Gut Punching-est Hits of the Danny Hope Era

As the fanbase gets less and less tolerant of the Danny Hope era coaching staff, it begins to feel as though all of the Hope era games are gut-punch losses. So I took a look back to see how many of his games are the kinds that make you curse and kick the cat. Turns out...a lot of 'em.

Let's hit the wayback machine.

2009

We should be used to this sort of nonsense by now, because by my count, Danny Hope gave us four straight such games early in his tenure and five overall in a particularly painful 2009. Of course, at the time, we liked how much spirit a team showed that was a year removed from a dismal 4-8 campaign under Joe Tiller. But let's look closer.

9/12/09, Oregon 38, Purdue 36

A year after blowing a 17 point lead at home by playing uber-conservative in the second half against the Duckies, the Boilers headed to Eugene for a late start (in the East) under the lights in front of Oregon's "hippie lettuce fans, who were lucky to be able to find the stadium," as b-dowd hilariously told me via text. The Boilers promptly came out and hit Oregon in the mouth, playing an exciting, back-and-forth game that included Danny Hope doing the hand to the ear "I can't hear you" gesture to the Oregon student section.

The Boilers had a 24-17 lead in the third quarter, then fell behind by a TD and then marched right back down to score on Ralph Bolden's third TD of the game, giving Purdue fans everywhere serious hope. Then the Boilers missed the extra point, gave up another TD, came back to score with a minute to go... but were unable to convert for two and lost.

9/19/09, NIU 28, Purdue 21

Following their heartbreaker at Oregon, the Boilers put on perhaps the most listless performance of Hope's tenure (which is saying a lot) in falling behind -- at home -- 28-7, before Joey Elliott finally comes to and scores two rushing TDs to make the score respectable, if not the result. This is the first of the annual Danny Hope letdown games, in which there is no other explanation than that the team was not adequately prepared to play.

9/26/09, Notre Dame 24, Purdue 21

Purdue is outplayed into the second half and trails 17-7, yet somehow grinds out a couple of scores to take a 21-17 lead on one of Gary Nord's favorite plays (seriously, you'll see this every game). The Boiler crowd is going bananas as a victory under the lights against the Domers (come from behind, no less) seems to be happening. The the Purdue coaching staff goes into its patented play-not-to-lose defense and is picked apart by an injured Pickles Claussen, even going so far as to call a head-scratcher time out when ND was about to have to make a fourth down decision.

Pickles finds his man Kyle Rudolph in the end zone on fourth down with 25 seconds to go to rip the Boilermaker hearts out yet again.

10/3/09, Northwestern 27, Purdue 21

Three minutes into the second quarter, Joey Elliott throws his third TD pass of the game and the Boilers go up 21-3, clearly asserting their dominance and taking out the frustrations of their previous three weeks and two near-misses against quality opponents.

Then the Boilers have their customary pasta halftime meal, go to sleep, and give up 24 unanswered points to the Mildcats.

11/14/09, MSU 40, Purdue 37

With the Boilers needing to win out to have a shot at a bowl game, the players come to play against Sparty. Purdue leads -- again -- at halftime, 20-17, and expands their lead to 11 points (34-23) with under twelve minutes to play in the game.

MSU then goes on a 17-3 run to close the game -- in Ross-Ade -- despite Kirk Cousins going 11/25 for a 44% completion percentage.

2010

The Boilers scaled back their hearbreakers in 2010 by simply being a worse football team and leaving a lot less up in the air. This was not a good year. Sure, injuries played a huge part, but a four-win Boilermakers squad still left these tasty morsels on the table that could have made 2010 a season of optimism in the face of adversity.

9/25/10, Toledo 31, Purdue 20

The Boilers come out apparently still affected by the season-ending knee injury suffered by Keith Smith the week before and look even more dazed after Robert Marve's knee folds and Rob Henry is thrust into the QB role. Purdue, down 17-0 by the second quarter and 24-3 by the midpoint of the third, simply can't recover. Toledo plays a smart, aggressive game and in what is now a trend that continues to this day, the Purdue coaching staff fails to -- or simply cannot -- adjust. The Boilers are again humbled in their home stadium by a MAC team.

