Looking at the Offensive Two Deeps for Saturday

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Quarterback

Robert Marve will be starting his first game as a Boilermaker...we've got such high expectations, we've put our money where our mouths are. The combo of Marve's athleticism and his arm strength will be like nothing we as Purdue fans have seen. The questions are- how will he a handle full-speed game and will he find rhythm quickly. His back-up, Rob Henry is just as, if not more athletic, but doesn't have an arm like Marves...I think everyone in black and gold is hoping not to see Henry behind the center on Saturday.

Similarly, Notre Dame fans don't want to see Rees or Montana play versus Purdue. Crist was the bluest of blue chips out of high school, but hasn't played for UND in anything but spot duty. His combination of running ability and accuracy should be a good fit for Kelly's offense.

Offensive Line

Both teams have mostly-rebuilt offensive lines. Purdue's Guard, Ken Plue, is the most fearsome of the returnees at 6'7" and a lively 322. Purdue has great size as the two deeps average around 6'4.5" and just under 300 pounds.

UND is similar- they return a couple starters, most-notably, 6'5" 351 lb. biggin G, Chris Stewart. After that, the Irish are also sizable averaging 6'4" and 295 pounds.

Wide Receiver

Purdue's most-notable receiver is of course, Keith Smith. He's not the deep threat that Floyd is, but is just as dangerous. His strength, hands and ability to keep his feet after contact made him dangerous in '09. He'll be accompanied by Siller and Cortez Smith who, like K. Smith are big and sure-handed. Purdue has a ton of athletic young guys who are shorter, smaller and quicker than the 1s. Freshman O.J. Ross is the fastest player on the roster...and the true-freshman will hopefully get a chance to show some of that off on Saturday.

Everybody knows Michael Floyd. His season was cut short last year due to injury. His body control and hands might be the best in college football...but he got fat off of Clausen's deep ball. Crist will probably be able to easily find the NFL-ready body of Floyd. Behind Floyd, UND has a ton of speed and talent for Crist to utilize, Riddick is the burner of the group.

Tight End

Kyle Adams has good size (6'5" 251) and sure hands...and his back-up, Lindsay is a bit more athletic, but not the blocker that Adams is. Elliott didn't look Adams way too often, but I think Marve will find Adams underneath as the hot route more-routinely.

UND's Kyle Rudolph is a large (6'6" 265), prototypical NFL tight end who catch everything and his size allows him to brush off would-be tacklers. His back-up, Eifert, is just as large and is probably a better receiver than Rudolph.

Not the Same

Running Back

If Purdue had Ralph Bolden, this comparison would also be pretty similar as well. But, Bolden's bum ACL helped to thrust ATM up the depth chart to #1. McBurse had a handful of carries in '09, but most of his play came as a kickoff returner. We'll know very soon if McBurse is a 20+ carry/game back. I hope so, because if he gets holes to run though, I think he'll break one. His back up, the compact Dan Dierking is solid, but won't get past the second level too often.

UND's Sr RB, Armando Allen has played a lot in his career, but under Weis the Irish weren't able to run effectively except in rare occasions. His back-up Cierre Wood was highly-touted, but didn't show off his abilities in '09.

Tim Stratton weighs in

A lot of you guys were students during the early Tiller era...thus you're big fans of the guys who defined the first four-to-five seasons of Cowboy Joe's time at Purdue. #89 is definitely one of the guys who had a big role.

Stratton still makes it back to campus for most home games and has been seen at other events...he still loves his alma mater.

Here's what one of Drew Brees' favorite targets had to say about the NIU game and tomorrow's tilt v. the domers.

Timmy!!

Why is Jon so pissed?

UND's D-Coordinator is a very good defensive mind...but is a very bad interview:


So why is Tenuta angry with the media? He's probably not, but he could be upset with these stats:
UND's defense is allowing 23 pts/gm...not horrible, until you realize they've given up a Purdue-esque 34 pts/gm the last two games.

Teams have been able to run and pass v. the Irish too- they've given up 159 yds/gm @ nearly 6.5 yards/carry. On top of that, their pass defense has gotten progressively-worse each game as the Irish are giving up about 100 yards more/game in their second and third contests. The average of 250 yds/gm is still respectable, but the trend isn't good for the Irish.

