Thank You, Seniors: Boilers Keep Bucket, 56-35

Congrats, men.

About a month ago, I, for one, was skeptical that the Boilers would win another game this year. I thought the tent had been folded up and put away neatly in the shed until next season. After the gut-wrencher loss to Ohio State, the Boilers failed to show up in Minneapolis and were downright embarrassed. After that game, Robert Marve -- when asked questions about his team -- just said, "You just gotta go out there and play, man." The undertone we heard was "Let's stop talking about this stuff and just go play better."

The Boilermakers struggled the next week vs Penn State at home, only further cementing their mediocre-at-best season status and likely Coach Hope's fate in front of mere hundreds at Ross-Ade. Many teams, including teams in positions like Purdue was in, would have truly folded it up at that point. As I said, I didn't think they'd necessarily win again.

It's a true testament to the players and especially the seniors that the Boilermakers have won three in a row to become bowl-eligible, culminating in today's guilty pleasure 56-35 win over the Hoosiers. I say guilty pleasure because that was not a "good" game in terms of good football teams playing good football, but it was fun. Shootouts often are and this one had huge swings of three touchdowns at a clip.

Robert Marve and Akeem Shavers had career days on Senior Day, with Marve passing for a 69% completion percentage (imagine how good it would have been if Purdue receivers weren't wearing cement gloves in the second quarter) on 20/29 passing, for a tidy 348 yards and four TDs.

The two-QB system even sort of "worked" today, as Rob Henry passed for a TD and rushed for one. ("See??!!" Gary Nord is shouting right now, before his percocet sandwich).

Shavers carved up the Hoosier defense for 225 total yards -- 126 on the ground and a TD and two catches for 99 yards and two TDs. He also had scoring runs of 71 and 58 yards called back on penalties. Mercy. Not a bad last game in Ross-Ade. Too bad more fans weren't on hand to see it.

Other notable performances included Frankie Williams' impressive interception of Cameron Coffman's long downfield pass and on the other side of the field, junior Stephen Houston rushed for 158 yards and three TDs. The guy was hard to stop.

Speaking of IU, I know the knock on their D all season has been their porous run stopping, but their secondary is positively dreadful as well. I'd love to crow about Purdue rolling up all these points (and I will) but that secondary can't stop anybody. It's not like it was laserlike touchdown passes threading needles all day. The Boilers caught passes in the flat or even at the line of scrimmage (Gary Bush from Henry comes to mind) and then just ran through, around and over the IU defenders. One guy who got particularly worked over was #37, Mark Murphy, a safety for the Hoosiers. 

On Brandon Cottom's 14 yard TD for the first Boiler score, he kind of ran right past Murphy, who made a weak arm-tackle attempt and wound up splayed out on the field watching Cottom rumble into the end zone. And then on Akeem Shavers' 73 yard TD catch-and-run (his first of three straight in the final 10:40 of the game), Murphy had a clear line on Shavers and should certainly have been able to take down the smaller running back. Then Shavers grabbed Murphy by the face and threw up to the ground and this happened:

Mark Murphy (37) is thinking "My girlfriend saw that."

What I don't get is how this team stayed with some of the teams they stayed with this year. I think the fact that Kevin Wilson cobbled a 4-7 season out of these guys (remember, an improvement from one win last year) really is quite an accomplishment. Everyone seems to agree they're going in the right direction, including me, but he has got to get some defenders in there (or a coach who can coach these guys up) who can stop...something. Pass, run, whatever. Because that defense was abominable. (No, I'm not saying Purdue's is phenomenal, before you say something about that.)

Another guy I should mention here is Cody Webster since punters rarely get coverage. This guy has been more of an asset than I think people realize. Cody averages over 45 yards per punt today, notching 275 yards on six kicks. He's only a junior, so next year this will be an asset again and he'll be kicking on Sundays in two years. Good for him.

Crosby Wright, another favorite here at BS, had a game himself. Despite Crosby having two big penalties that resulted in huge gains being brought back (we had to bust your balls, Crosby), Wright had a manly catch and run while carrying IU defenders for over 15 yards in the third quarter. It looked like he dragged three defenders into the end zone but was ruled down a the 1 and Rob Henry punched it in. Crosby had three catches for 81 yards, his best yardage output of the season. Unfortunately, he never made it into the end zone this season, but caught balls in every game but two. 

Boilermaker

Back on Robert Marve, I don't think we can say enough about this guy. I know he's had a troubled past in some ways but if you believe in second chances and that young guys sometimes make poor decisions and then straighten themselves out, then you should also love this guy. There are few examples in recent Purdue history of guys who just wanted to be a Boilermaker and be out on that field with his teammates more than Robert Marve. Much like Rob Hummel, this is a guy who could lament his spot in life and his three ACL injuries and how things just have not worked out for him they way they could have, but then you see his dad during the game saying that Robert is so "blessed" to be a Boilermaker and you can see how happy the whole family is that he's playing football in the black and gold. If you're like us, it just makes you proud of him. And thankful to him, because those are the guys we love to see in Purdue uniforms.