11/20/10, MSU 35, Purdue 31

The Boilermakers head into East Lansing against the 9-1 Spartans and hit them in the mouth. Rob Henry leads Purdue to a 28-13 lead after three quarters. Fans of the 4-6 Boilermakers begin to dream of an improbable bowl appearance, as a win here would make them one win away, with only IU at home remaining.

Alas, in a script that is by now common, the Boilermakers can't hold a sizable lead and go into scared mode, losing the fourth quarter 21-3 and the game 35-31. For a second straight season, 75% dominant effort against the Spartans turns into a bowl-hopes-dashing loss.

11/27/10, IU 34, Purdue 31

Stop me if you've heard this before. Purdue steadily climbs to a 21-7 lead in the second quarter against a poor Indiana team. However, the soup and turkey legs in the locker room were delicious as the Boilers sleep through the second half, being outscored 27-10 from the late second quarter onward and losing the Bucket on home soil.

2011

In Danny Hope's best season to date, the Boilers went 7-6, including their bowl victory. There were plenty of games to choose from if you're talking about frustrations, but in terms of the ones that slipped through their fingers, only one hugely egregious one stands out.

9/10/11, Rice 24, Purdue 22

With a rare boisterous road Purdue contingent on hand in Houston, the Boilers piss away the opportunity for a road win and a potential 3-0 start by having a game-winning kick blocked in the final seconds after coughing up yet another lead (17-10). This one stings for a long time as the Boilers prove they are an improving squad with good talent. Winding up with a 7-5 regular season record instead of 6-6 meant the difference between Detroit and somewhere appealling during bowl season.

2012

And then there was last Saturday.

10/20/12, OSU 29, Purdue 22

Purdue surprises everyone with a concerted, aggressive, creative approach to the game plan coupled with spirited, emotional effort from the guys. For three quarters, at least. Then the coaching went into the tank again, from play calling to being overly conservative to time out usage. Basically, they hit all the pain points in letting this one slip away, as Purdue blows an eight point lead with under three minutes to play. Or, in fact, they blow an eight-point lead with 45 seconds to play as that's when OSU got the ball back with no time outs.

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The point of all this? That it isn't a one-off occurrence. And it doesn't matter which players are on the field for the Boilermakers...which brings us to the question of what has been the constant in all of this? I think you know the answer to that one.

Coach Hope is 19-25 in his tenure and his teams have given away perhaps ten games that should have been lockdown wins. I don't think it's a stretch to say that. These aren't games where they were long shots and lost by three TDs and would have had to be different humans to win. These were games that were either:

1) Matchups the Boilers were far superior in talent;
2) Games Purdue held commanding leads in that a good team with good coaches should not relinquish; or
3) Games affected by poor coaching, poor adjustments and poor in-game management.

So again, if it feels like this happens all the time to these Boilermakers....it's because it does.

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.

A Month In: Assessing the 2011 Season

One of the things I said at the start of this football season was that I could accept even a losing, non-bowl season as long as I saw effort and some kinds of steps forward. I also said I felt the team would be 2-2 after the non-con on their way to 4-8. And, actually, if you listen closely to my rambling on the season kick off Handsome Hour, I came up with three wins -- two in the non-con, Minnesota and.... that was it. But I decided to say 4-8 because 1) Hope's teams tend to provide  us with one surprise per season and 2) I was influenced by how much abuse we were already taking for not being more "positive."

However, when you look at the current state of affairs, I don't know how you can be anything but discouraged. Yes, the team is 2-2, which is where we thought they'd be at this point, but it's the way they've gotten here that is disturbing. They could -- and arguably should  -- be 1-3 right now. The effort Saturday night was deplorable. And what do I mean by that? Sure, a loss is a loss, but losing in that manner in front of lots of recuits and on national television is just... embarrassing.

Look at this same situaiton two years ago. Purdue was hosting a night game vs. ND and didn't play all that well, but late in the game the Boilers mounted an inspiring comeback and took the lead. And held it until Jimmy Clausen converted a late fourth down TD pass after Coach Hope's staff called a head-scratching time out to give them time to think it over. However, regardless of how pissed we were at the time, it was a nice showing. No, there are no moral victories really, but losing 24-21 on national TV and seeing how much of a out-of-their-ass, desperation win it was for ND reflected well on the direction of the Purdue football program. No, they weren't there quite yet, but they had taken Oregon to the brink in their house and nearly taken down a talented ND team. If only the play-calling got a little better, we all thought, and maybe things will be where they need to be. But that will come...right?