But the defense really isn't the story with this team- The offense is a mother, we all know that.
Clausen is averaging around 310 yds/gm with an eye-popping 188.6 rating and a 68% completion percentage. Even without Floyd, the Irish have great weapons- Tate averages 100 yds receiving/gm. Rudolph, their 6'6" TE gets about 53yds/gm and Allen is rushing for the nation's 15th-best 110 yds/gm.

Like Bolden, Allen is a bit banged up, but both should be productive on Saturday. One of the keys to me will be if anyone besides Bolden can get yards when running the ball...If Bolden has to run 25-30/gm, it's not a great sign for Purdue. I'd like to see Taylor get 10-15 carries and keep Bolden's carries below 20...if either or both can average 6 + carry, it's a very good sign for our Boilers...But Elliott, the receivers and the tight ends have to be on the same page too.

I look for Rudolph to get 100 yards receiving simply because Purdue struggles mightily against capable tight ends...So Adams and Lindsay have to offset that by having production all game in a similar fashion as they did v. NIU in the fourth quarter...Plus, Keith Smith simply must have a big game.

The stats say it's going to be a shootout...could be fun.

Rittenberg Likes the Boilers...for once.

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg thinks Purdue will beat the Irish on Saturday. Kinda funny since he hasn't given Purdue a second look so far this season...He must not think too highly of the Irish.

How Ya Feelin'?

We had a great podcast last night...had a few callers, some good conversation...lots of hugging.

In all seriousness, the Podcast is growing slowly and as J and I figure out these new-fangled computers, the weekly event might even get better. If you listened, you heard that both J and I aren't real optimistic...But that doesn't change the fact that we really don't like the rich kids coming to RA this Saturday.

So consider this an invite-
-Tell us what's your favorite UND memory and why?
-Why is it so easy to hate the domers?

I'll start-

I have two memories that come to mind. The first UND v. Purdue game I attended was in the Hoosier Dome. I had been to a PR event in the dome months before for the Colts, but had never really heard a venue that loud, at that point in my life. My Mom, Dad, older brother, Grandpa and I went to the game, but we had to sit apart from eachother. Every time Everett would lead Purdue down the field to score, I could see my brother literally running up and down the aisle of the dome. Pretty great...and at 9 years old, it set me in the right direction.

The second memory that comes to mind was the '97 game. I had graduated the previous May from Purdue and had just gotten a job out on the East Coast. But, I had tickets for the Purdue v. UND game in RA before I moved out of the Midwest. With Purdue coming off of a disappointing loss to Toledo, I wasn't expecting too much. And since I didn't get to see any of the Toledo game, I didn't know what to expect. That offense was fun to watch...they passed about every down...and even when an older Joe Tiller might have sat on the lead, Cowboy Joe didn't...he kept passing. The subplot, as you all know was pretty tasty- Purdue had wanted to hire Bob Davie, but Davie ended up at UND...turns out this hiring loss was actually a gain. Following my four years at Purdue, this one was nearly unbelievable.

Take a moment and remind yourself about the mentality that forces you to hate UND...
Erin Piroutek

The Liberace of college quarterbacks is putting up big numbers this season.

Snakeoil Salesman does his job...and other notes

Rich Rod weighing in on the Reckman situation

Rich Rodriguez decided to act like a second-grader and brought up Purdue's Zach Reckman to the media following Reckman's cheap hit at the end of the NIU game. Of course, Purdue doesn't play UM this week, so Rodriguez should have kept his damned mouth shut on this issue, but then again, he is Rich Rodriguez...he doesn't know how to do that.

Rodriguez got his wish as Reckman was suspended for a game...But unlike RichRod, Hope doesn't discipline his guys by making them practice three times as long than the typical NCAA player. Do you think the Snakeoil Salesman will still be crying to Delany this week because the punishment wasn't long enough? What other Purdue evil-doing will Rodriguez bring up to the league and the media? Jackass.