As for his play on the field, we also couldn't be happier that he had his career day on Senior Day. But the play many of us will surely remember for a while was after he threw a hard luck interception that rattled around among a few players and was snagged by junior cornerback, Greg Heban of the Hoosiers. Heban took off the other way and had the running head start on Marve, who was closer to the center of the field while Heban was streaking down the hashmarks. Marve turned on the jets and reminded us all that he's still one of the best athletes on the Purdue roster. Marve took the correct angle and -- on a torn ACL, remember -- caught Heban and, as I said to b-dowd after the game, made a tackle with better form than many of Purdue's defensive players of the past five years. Now that's a guy who wants to play football for the Boilers. How many QBs would have shown that hustle? And don't tell me many, because we've all seen guys coast out of the frame and give up on the play. The tackle occurred 70 yards after the interception. It still resulted in an IU TD, but that's not the point here. Robert Marve made us proud during his time at Purdue, especially this season. Marve-lous, indeed. Thank you, Robert.

*             *             *

As we mentioned on Friday, we heard from a number of sources within the athletic department that Coach Hope is done. While we've always liked him as a person, we've never felt he was a very good coach. We've tried to stay off the "Fire Hope!" bandwagon as we never like to call for a guy's job and we don't know what good it does. Plus, he has been the coach, so until he isn't, we always felt we should do our best to stay objective and not personal. However, Danny Hope has made it personal in recent weeks, referring to those who question this team and how it could possibly have looked so bad as "losers" and people of "low character."

Today, as the game ended, he was seen on the field with his wife who was already in tears. I suppose it's a nice thing that the Hopes enjoyed their time in West Lafayette so much that they're upset that it's ending. Of course, it could also be that they're projecting a bit and blaming everyone else for the fact that Danny is likely on the way out. Sally Hope even started the postgame presser, as per Gold and Black, by lecturing the press who "couldn't wait" for Purdue to lose. Give me a break. That's just poor form. The media in West Lafayette is far from being like a rabid dog.

This kind of embarrasses me as a Purdue fan.

Hope said that it was an "extremely successful season" because they came back from the 3-6 start, and was also put up on his players shoulders. That's nice and all, but let's not celebrate a coach who went 22-27 too much, okay?

It's worth repeating that we would have liked to see this season, with this schedule and this roster of talent, play out under better coaching. There were many times when we found ourselves wondering what things would have been like with Marve in there or better play calling. How different is this season if Marve stays in the game to start the second half against Notre Dame? How about if Purdue is able to get one more first down and run out the clock against Ohio State? Every season has its "what ifs," of course, but some of the ones this year could have significantly altered the trajectory of the football program. Naturally, we'll never know. What we do know, though, is that the Hope/Nord approach has not worked for the past four years.


That said, we hope the seniors get a nice destination for the bowl game and come to play. Crosby Wright was quoted after the game as saying the following:

"I don't know how to describe it. It's tremendous. It's incredible. It's the best feeling of my life. Me and my fellow seniors, we've got one final game to play as Purdue Boilermakers." 

Those are the quotes that are fun to hear. Yes, we wish it was a more meaningful bowl game, but regardless of where it is, we'll be watching and pulling for these guys.

That will never change. We hope other things do, though.  

Purdue-Indiana Predicto: There's a Fire in the Duraflame Factory Edition

It's Oaken Bucket time, folks. And no matter how lousy a season you've had as a Purdue or IU fan, this game always means something -- and that's not hyperbole. These teams, these schools, these fans... they do not like one another. It's not manufactured, it's not forced, it's not even good-natured and friendly. It's dislike.

I've posted this before from a couple years back, but Tom Rinaldi -- more known for his tear-jerking nonsense set to soft piano music usually -- penned a pretty awesome minute on rivalries:


And lest you think this game isn't as important to the players as it is to the rest of us -- as sometimes sports hype can turn out to reveal -- here is a smattering of awesome pictures:

Are you sufficiently hyped? Are you amped because no matter how much of a sh-tshow this season has been at times, Saturday is different? We hope so, because it is different. Sure, there have been some disappointments this year and there's plenty to talk about there. But for Saturday, that can get put aside. For Saturday, we're Boilermakers and they're Loosiers.

Let's see what others at BS think.

J sez:

The careening, chugging, smoking, creaking mess of a season comes back to Ross-Ade for the annual Old Oaken Bucket game this Saturday as the improving Hoosiers come to town. Let's start with the fact that this is not your...uncle's IU team. Kevin Wilson does have them improving and competing more often, so don't expect a 2004 (63-24) or 2008 (62-10), as fun as that would be.

It would actually be fun -- I won't lie -- if a bowl game was on the line for both teams. IU is out of contention but looked like they had a shot for a while there. I guess the most fun would be Purdue being one win away from the divsion title, but let's not get carrr-ay-zee!

We are confident due to multiple reliable sources that Hope is gone so it's not really worth going into the whole, if he loses, he'll be 2-2 vs IU and under .500 in three of his four seasons at Purdue. Let's just say unless he can somehow get Purdue into a BCS game by beating IU, he's going to be shown the door following the season. So let's hope the team wants to send him off on a high note, with his first in-season, three-game winning streak at Purdue.

The Boilers should have enough to beat IU, though I don't think any of us would be shocked if IU came to play and took it to Purdue. What will happen? Hell, I have no idea at this point.

But I want that Bucket. It's ours.