Here we are, two years later, and the play-calling was arguably more infuriating, the discipline was far worse, the coaching staff looked far more befuddled and the press conferences exude more confusion than confidence anymore.

If Purdue had hung with Notre Dame Saturday night -- or even hung some points on the board -- then you could have some confidence going into the meat-grinder that is the Big Ten season. But until the ND third-stringers were in on defense, the Boilers had managed a field goal the entire night. That's embarrassing. Notre Dame is good, but they're proving week after week that they're not really that good.

Let's look at some other truths we've learned thus far.

Ricardo Allen is not quite where we had hoped. RA is a good player, to be sure, and he's very athletic. But he was worn out by Michael Floyd. The Irish had no hesitation to go at Purdue's gifted corner and Floyd made the Boilers pay over and over. I did like seeing Ricardo get in Floyd's face at one point, but we needed a shutdown kind of game on Floyd and, honestly, #21 was barely noticeable out there. Please don't take this as a shot at Ricardo -- I like him a lot and I think he's undoubtedly Purdue's best cornerback. But we should probably have not expected so much of him as a sophomore. He'll have his big plays this year, I'm confident of that, but to expect him to shut guys down like he's Darrelle Revis is not fair of any of us.


Photo credit: Andy Jessop


Robert Marve should be starting. I know at least one member of the BS editorial staff is on "Team TerBush," but the senior staff members are of the opinion that Robert Marve gives this team the best chance to win games. He has a confidence that TerBush doesn't quite seem to have, he has a better arm, and he is a better decision-maker. This is nothing against Caleb TerBush -- but Marve was brought here because he is very talented and is the kind of QB that a team like Purdue needs. He deserves at least a game or two -- like TerBush has gotten -- to show his skills from start to finish. Putting him into a game like Saturday's against ND with the team already down two touchdowns is not exactly a fair shake. Let him start the game and lead the team and see where things land. I know Gary Nord said he's not healthy enough to play an entire game at this point, but that simply cannot be true. If you're not healthy enough to play a full game, you shouldn't be out there at all.

The playcalling remains questionable at best and awful at worst. Speaking of Nord, he and the rest of the coaches had two weeks to prepare for ND and we were told that they used that time to put in some different looks, etc. The Tommie Thomas trick play pass was not well-executed, and not only that, but we know for a fact that they worked on that play the week before the SEMO game. My point? That even with three weeks of practice, it didn't work. And what was the other out-of-the-norm play on Saturday? Siller lining up at QB on third down of Marve's first series and running.... the option? Sort of? What the hell was that? Did Gary Nord think that bringing in Siller was going to put ND on their heels and open up a running lane? Because I'll let everyone in on a little secret -- guys who are known to be able to pass well (i.e., Marve) are more likely to create that running opportunity.

And speaking of running, why did the Boilers not try at all to establish the running game on Saturday? I know it's difficult when you're down, but they could have still had a game plan to run the ball and control the clock. Even down 14-0, that could work, because there was plenty of time left to chip away and, really, the only way you're going to have a chance at beating that ND team is to keep their offense off the field as much as you can. But the first play from scrimmage from Purdue is a pass play that gets picked off.

Now, let me say this. If Purdue wants to go 999 and throw a bomb down the sideline on the first play of the game versus ND, I say go for it. I'm not gonna eat your lunch for that, even if it gets picked because at least we would all look at it and say, "Damn, they're going for the jugular!" But a pass over the middle, across his body....intro what looked like triple coverage? I just don't understand how that was the first play called. It makes no sense, no matter how I try to reconcile it in my head. Bolden and Shavers -- two of the brightest lights for Purdue this season -- were almost invisible Saturday night. Why?

Obviously, play-calling could be its own post -- or web site -- so I will stop there for now.