I think if I was Coach Hope, I'd make sure to mention all of the wrong-doings by Rodriguez and co. until punishment is handed down...Which probably won't ever happen because UM is one of the NCAA's cash cows.

Other notes
-King will be back against UND...hopefully he has been working on tackling during the weeks he was injured. Much like Pender and the rest of the defensive backfield, none have tackled all that well this season and all will be tested often on Saturday.

-Valentin will be returning punts against UND. Obviously he's the best punt returner with a ball in his hands...hopefully he'll have a firm grasp on the pigskin come Saturday (if UND has to punt).

-Hope is excited to coach his first game v. UND...doesn't see it as a "measuring stick" for the program as did Tiller...but sees the game important to the program as a whole. He also sees the primetime game as an opportunity to have a good time...for the players, coaches and fans.

-Players all seem pretty positive in the interviews I've watched, listened to and read this week so far...Hopefully Thursday and Friday aren't crappy like last week.

The Crossroads

As J mentioned, the NIU game was lousy...in all phases-

-The offense that had been explosive and exciting looked impotent for much of the contest. With the exception of a busted play, the running game was nearly completely stifled as power formations seemed soft and the rest of the plays looked slow...and at the same time, the passing game was atrocious- no downfield plays came to fruition, Elliott was very inaccurate and the plays seemed to put receivers in the position were yards after the catch were impossible to come by.

-The defensive woes continued as pressure on the quarterback was minimal all day, the front four was manhandled by the burly Huskies and missed tackles, for the third game in a row, seemed to define the effort.

-The Special Teams once again struggled on kickoff coverage...the poor tackling was an issue, players keeping their spacing was a problem too. Those were minor though compared to everything else- Two botched punts that were lost, a roughing the kicker that was a momentum-killer and a succeeded fake punt by the Huskies really ended the game.

Players didn't execute well- they didn't look as fast as previous weeks...didn't hit very hard in any phase of the game...and weren't physically dominant in any phase either.

Coaches, by Hope's admission, didn't prepare the players correctly. Plus, play-calling left a ton to be desired as Hope specifically admitted the offense should have gone downfield more...and the defense seemingly didn't adjust to NIU's rushing attack for two quarters of the contest. From what I understand of NIU, their play-calling wasn't a big change, but Purdue simply couldn't stop Harnish and allowed BOTH of their RBs to have career best days...and both to have career-longest rushes. It was a long day.

But, now, thank goodness, the defense gets to rest against the Fighting Irish...huh?

The defensive backfield that was supposed to be a strength of Purdue's defense has been banged up...but, after returning all of the starters from last season, the unit has dropped from an upper-conference defensive backfield, to one in the lower-third.
Even without Floyd, Claussen and company will give Purdue plenty of challenges. And even though the Irish defense isn't as good as many Domers thought it would be, they're much-improved on that side of the ball as well.

As J said, this game is very important for Purdue. But we won't know what we're witnessing until this season's over. We might be at the precipice of a slippery slope that leads to disaster. It's tough to stop a tailspin when a team starts losing, it's even tougher when that team has a ton of underclassmen playing significant minutes. The younger guys might wear down quicker than a player who's been conditioning for D-1 football for three or four years, but more important than that, their immaturity might also not allow them to regroup.

Depth was a concern of mine coming into this season, and the wake of the late Oregon game showed how easily this Purdue team can be nicked up and worn out. While I didn't think there would be a hangover, it was clear that there was not 'pop' in the team on Saturday...and the 2000+ mile trip didn't just create a trap, it created a coma, of sorts.

So can Hope, his coaching staff, the players, and even the patrons of Ross-Ade knock the cobwebs loose? They'd better.

Questions
At the end of camp, Coach Hope had lots of positive things to say about his team...and in the first two games, it looked like Hope was a sage. But following the NIU game, it doesn't seem that way any longer.

So the question now is what was really happening with the Coach's statements?
-Was he trying to boost the undeveloped players to keep the team positive?
-Did he incorrectly assess these players and the situation in the program?
-Are a lot of these guys just not ready yet, but might be by later this season?

We'll know the answer at the end of the fall, but on the heels of two straight losses, we might be in the midst of the defining week of the season.