Purdue 34
Indiana 33


zlionsfan sez:

That school down south is not known for football. It is the school that once thought Lee Corso and Gerry DiNardo could coach. Their all-time record is nearly 200 wins below .500. There are a few of you reading this who were not alive the last time they won a bowl game. The last time they went to back-to-back bowls, I was a recent graduate of Purdue, so right around the invention of the steam engine. They are the only current Big Ten school who has not scored a touchdown in a Rose Bowl. (Between 1915 and 1945, the teams that would eventually become the Pacific-8 and of course now the Pacific-12 played a team specifically not from the Big Ten. Nebraska lost to Stanford 21-13 in the 1941 Rose Bowl.)

Their starting QB is out for the year. Their pass defense strongly resembles the BS crew. And yet they put up 34 points on Ohio State when the game was relatively close, then added 15 more at the end to nearly pull off a stunning comeback against a team that, sadly, still hasn't lost. They beat the same sad-sack teams that Purdue did, stand at 2-5 in conference play just like the Boilers, and would like nothing more than to knock Purdue out of a bowl, borrow the Bucket for a year, and finish a four-game improvement that would be the best since Bill Mallory's second year, 1985.

It's still early to tell, but it does look like Kevin Wilson has Indiana on the right track, one that does not involve rotating quarterbacks. Fortunately for the West Lafayette faithful, there are still plenty of issues in Bloomington for Wilson to solve (see virtually every other game this season for examples). Even Vegas is confident that the Bucket will remain in its rightful place ... or at least that a significant percentage of people can be induced to bet that way.

As for me ... aside from the fact that I would never ever bet on a Bucket game ever, I just don't see Purdue as having a significant advantage here. Yes, Indiana's defense is horrible. Yes, if momentum can be maintained from game to game, Purdue should have it, coming off two road wins (against the two most expensive coaches in the conference, based on salary per win). But it's still the same guy calling the shots on the sidelines, the same guy calling plays, the same guy rotating quarterbacks like Isiah Thomas rotated players ... the same coach who may actually be on the hot seat now.

As mentioned here before, by all accounts, Danny Hope is a good guy. He's just overmatched at this level. His players are no doubt aware of his status, and would love to send him out on a winning note if they knew he was going to be fired. Emotion means a lot at this level, even in a rivalry game, where emotions already run high. As much as Purdue has struggled this year, as much as Indiana has improved, I think the Boilers are going to give Hope one last gift before he moves on to his next position. Pack your suitcase and start looking for hotel rooms in Texas, folks.

Purdue 47
Indiana 36

Boilerdowd sez:

Mercy.

Statistically, these two teams are pretty lousy.  And the thing that pundits and sports sages say wins championships is completely non-existent for both squads: Defense.

That said, it seems there's a pretty easy path to victory for the good guys on Senior day tomorrow: Run the ball.

If Hope and Nord decide to run, run and run some more, the Boilers should be able to eat a ton of clock, keep IU's pass-happy offense off the field and move the ball with relative ease.  IU allows over 33 points/game, 454 yds/game and 235 of those are rushing yards...no one in the B1G allows close to that many yard rushing.

Bolden is one of the many guys who deserves to go out a winner.

So as much as I'd love to see Marve and Henry rain fire from the sky, I'd love to see Shavers, Hunt, Bolden and Cottom all put in work out of the backfield.

Defensively, if Purdue can put pressure on IU's quarterback, good things can and will happen.  While Wilson is more than willing to put the ball in the air 40 or 50 times/game, his young QBs struggle to get into rhythm, for some reason, when they're on their back.  If KK Short has a loud Senior Day, Purdue wins.  Errant throws will put the ball up for grabs for Johnson and Allen who should get fat on a late Thanksgiving feast.

Right now, a cloud of uncertainty hovers over the program. We've heard from three different, reliable sources that Burke has already made his decision on Hope's status, regardless of what the scoreboard says at the end of Saturday afternoon...ticket sales and apathy among the people that fund the program has forced his hand, it seems.

IU is seeking to play spoiler...a role that they've played in pretty recent history in this, one of the best rivalries in college football.  But Hope's squad should be well-aware of all that's at stake- a bowl birth, even a lesser bowl, is better than none at all. Plus, these guys want to see their teammates' and possibly their coach's last game at Ross-Ade end in their favor.

Leave no doubt, gentlemen.

Purdue 42
Indian 27

Boilers Rescue Bucket, 33-25

For those rooting for Danny Hope to be fired, today went about as poorly as you could have wanted. Not only did the Boilers win (and if you were cheering against your Boilers, shame on you), but they looked shaky along the way... probably further cementing the feelings of those who doubt where this program is heading.

But let's make no mistake here. No matter how rocky things have been this season, the year has ended with a victory, the Boilers have the Bucket back, they beat a ranked team this season, and they're likely headed to a bowl game. As we've said, if at the beginning of the season someone offered you 6-6, you'd have said "Hell, yeah." Well, you should have anyway.

6-6 is nothing spectacular -- we understand that. But it is a step in the right direction and it's the team's best record in four years. It's progress, no matter how small it may feel. Is it the kind of progress we want, expect and deserve? Well, that can be debated.

As for this game, it was a little unnerving, to say the least. Indiana seemed to have no trouble running their elaborate* (*Not elaborate at all) running plays, gashing the Boilers for over 200 yards on the ground. The Hoosiers held leads of 7-0, 14-7 and 17-10 before Purdue finally was able to begin putting some space between them, and the space was provided by Carson Wiggs. We've been looking for Carson to lead this team to victory all season and he has officially delivered. Four FGs, two of which were over 40 yards, made a huge difference as the Boilers worked their way to a 23-17 halftime lead. After Carson's 48 yarder just before half, he celebrated with the donkey balls gesture, which Coach Hope appeared to love -- or at least the camera cuts suggested as much. But knowing what we know about Coach Hope, I'm sure he did indeed love it.