Purdue is not opportunistic. There are always intangibles in football. Things that happen that turn the tide and allow a team that is not as good on paper to win a game. Purdue does not do any of those things. Oh, sure, you could point to the two blocked FGs Purdue has thus far this year, I suppose, and that's definitely somethiung. But what about the air-mailed Tommy Rees pass that hit the Purdue DB in the numbers? What about Carson Wiggs missing his 50+ yard field goal attempt at a time when Purdue really needed points? No, it's not fair to get on Carson -- and I'm not -- for missing that. But if you're opportunistic, those things go right for you. As Boilerdowd is fond of saying, good teams make their own luck. If Tommie's pass is outside the numbers, it's a touchdown. If Floyd's fumble is fallen on by a Purdue defender, the momentum changes. Those things just don't seem to happen for this team and while I don't think you can necessarily blame anyone for that, it's definitely happening.

2010 is still in their heads. Coach Hope talks about it constantly, comparing his QB situation this year to last year, talking about being afraid of injuries like last year, etc. Last year is last year and the focus should be on what's ahead. Purdue should not be avoiding contact and tackling in practices because someone might get hurt. It's a big boy game and these things need work. And on that note...



Photo credit: Andy Jessop

 Fundamentals are what should be practiced. If you have supremely talented players, you can say you're not going to work on tackling in practice so that nobody gets hurt because you've got 4 and 5 star guys who know how to tackle with proper form. But Purdue does not have top-line talent. Purdue has medium level talent, and a lot of raw talent, and that kind of talent, my friends, is the kind that needs to be honed. Having "athletes" and "raw skills" and other buzz terms we've heard are simply other ways of saying the guys could be good but aren't. Let's not work on trick plays -- let's work on doing the things Purdue does well and do drill after drill on the fundamentals. Let's say, "We may lose games, but we're not going to lose games because we don't know how to tackle or hold on to the ball or cover a guy or play our position." Losing games to teams more talented is fine with me, frankly -- it's not even competing that makes me want to smash my head against a wall. And let's not forget -- Purdue has sloppily given away many games over the past few years that they had the talent and ability to win. When you're a mediocre team, you simply cannot give away points, yards and wins. They're too valuable a commodity.

The Big Ten season hasn't even started yet for Purdue. Let that one sink in on ya for a few minutes. If you're depressed about the season right now, just wait until Wisconsin hangs 75 on your Boilers. In truth, I don't think that will necessarily happen because I think the defense will come to play, but that is a game that is rather...concerning...and could get ugly in a hurry.

Repeating what I said after the Rice loss, the season is far from over. No matter how you feel, the Boilers are 0-0 in Big Ten play and get to begin against Minnesota this Saturday at home. This is likely Purdue's last real chance at a comfortable win and, yes, you can and should expect Purdue to beat Minnesota handily. If that does not happen, I would worry about any more wins the rest of the season.

Your thoughts on things are welcome here, as always.

Diddly Poo

I'm not sure where to begin, so I've asked former NFL head coach Jim Mora to make a guest appearance on BS and let us know what he thought of the Boilers performance. Coach?




I see. I think that's pretty much fair. Of course, let's not focus too much on Coach Mora's comments about the second half. In fact, replace "second half" with "first half" and you're a lot warmer. It wasn't a top to bottom shitty performance, though, as certain defensive players showed up. Right Coach?



Okay. So we've established that you shouldn't blame that game entirely on the defense. And I think there are some guys on the defense you can't blame it on. Like Ryan Kerrigan. But that said, I don't think the defense tackled particularly well, more than once letting what looked like a sure wrap-up slither away from their grasp. That should really never happen, no matter who your opponent is. But when you're playing a MAC team, well, let's go back to some of the things we said last year about the Northern Illinois game. MAC athletes are smaller and should not be able to push around Big Ten athletes. It just shouldn't happen.

As Coach Mora says above, quite simply, Purdue couldn't do diddly poo today. They did almost nothing well. And we here at BS don't really feel like you can put a whole lot of it on the players. They sure looked like they wanted to win, getting very excited when it looked like they might come back, for example. The issue appears to be with coaching, something else we've discussed before. And today the team looked horribly ill-prepared.

