to get better from last year right? The linebackers were IMHO terrible last year. They were bad in passing situations and worse in run stop. If the runner got past the line it was a 20+ yd gain. They flat out looked too slow to catch people. Who cares who's QB if we can't stop the other team and keep points off the board, for proof see the great Boiler Drew Brees's playoff loss last year (most clear cut example I can think of).
repeating what several people have said, a tossup between QBs and coaching. If you have two (or more) QBs, you have none, that kind of thing.
In college, it is possible to have a strong team without a good passing game, but you have to have a massive running game, like 300-yards-per-game option running, and even then you're going to struggle against teams with quick, smart defenders. Also, it's much harder to catch up if you can't throw the ball (as we have seen on several occasions).
So for most teams, not having a solid QB is a problem. If TerBush doesn't seize the job, then it'll be that aggravating carousel that does no one any good ... and that brings up my other main concern. I just don't know if Hope and his staff can make good enough decisions at this level. (I wonder about conditioning, too, with all the knee injuries. Is this really just bad luck, or is there something they are having the players do that they shouldn't, or vice versa?)
Off-field issues are definitely becoming a concern. 18- to 23-year-old guys are not known for wisdom and judgment, but that's where the coaches are supposed to come in: spell out what's expected of them, do what's necessary to show them they need to meet your expectations. The last thing you want is a Miami-type situation where players just do whatever ... that carries over to game days too, and if you don't have a ton of All-Pro-caliber players, then the lack of discipline will cause significant on-field issues.
O-line is a concern. QB's are a concern. Coaching is a concern.
Oline has little proven production. And the QB issue has more to do with coaching.
I think the coaches are individually good, but I was shocked to hear Hope say that He nor Nord knew what play was going to be called next during the Rice game.
Today, most coaches have little sheets that help them make decisions in the moment.
That they had to take a time out on fourth down because they didn't know what play to run was puzzling...even more puzzling that Hope was frustrated that the play wasn't ready. Surely his expectations for the coaches have been laid out?
I voted QB situation... because of the coaching. We need to stick with 1 starter that starts and finishes the games. And, as long as we have Gary Nord... I will not be at all confident in our offense. He needs to be canned.
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