After a back and forth first half, things calmed considerably in the second half. Perhaps fatigue was a factor -- a sign of two bad teams? Regardless, the Boilers did manage to continue to roll up yards and wound up with more than 500, including almost 300 on the ground.

Speaking of the ground game, Ralph Bolden went down with what appeared to be a knee injury in the third quarter and as of this writing, I haven't seen any updates. Not a good thing to have happen to a guy who missed all of last year with an ACL injury. The bright side of things was that Akeem Hunt came in and averaged a tidy ten yards a carry in rushing for a cool Benjamin (100) in relief.

Purdue continued with the two-QB "system," as Caleb TerBush again started but was relieved by Robert Marve once the Boilermakers were behind in the game. Marve's play was fairly nondescript before he took himself out of the game late in the second quarter. I have not yet seen an update on the reasoning for this, but one wonders if it has anything to do with lingering effects from the shots he took last week at home against Iowa.

Caleb played a solid, if unspectacular, game, going 16/25 for 192 and a TD. He didn't hurt the Boilers with any picks or fumbles and that's worth noting. In fact, the only turnover of the game was an INT hauled in by Josh Johnson with just over four minutes left, the Hoosiers down eight and driving. Thank you for that, Josh Johnson.

The team did not look particularly sharp in this one, but I do attribute some of that to IU just simply being amped to play. When I saw the footage of all the seniors coming onto the field and carrying the Bucket, I did get a little nervous -- especially when I saw how hyped they all were when the game began. This game was all they had left, it was their bowl game and they were ready to play. All these young players getting minutes should bode well for Coach Wilson in the future. This team will improve, there is no doubt. Look no further than sophomore Stephen Houston, ran seven times for 129 yards -- a nifty 18.4 yard average.

But on this day, the forces of good were simply too much for the crimson and cream fellows, and the Bucket has been rescued and now is back home, comfy and warm in its bed in West Lafayette.

It matters.

-------------------------------

Separately, the Boilers now get to speculate on what bowl they will be invited to. One assumes they will know shortly where they're invited to go. A representative was on hand from the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and he seemed very excited about the prospect of getting the Boilers to Detroit.

"You want teams that are bowl hungry and Purdue is excited about being in a bowl again," he said. "It's only a gas tank away to go to a bowl for anybody in the Mid-American Conference or the Big Ten, so the proximity is really important."

Indeed, airplanes are hard to find.

If anyone of the Big Ten's ten bowl-eligible teams is going to get left out in the cold, I would have to think it's Illinois, who started the year 6-0 and has not won since. Purdue alumni travel fairly well and Purdue fans really appreciate bowls, so I think they'll get snatched up somewhere, especially with the Big Ten expected to send two teams to BCS bowls. The extra month of practice should help the team, but as I said at the beginning, for those hoping for the demise of Danny Hope, it's looking like you should get used to him in West Lafayette.

Purdue-IU: The Bucket Predicto

We could make jokes (I know, hard to imagine) pretending this game doesn't mean anything. We could take the tact that clueless IU basketball fans frequently take and imply that our opponent is "jealous" of us. We could pretend that IU is nothing more than a 1-10 speedbump on Purdue's way to their first bowl since 2007. However, we won't do any of that because, no matter what, this game has meaning. It is rivalry.



It's the Bucket game. To anyone who went to Purdue or IU, you need say no more. It's not a forced rivalry like USC-ND; it's not a mandated rivalry like Purdue-Iowa. It's a lifelong, historical distaste for one another that is not fake, forced, or overstated. We do not like them. They do not like us. And I think we're all pretty much fine with that.

That's our fricking bucket and we'll take it back now.

The predicto starts now.

The Bucket

In honor of hate week, I wanted to make sure you all know every single thing about the Old Oaken Bucket - because it's only courteous to know a little about your house guests before they come stay for a year. 

Danny Hope is 1-0 on the road against IU

Purdue University first played Indiana University in a little game called Football in 1891. Purdue began the domination of the series with 6 straight victories. The two teams didn't play in 1895 or 96 because Purdue President James Smart had begun a campaign to organize what would become the Big Ten and after leaving the Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Indiana was no longer a required option. Indiana University fans should be thankful for this delay in the whoopin' considering IU didn't score until 1897 and they were outscored 160  to 6 in the first 6 meetings.

After IU had began to make a move on the series in 1899 (6-3), Purdue won again in 1902. In 1903, the rivalry had gained enough notoriety that the two teams agreed to play at Washington Park in Indianapolis. The game would be played on October 31st, John Purdue's Birthday - who had just died a few years prior. Because of this and the nature of the times, Purdue chartered two trains to travel down to Indy. The team, some boosters and staff rode in the first train and the second was filled with supporters and additional fans.

Because of the busy day around the rail offices, a message to switch tracks never got to the right people and the head train collided with numerous parked coal cars. 13 football players were killed on site and a 14th passed away within a month. President Stone was actually on the train as well, but he survived without injury; Stone began to organize an effort to find and console survivors while others ran back to stop the second train. The incident was later known as the Purdue Wreck.