There was no flow to the offense for most of the game. Even early -- which is when Purdue looked good last week -- the play calling was horrible. Draw plays, bootlegs, predictable runs and passes.... nothing exciting. No stretching the field. No taking advantage of the -- again -- athletic differences. Purdue's skill players should be able to walk over a MAC team. Oh, especially a MAC team that coming into the game was the worst offense in the nation. The worst. That team just put up 31 points on Purdue. At Purdue. As I said to Boilerdowd when we talked after the game, can you imagine if the Purdue-Oregon series was taking place this year? Purdue would give up 50. Or maybe 60. And as he responded back to me, look at the points that teams like Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin are rolling up on teams this year. That 50 or 60 might well still be hung on our boys this year.

This game was bad news all around. I know Purdue started very slow last year, with the 1-5 start, and then roared to the finish. Well, let me ask you this: Do you think this year's team can match last year's team's Big Ten record of 4-4? Because if they do, that only gets them to 6-6 and barely into a bowl game that the school will probably lose money on. And that's if they manage to beat four Big Ten teams. Do you see four Big Ten teams that Purdue can beat? I sure don't. I'm not sure I see any teams that are automatic wins anymore. Sure, they'll surprise us and pull out one or maybe two, but beyond that, unless something significant changes, this season is in serious jeopardy.

In one of the posts I linked to above from last year, I challenged the team last year and said that the season was slipping away -- at 1-2. But I think this year's team, even though they're 2-2, looks far worse. Last year, the way they played at Oregon and at home versus Notre Dame at least gave you reason to believe they could hang with anyone. That's what made an otherwise mediocre season a lot of fun. This season? Not looking fun right now.

What went well

Sure, we have to have a section on what went well, don't we?  Not much. It might be funnier to just leave this section completely blank, but that might be mean. Because there were some guys who were working hard:

Ryan Kerrigan, once again, was a beast. Every time the defense did make something happen, it was Kerrigan in the middle of it. He was again constantly in the backfield and constantly being held. Kerrigan is one of those guys who you feel bad for if he has to waste his senior year on a team going no where.

Dan Dierking has become Boilerdowd's most trusted guy. On the offensive side of the ball, who else would you trust? Dierking isn't flashy and he doesn't do much spectacularly, but he's steady, fundamentally sound and a hell of a hard worker. His touchdown in the second half was pure will.

Jared Crank had one of his better outings, rushing for 43 yards on just four carries and a score.

Rob Henry, while I don't think he's ready for prime time, definitely grew up a little bit in the second half. Whereas for much of his time he looked absolutely lost out there throwing the ball, in the second half a few passes here and there began to connect and his confidence seemed to grow. He almost led the Boilers all the way back, something no one here thought he could do when the score was 17-0. 

Henry's pass attempt to Cortez Smith on the right side of the end zone that got broken up was something I view positively. Sure, he should have gotten it to the outside but he didn't do badly. The pass was high, where only Cortez could possibly come down with it and it was nicely lofted. It was in Smith's grasp but he couldn't hold on.

Henry's zip pass towards OJ Ross in the fourth quarter on 3rd and 10 that would have tied the score at 24 had a little too much sizzle on it, but otherwise wasn't a bad try. Point is, I like where this kid is heading. That said, I don't think he's ready to lead this team and I think they need to seriously consider spending the next two weeks getting Justin Siller ready to play quarterback.

BTN Terrible

I need to point this out because I think it's necessary and I am not impressed. The Big Ten Network's coverage of the Purdue game today was awful. Some items:

-- There were two "sideline interference" calls made in the first half, one on both teams. As B-dowd put it, "that's like a technical foul on the sideline."  But it seemed to more or less confuse the BTN broadcast team and almost no explanation was given and zero replays were shown. Of either violation. Now, if something is called a penalty, standard practice is to go back and show what the penalty was. It's something the viewer likes to see. And they failed to do that on both occasions a rare and strange penalty was called.

-- The Rob Henry horsecollar/personal foul. He runs left, goes out of bounds and is hit late. Personal foul. But behind the play, Purdue is called for a chop block. Also a 15 yarder. Confusion ensues in the BTN booth as the play by play man (whose name escapes me right now) says, "Sooooo... do they mark it off backwards?" Or something idiotic like that. And neither man seems to have any ides what happens. Play resumes and it is never discussed.