Because of this the 1903 game was left blank in the record books and our Arch-Rivals Notre Dame and Indiana University played a charity event to help fund Memorial Hall - the original on site home of Purdue Basketball.

In 1925, Purdue lead the series 14-10-2, yet the two schools held a joint meeting to discuss the possibility of working together on academic ventures. The two schools formed two committees of individuals from both schools to determine the trophy and then to track it down. The decision of the determination committee was:

'The Bucket of P's just didn't
test well in focus groups'

"an old oaken bucket as the most typical Hoosier form of trophy, that the bucket should be taken from some well in Indiana, and that a chain to be made of bronze block "I" and "P" letters should be provided for the bucket. The school winning the traditional football game each year should have possession of the "Old Oaken Bucket" until the next game and should attach the block letter representing the winning school to the bail with the score engraved on the latter link."

The tracking team discovered a bucket on The Bruner Farm. The family believes it possibly comes from the Civil War, but this hasn't been proven.

Bucket Fact Fondue:

• 0-0: the score of the first meeting in 1925 - the teams met in Bloomington
• IP - The first link on the trophy
• 6 - The number of ties in the series
• 70-37 Purdue's record overall
• 56-27 during the trophy era
• 33-19 Purdue's road record
• 932 - Purdue has scored 932 more points than IU
• Purdue has won by 1 5 times
• 64 - most points scored by a Purdue team
• Tied for the 9th longest running rivalry

The Bad Old Days Are Here Again; Boilers Relinquish Bucket

Congrats, you just beat a horrible Purdue team. Party like it's 1996!

The Boilermaker football team is nothing if not creative. Week after week, this team finds really creative ways to lose ballgames.

Start the season looking kind of flat, yet win a few games... Yay.

Then lose to a MAC team. At home. Boo.

Start the Big Ten season 2-0. Yay.

Get lambasted by OSU. Boo.

Expect to get railroaded by Wisconsin, but lead them at the half! Yay!

Get torched in the second half. Boo.

Feel like the season is over... but then come ready to play against 9-1 MSU and look great for three quarters. Yay!

Fold in the fourth quarter. Boo.

And then there was today's 34-31 loss in OT. "Boo" doesn't quite do it.

I'm getting tired of coming up with new ways to describe Purdue's football failures. IU is a terrible, terrible football program. Not just a bad team -- a bad program. And if I just read that sentence and liked IU, I might say, "Well, then what does that make Purdue?"

Indeed, a good question. Purdue just lost to a horrendously bad football program. So what does that make Purdue?

You can stop now with all the "if only" talk. There were injuries, yes, I get that. But how many games do the players and coaches need to get the team ready to beat IU at home? Again, I don't want to hear blame on the injuries. Rob Henry is a Division I football player. So were all the guys out there. Purdue wasn't starting walk-ons and volunteers. Other teams had injuries, too. You move forward as a unit.

Another thing this does is eliminate any of the consternation over missing a bowl game because of the loss to Toledo. 4-8 isn't even close to a bowl game, Toledo or not. In fact, losing to Toledo and IU in the same season should make you ineligible for a bowl game even if you finish 10-2.

I feel terrible for guys like Dan Dierking and Ryan Kerrigan. Seniors who played their asses off for this program but finish with three straight losing seasons. These guys (and others) deserve better.

Another thing I keep seeing is a stream of complaints about the officiating. Let's just knock that off. The officials did not give IU this game. IU beat Purdue, plain and simple. Yeah, you could maybe argue about some of those pass interference calls, but I think only one was really a bad call. The others were legit pass interference. You can't tangle the receiver up or grab him before the ball is there. Simple as that. And again, the refs didn't give this to IU. Let's not forget they threw an IU player out fo the game for a scuffle. I don't care if you get bad calls against you -- you need to be able to beat IU if you're going to be even a marginal program. Purdue is not that right now.

For a change, I didn't think the coaching was a huge problem today. Play-calling seemed okay (not great, but okay), but the problem seemed to be execution. Maybe it was preparation. Maybe it was -- and this is hard to believe -- overconfidence. Whatever it was, Purdue's defense gave up 34 to IU. And Purdue's offense only manage 31 against a truly terrible defense. I blame everyone.

Those of you crusading for Hope to be fired, you might have more traction now with the loss to the Hoosiers, but I still don't think you should expect anything to change. He'll get next year to prove himself, at the very least.

As of now, when we think of Purdue football, we get to think of this image for the next 9+ months.

This should make you very angry.

Bucket Predicto

After a rip-roaring 3-0 out of conference start, the Hoosier faithful were once again excited about their Hoosiers. Ben Chappell's offense was humming as they averaged 40+ per game and Lynch's squad was feasting on tasty cupcakes that would've made Joe T. blush. But, the BT schedule has not been kind...so, a lousy IU team heads to Ross-Ade to play a banged up Boiler squad.

If you're not in Indiana or an alum of Purdue or IU, you probably don't care...but the players will.

What will happen tomorrow at high-noon?

J says
If you're a pessimist or think the team is cooked, then I can't fault you for worrying about this game. A loss here would be a really terrible way to finish the season. Not just because it's IU, but because this is an 0-7 in conference IU team. They're really bad. So is Purdue, sure, but I think Purdue's still got better athletes. That plus being at home plus Danny Hope's ability to get them up for certain games... like this one... and I think it's enough.

Purdue's defense was able to severely slow down Michigan's vaunted offense as well as Wisconsin's, so I reason that they'll be able to handle IU's offense. On the other side of the ball, that's where it could be hideous. Purdue's offense is just terrible right now and IU's defense is... perhaps even more terrible. Ah, but what about last week? For three quarters, Purdue's offense actually moved the ball effectively....and against a team that in any other year would be in the national title discussion right now. IU can make no such claim.

If THAT offense (from the MSU game) shows up tomorrow, then this will be another Purdue blowout and likely, one would think, the end of Bill Lynch's time at IU. If the typical Purdue offense shows up, then it'll be a closer game, but one that I would still expect the Boilers to win. When was the last time they played this game at home and didn't come out fired up?

Purdue hasn't lost a home Bucket Game since the Wabash was clean, Boilerdowd was young and Tim had hair.

Sorry, that's just me being silly.... the Wabash wasn't clean.

Purdue 35
IU 21

"Hey ladies...did you know we have a football team?"

boilerdowd says
If you like statistical rankings, this intro will be as delicious as Thanksgiving leftovers:

Weakness v. Weakness:
The worst scoring offense in the BT (Purdue) plays the worst scoring defense in the BT (IU).
The worst pass offense in the BT (Purdue) plays the second-worst pass defense in the league (IU).

I could go on as IU's defense is the worst or in the bottom three in nearly every category. At the same time, we have reason to believe that Purdue's offense has figured out its identity, finally, as the rash of injuries has settled down and Rob Henry's finger seems to be healing each week.

Offensively for the Hoosiers, Chappell is a very good quarterback with some very good receivers. Purdue has a few pretty good DBs, a great DB and the best pass rusher in the league...possibly the best we've seen in a Purdue uniform in the last 20 years (that says a lot). Kerrigan should make that official on Saturday by passing Colvin's all-time sack mark (he needs 1.5 to tie).

As we've seen time and time again, Bill Lynch teams get worse as the season progresses and Purdue has been able to benefit from this a couple times. They will again. Without a rushing attack, look for Kerrigan to get three sacks...and at the same time for Henry to give us a lil' something to look forward to in '11.

Purdue 33
IU 17

To Your Call Once More We Rally;
Alma Mater Hear Our Praise.
Where The Wabash Spreads Its Valley;
Filled With Joy Our Voices Raise.
From The Skies In Swelling Echoes
Come The Cheers That Tell The Tale
Of Your Vict'ries And Your Heros,
Hail Purdue! We Sing All Hail!

Hail, Hail To Old Purdue!
All Hail To Our Old Gold And Black!
Hail, Hail To Old Purdue!
Our Friendship May She Never Lack.
Ever Grateful, Ever True,
Thus We Raise Our Song Anew;
Of The Days We've Spent With You,
All Hail Our Own Purdue!

Bucket Week

Both Purdue and IU's football programs are struggling to not kick the bucket this week.

Hey-yo! Lamest lead sentence ever?

Truth is, it's bucket week and there's really nothing else for either program to be thinking about. No bowl games, no postseason practices... and in Bill Lynch's case, maybe no job after this. So in a good way, it allows the players, fans, alumni, mascots, training table workers, janitors, vendors, etc., to all focus on their rival. All energy goes into this game this year... all hate, including "International IU Sucks Week," featured on Facebook. (Which, sadly, IU fans are joining so they can tell Boilermakers that they suck. There's even a complete toolbag on there who keeps saying "Got 5?" And can you guess where he went to college? Not IU.)

Courtesy, Chad

Okay, so I'm stretching here, trying to give this game more boost. Thing is, though, while it really doesn't mean much.... it still kinda does. That absolute last thing we want to see the season end with is a loss to IU. IU football is terrible. Don't misunderstand, Purdue football is a mess right now. A true mess. Beyond the injuries, the coaching staff seems, at times, overwhelmed. The players don't seem well-prepared. It's giving us this sinking feeling that Purdue football is completely sliding back into the irrelevance of the pre-Tiller era.

But you still can't lose to IU. Simply cannot happen.

Some factoids about the bucket game to chew on:

• Purdue is 11-2 in the last 13 bucket games. 
• The two losses ('07 and '01) were by a combined nine points.
• The 11 wins were by a combined 304 points (or 27.6 ppg)
• Purdue won 15-14 in 1989.
• Purdue won 1-0 in 1894 (interestingly, a year after winning 60-0)
• From 1892 to 1910, the two played 13 times, with only one of those being at Indiana.
• IU's last bucket win in West Lafayette was in 1996. We were at that game and Purdue wore all-black (which was a novelty back then) and IU wore all-white (not a good look). 
• Bill Lynch is 1-2 against Purdue, with one of those losses being the 62-10 blasting in Joe Tiller's last game. One surmises that Lynch's win over Purdue the previous year is one of the reasons he has held onto his job. Much like at Purdue, if you can beat the rival, the old alums are happy. Lynch could win this game on Saturday and be 2-2 against Purdue. Not bad.
• The last post-Thanksgiving matchup was 1995, when Purdue went down to Bloomington and Mike Alstott curb-stomped the Hoosiers, 51-14. 