-- In the fourth quarter, Purdue is going for it on fourth down. The BTN sees fit to show us a promo of tomorrow's NFL games on Fox and leaves it up onscreen long enough that we miss the fourth down play and come back to see a pile of players on the ground. No idea what they ran (well, we all know they ran a draw because evidently Jim Colletto was calling the plays from Los Angeles), no idea who had the ball, no idea if they made it.... just atrocious. Seriously, promos over a fourth down play? That's a joke.

Coaching Decisions

People have hammered on Danny Hope before and we're beginning to come around to their side. Some of the decisions are real head-scratchers. The one that bothered me most was the fourth and two in the first half when Purdue called time out to think about it and then decided to go for it....with a DRAW PLAY! CLEVER!  But more than the lousy play call, what were they doing going for it down 7-0 on their own side of the field? I get that you want to fire up your team somehow, but they'd shown nothing -- absolutely nothing -- to that point that would lead you to believe they could pull off that conversion. And why take risks on your own side of the field? You're not an elite team with an elite offense. There are times when the choices are easy and that was one of them. You punt the ball and play field position until your offense starts to wake up, hoping your defense can keep it close when given good field position.

This was just one recent example. Stay tuned for Boilerdowd's more detailed commentary on the coaching situation.

What's Next?

Normally we (and especially me) preach for everyone to be patient and to give players, teams and coaches a chance. Judging on a small sample size, like a few games, is not usually a good idea. But the issues this team has are beginning to become clearer. And it's been a couple of years now. Similar issues keep cropping up. Slow starts, guys not looking prepared, questionable coaching decisions.

Purdue should be 4-0, let's be honest. Notre Dame is not good and Purdue hung with them even while playing a poor game. But even with that loss on the ledger, there is no way it is excusable to not be 3-1 right now. And as I mentioned earlier, now you're in need of a 4-4 conference season in order to reach bowl eligibility -- and I don't think 6-6 could be viewed as a good season, honestly. This team has too much talent to be settling for 5-7 and 6-6 seasons.

Today was a big step backwards and one that may be felt for a while.

Handsome Hour 9/15/10!!!

Handsome and funny those two...

They address a web feud with Dickie V...

The old Ron Zook conflict rears its ugly head yet again...

and everyone's excited...for no good reason.

Tune. In. Now.

Listen to internet radio with Boiled Sports on Blog Talk Radio

Hawkeye Letdown?

So, did that headline get your attention? Good...now that you're here, you can read what we think will happen at Iowa as our Boilers make one of their longest in-conference roadies.

J Says:
The good news is I am not as cranky or miserable about our football program as I was a few weeks ago... and I don't think I'm the only one who now sees some Hope (pun intended, biotches) for next year and beyond. Could it be a similar mold to Matt(y) Painter's success? I think it COULD be. Long way to go, though.

The bad news is that we're still not very good this season. Once again, like pretty much every week, I would not be at all shocked if the Boilermakers won this game. Iowa just had a world-beater game and there's the definite possibility of a letdown -- especially by a mediocre team like Iowa. Problem is, that while they're mediocre, we're poor. Big Ten football, feel the excitement.

UM was terrible and Siller went wild. MSU is pretty good and Siller was contained. I'd say Iowa is somewhere in the middle and I think we'll see a performance somewhere in the middle. That's the thing about the Big Ten this year... it's fairly predictable.

Of course, Painter might play, too, so it's hard to predict much about a team going no where with nothing to play for and an uncertain QB situation.

However, they're also on the road, so whatever little pride they have left can't be all that much and it's not even in front of the home crowd. Senior Day will be different, I think. But sadly, not this Saturday.

Children of the Corn: 27

Makers of Boilers: 16

Tim Says:
I predict that the game will be tied at 17 with 3 seconds left in the game. Purdue has the ball at the 30 yard line on the wrong side of the 50. Siller started, but now they bring in Curtis Painter because Tiller feels he has a stronger arm. The play is a Hail Mary. Five wide outs to the right side. The protection is good. The throw is in the air. It's got the distance. 70 yards in the air! It's deflected... juggled... picked off! The Iowa defender is running at the 10. At the 20. A key block. He's at the 50. He could... go... all... the... way. Touchdown. Iowa wins!

Iowa - 23
Purdue - 17

boilerdowd Says:
Here's the deal, the basketball team opens up tonight, and I'm pretty focused on basketball now. I won't even get to watch this game as I have to go to a wedding in Chicago (which I'm not a fan of to begin with). But, I owe you more than just mailing it in.

This Iowa team is reminiscent of the Purdue teams from the early-00s. They've lost four games, but by a total of 12 points...and the teams that beat them have all been ranked at least some time during this season. Kinnick has been a scary place for Tiller and Company...nightmares of Dallas Clark pop into my head when I think of it...plus, some of the worst games during Tiller's tenure have occurred on the road in '08 (with the exception of aOSU).

I don't think think this offense is going to figure it out this weekend and I don't the Iowa will let down since it's Senior Day and they need wins to insure that they'll go to a respectable bowl.

Iowa 28
Purdue 10

Bowl Hopes Finally Sacked

Let's be honest...not many of us thought Purdue had a chance of going to a bowl. But any chance was crushed today in East Lansing by the Spartans. Purdue's offense followed a 500-plus yard, 48-point game with a 191 yard, 7-point game. Justin Siller didn't look human, he looked bad. Am I angry at the kid? No, not really. Do I think he should start the rest of the season? Yes.

My thesis the entire season has been, "It's the coaching, stupid." (to steal a political phrase and mix it up a bit). This offense looked crappy with Painter, Elliott and now Siller under, or a few yards behind center. Tiller blamed the offensive line today, which definitely deserves some of the blame...as does Siller. But, this offense is simply not prepared game-in, game-out. And when they face moderate-to-good defenses, they look bad...and have all season. The play-calling is lousy, the execution is too (by the way, that comes back to coaching, once again). No matter, the season is coming to a close...and Tiller's time as Purdue's coach will end with a whimper in the month of November.

There are guys who deserve better on this team. Greg Orton, who had two yards receiving is a good receiver and is getting very few opportunities to showcase his skeelz. Desmond Tardy who spent three years behind Mr. Softee now simply doesn't get a ton of chances to touch the ball. Kory Sheets had nearly 100 yards again today, but you don't get to run the ball much when you're perpetually down by 14 or more points. Anthony Heygood had 14 tackles and looked like he killed an MSU player on a particular hard hit in the first half. Magee, Baker and Neal have all played well as the season has progressed...and along with Williams and Heygood, these Seniors have held some good offenses to not many points. It's sad to see guys who literally bleed for a program have their careers end without much recognition...but it happens a lot in college football. Hopefully a few of them make some money playing football...more importantly, I hope they're all prepared for life after college.

Regardless of the effort given by the players, we're getting what we've paid for. Years of playing just-well-enough-to-get-by has caught up with a coach who refused to rebuild a program that has been deteriorating for a while now...and passion-less coaching has led to lackluster preparation and unimaginative gameplans. While the season is not quite over, it's time to look to the future.

Other Notes
-Minnesota and NU fans- I told you long ago your teams were pretenders...You refused to listen. The proof is in front of you.

-Nice job Illini! You've helped IU and UM players feel not-so-bad about their losses to MAC schools this season.

-Texas Tech is really fun to watch. The remind me of what it was like to have an offense.

-Notre Dame is getting beaten right now by an OK BC team...and while the game is a 17-point deficit, it's really not that close. Another intersting note about the game, this will be UND's sixth-straight win agains the VooDoo Catholics. UND is not good...nor is Clausen. 5 losses, with this type of schedule is eerily-similar to a Joe Tiller-coached team in the mid '00s.

This is how lousy Notre Dame's football program is- they're going to lose at least 5 this season and their fanbase is going to be completely fine with Weis returning next season. Great job Irish fans and administration! Keep up the mediocrity!

-Lastly, and surely least, great job, PSU! You've helped yourselves avoid assured embarassment in the first month of next year at the BCS Championship. Perhaps your fans shouldn't have been bitching last week about the polls.