I actually don't have a lot of great memories of the Purdue-IU rivalry from my days on campus because I started 0-2 against IU (losses in '94 and '96). I like seeing all the spirit (hate?) brewing on campus right now. Let's hope our Boilers take out their frustrations of an infuriating season on the Hoosiers.

Oh Billy, you so silly...keep up the good work.

"Hey ref, you just missed one of the 12 plays that made us suck this season!!!"

We all know Bill Lynch isn't a very good coach. Ball State fans know it, IU fans know it. But, now, he's adding to his crappy coaching with horrible situational awareness. Lynch's Hoosiers mustered up victories versus a D-II school, two MAC squads and a fellow BT cellar dwellar in '09. But in spite of the obvious poor play last season, Lynch thinks his team was a mere 12 plays from finishing 8-4 last year.

I for one am a big Bill Lynch fan...I hope he stays at IU for a long time as Glass enjoys his bargain basement salary and try-hard attitude...who gives a damn about victories. But, me thinks his days in the land of awful football might be numbered. This talk reminds me of Colletto in his last season in West Lafayette- Ole Jim used to say Purdue lost because of incorrect alignment by the offensive linemen or, get this, a couple of plays kept them from being successful. Just like in Lynch's case, it had little to do with poor preparation, poor play-calling, lousy recruiting or poor talent assessment.

While I'm good with just allowing Coach Lynch to have the floor and letting his diarrhea of the of the mouth flow, Coach Hope isn't. He's said since he came into West Lafayette that he wasn't hired to make friends in the coaching profession. Rich Rodriguez was the first example of this philosophy, Bill Lynch is now the second.

Lynch said ATM's 87 yard kick return for a touchdown was the play that made the difference versus Purdue in '09...and that it didn't take talent (on McBurse's part) to score 6...instead, he blamed it on a "breakdown" by the fellows wearing crimson helmets. He went further to hint at the idea that IU was in a position to win had it not been for the opening kickoff of the second half.

I think one just might argue that Purdue was merciful as they were up by 21 following that single, talentless, breakdown play...and that was the lead that stuck. Perhaps they will erase all questions in Lynch's mind about any single play that might have made the difference in the '10 game...we'll have to wait and see. At least IU will be at home in 2010...oooh, wait, they won't.

Hope, like me, checked the math and reminded everyone that the ATM runback was merely 7 points in a 21-point loss. He also backed up his guy by saying his speed and talent made the play possible.

You might not like Hope's philosophy about calling other coaches to the carpet and simply letting conflicts sit where they lie...but his players most-definitely love the fact that he perpetually has their collective backs and is willing to stand up for them...I think we'll see that payoff this season. We'll have to watch the Hoosiers and see if they can figure out which 12 plays to eradicate in '10. If not, Lynch might join a long list of IU coaches who coach their last game as the Hoosier head man, in West Lafayette.

(thanks to my pal Chris for pointing this story out to me...)

Bucket Retained

The Boilermakers retained the Bucket with a senior-tastic 38-21 win down in Bloomington, in front of many Purdue fans and a smattering of IU students who got lost on their way to the cafeteria.

Joey “The Duke” Elliott went 20-29 with no picks, four TDs, and reached 3,000 passing yards for the season, Jaycen Taylor had 170 total yards and a key early TD, and Torri Williams had an INT, in just a few examples of Boilermaker seniors making it clear that they were not relinquishing the Bucket.

Winning on the road is never easy. Wait, was this a road game? Let me check my notes… ah, yeah, yeah it was.

It was simply terrific to see the seniors play like they did. As per usual, Purdue played well in the first half before the opposition began to gain some confidence. IU scored just before the half and Bill Lynch appeared to be ready to wet himself with excitement.

However, apparently the pasta and turkey meal usually served in Purdue locker rooms at halftime was accidentally served in the Hoosier clubhouse, as Al-Terek McBurse took the opening kick of the second half to the house. The 28-7 lead essentially put the game away, though IU showed a lot of heart by continuing to fight. I have to admit, I have a lot of respect for Ben Chappell – dude played hard and is pretty slippery for a big guy. This game did not look like the joke of a mismatch it’s been at other times, including last year. And that’s a good thing. Would anyone mind if Purdue and IU were playing for their 8th, 9th or 10th wins in these games?

The two programs finished with overall records only one game apart (5-7 for Purdue; 4-8 for IU), but Purdue’s 4-4 conference mark is something to be proud of (IU was 1-7). This season didn’t go perfectly, without a doubt – and we’ll have more on the season in the coming weeks – but it always feels good to see a Bucket win and, let’s be honest, 5-7 (4-4) is better than most of us expected heading into this season.

Hey, It's Bucket Week!

While other rivalries mark this week as "hate week" (and Notre Dame plays Connecticut because the team they pretend is their rival refuses to come to Indiana in November), Purdue and Indiana will square off for the Old Oaken Bucket for the 85th time. Purdue leads the Bucket series 55-26-3 and the overall Purdue-IU football rivalry 69-36-6.

When last we left the Bucket game, Purdue was steamrolling Indiana in a way that hadn't been seen before and which was called by one writer, "the worst loss in the history of Indiana University football." And Indiana has had some bad teams.

The nice thing about the Bucket game is that it allows Purdue players whose seasons have been a bit below-average to make up three months' worth of yardage, touchdowns, etc., in one afternoon. It's a nice service IU provides.

I kid, of course, but only slightly. The Bucket rivalry has never been what you might call even, but it's been particularly lopsided over the past decade-plus. Since 1996, Purdue has only lost to IU twice -- in 2001 and 2007. The 2001 game was a rain-soaked 13-7 loss, where a bowl-bound 6-3 Purdue squad inexplicably could not move the ball against the then 3-6 Hoosiers. The game may have been more pivotal than anyone thought as IU then beat Kentucky to finish up 5-6 and the Boilermakers lost to Notre Dame and Washington State in the Sun Bowl to finish 6-6.

In 2007, IU was playing with tremendous heart after the tragic loss of Coach Hoeppner and held on for dear life against a furious second-half comeback by the Boilermakers. That loss capped a winless November for Purdue and a team that began the year 5-0 and 7-2, would wind up 8-5 with a win in the Motor City Bowl.

Since 1996, when the rivalry seemed to turn decided in Purdue's favor, Purdue has won by such scores as 56-7, 52-7, 41-13, 34-10, 63-24, 41-14, and, of course, last year's 62-10 annihilation.

You can thank the 2004 Boilermakers for Gerry DiNardo's ugly mug being on your Big Ten Network screen so often these days -- the 63-24 destruction in Kyle Orton's last game caused DiNardo to be fired the following week. If Bill Lynch, nice guy though he may be, loses to Purdue in embarrassing fashion in consecutive seasons (seasons in which Purdue is a sub-par team), I would have to think the door may be opened for him.

As Crimson Quarry puts it: "I would hope that Bill Lynch has the telecast of last year's game on continuous loop in the weight room, conference room, training room, dorm rooms, and so on. To say the Hoosiers will be playing with pride may be a bit presumptuous. All too often in the last 15 years the Hoosiers have failed to show much pride or intensity in the Bucket game."

I would have to believe that the Hoosiers will remember last year's dismantling. How could they not? The questions become whether the talent has changed significantly from last year's game and whether or not playing in Bloomington instead of West Lafayette matters. Do those factors make for a 53 point swing? I guess we'll find out.

More to come this week.

BS Reader Poll -- Game 12

This is the final post in the BS Reader Input and Silliness Poll Series. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this all summer long.

Wrapping up the 2008 regular season will be our longtime in-state rival, Indiana. IU took back the bucket last year for only the second time during Tiller’s time in West Lafayette. This year’s game is back in Ross-Ade and will not only be the bucket game, it might be critical for Purdue’s bowl positioning. Add to that the fact that it’ll be Senior Day, Curtis Painter’s last game in WestLaf, and Joe Tiller’s last game in front of the home crowd. Should be a nice day, regardless of record at that point.

But how will the game turn out? Vote it up.

Game 12
November 22, 2008
Indiana at Purdue
OTT Preview




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This Just Makes Me Sick

It makes us all sick. Tim said it, I know Boilerdowd is feeling it and probably can't bring himself to write about this debacle.... and I'm just angry. I'm angry that I invest in this team every year. And no, I don't mean monetarily.

I mean, I INVEST in them. I really CARE what happens and it pisses me off. Sure, I've learned over the years (see: 2004) not to care TOO much because I know how sour the taste of disappointment and wholly unfulfilled expectations can be. But still, because of how connected I am to this University I cannot help but care in a major way. About the success of the program, about the respectability of the team and, yes, what others think of us. I hate some of the things that are said about the team but, as Boilerdowd often says, "let's face it." Yeah, we're middle-of-the-pack, and too many damn people are satisfied and maybe even PLEASED with that. Well, I'm not. It sucks.

Kansas can have an 11-0 start. Stanford can knock off USC. Navy can beat Notre Dame. Rutgers can have an 11-win season ('06). Northwestern -- NORTHWESTERN!! -- can have fleeting years of Rose Bowl-caliber success. Illinois can have a year where they upset OSU. Appalachian State can beat Michigan. Syracuse can beat Louisville when they're 41-point 'dogs.

What's my point?

Why doesn't this kind of stuff EVER happen to us? I mean, seriously... what did WE do? And if you're some dumbass anonymous poster who just wants to rip on Purdue because you've got a tiny ding-dong and it makes you feel good, don't bother. We've all admitted at various times that our program is a disappointment. That big, long word that, when you parents used it, made you feel worse than anything. A fricking major-league disappointment. Hell, we were saying that we'd tolerate 9-3 but deep down we all knew losing those three to UM, OSU and PSU would still sting because it would be more proof that we couldn't get over the hump against legit top programs. Well, we did our typical give-up routine and it appears nobody even cares anymore.

Boilerdowd has said in the past that he thinks the old alumni would tolerate almost anything so long as we kept pasting IU every year. Well, that has even stopped now, so maybe something WILL happen. I think something NEEDS to happen, either at the athletic director level or, more likely, at the head coaching level. I've defended our mediocrity for too long. 7-5 is absolutely unacceptable and it pains me to even SEE those numbers in print. We began 5-0 in September, then went 2-2 in October and 0-and-effing-3 in November. Simply UNACCEPTABLE.

That's it, I'm on board. It's time for change.

http://www.firecoachtiller.com/

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Postscript: The only good thing today was that Coach Hep's drive was fulfilled and the Hoosiers won one for their beloved coach. Can't help but feel good about that. A good man, taken too soon. Good on ya, boys.