Should Robert Marve Risk It?

If you don't like the tenacity and determination of Robert Marve, then I don't know what it would take to get you to like a football player. The sixth-year QB is continuing to work his way back from a third ACL injury -- this time being described as a "partial tear." Last week, Marve was cleared for "individual drills," and Danny Hope says he looks good.

“I anticipate him being cleared and starting to get team reps,” Hope said Tuesday. “The little bit I watched him he looked good. I can’t tell any difference. He doesn’t run full speed in practice, but he looks good on his drops and looks confident with his feet underneath him and he’s throwing the ball well. Looks like he’s going to make a comeback.”

In addition, Mike Lopresti has an article about Marve's hard luck that b-dowd tweeted out earlier today. It reminds you of just what a long, difficult road Marve has had and, at least for me, reinforces what I really like about this guy -- his aforementioned perseverance. Just like we said about Rob Hummel a couple of years ago, if I was a college D1 athlete and tore my knee up multiple times, I would probably just want to stay in bed and cry. These guys are almost immediately positive and thinking about getting back out there with their teammates.

"From the outside looking in, three ACLs, it's not looking the best. and I'm OK with whatever happens," Marve said. "My main focus right now is to get back on the field and show the coaches and my teammates I can still sling it around. I really wanted the Purdue fans to see me playing normal."

We want to see that, too, Robert. But at the same time, as much as we loved watching him play and think the offense is far better with Marve under center, there's a big part of us here at BS that wants to see him hang it up.

That's very hard for us to say, as you probably know from reading us. But my fear is that Marve's knee is in the exact same condition it was in prior to the Toledo game in 2010. We knew at the time that something wasn't right. Marve had fallen awkwardly against Ball State and was said to have a "sprained" knee. He was hobbling on the sidelines and wasn't able to get back into the game. Then he started against Toledo and early on, on nothing more than a dropback, his knee folded, Marve crumpled to the ground and that was that. I truly fear that this is what we'll see the next time he's on the field. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.

So we say this to Robert -- thank you for wanting so badly to be back in front of the devoted Purdue fans. This is a guy who is truly giving everything he has for the team.

Hail to our old gold and black, indeed.

Marve Suffers Another ACL Injury

Robert Marve simply cannot catch a break. The sixth-year senior suffered additional damage to his surgically-repaired left knee in the loss to Notre Dame on Saturday.

Danny Hope confirmed on this radio show that Marve had additional damage to the knee but that the full extent of the damage is unknown. Hope also said the MRI showed a "potential tear," according to ESPN's Big Ten blog.

I'm not sure what a potential tear is, but it's hard to imagine Marve playing college football again. It would seem more likely to me that the coach is, no pun intended, just hoping against hope.

This would be the third significant knee injury for Marve and, as I said, would likely signal the end of his time as a football player. Much of the attention will likely focus on what this means to the Purdue football team in 2012 but we find ourselves simply feeling terrible for the guy, much the way we felt worse for Rob Hummel than the Purdue basketball program after he tore his knee for the second time in October 2010. It's a horrible thing to have to go through once, frankly, and Marve may be facing it for the third time.

I'm sure a million jokes will spring forth from other sites and wiseguy commenters in the coming days and weeks about Purdue's seemingly cursed history with ACLs, but right now we can't find very much to joke about in this.

We wish Robert "Marve-lous" Marve nothing but the best and will have more for you as it develops.

No Update on Marve's Knee

According to Danny Hope, Purdue, the Lafayette Journal & Courier and Gold and Black Illustrated, there's no news to report on Robert Marve's knee.

I have no idea if we should read this as no news being good news or if it's one of those things where the prognosis is bleak and they just want to be certain before they crush Boilermaker fans' worlds again.

An MRI can be conducted quickly and the results can be read shortly thereafter, so frankly, I would think we should know by now. I imagine the swelling is something that can delay the MRI, but if the swelling is so bad that it's delaying it into tomorrow, I will say that doesn't sound good, either.

While other outlets will probably broadcast it first, we'll be sure to let you know if we hear anything. If you're on Twitter, stay tuned to Mike Carmin and GBI for updates.

Maurice Creek Down Indefinitely

Maurice Creek of Indiana basketball fractured his right kneecap against Michigan over the weekend, which is the opposite kneecap that he fractured in December 2009. Goodness. That's a bit scary and freaky.

There's a certain strange symmetry to this injury and Rob Hummel's twice-blown knee ligaments. I guess what I'm saying is that for those who live and die with IU basketball, while we don't like you.... we can feel for you. This sucks.

And more importantly, it sucks for Maurice Creek. No matter whether you like a guy or not, this should not be something that you revel in or enjoy seeing. As we've said before, even when guys get hurt who we really don't like (see Evan Turner last year), we root for them to be okay and to get back to playing healthy.

So as Purdue fans, resist the urge to make remarks to IU fans. They're already suffering and this is an almost unfair blow. Sure, there were jerks who actually made jokes about Rob's misfortune -- but let's not be like them.

Be proud, respectful, sportsmanlike Boilermakers instead.

What if...

With the headline, you might think I'm asking the question "what if" in reference to what if Hummel was healthy...but instead, I'm asking, what if Hummel hadn't recovered quickly and was deemed unable to play this season before this morning's injury had occurred? Our perspective would be different, no doubt.

For one thing, we wouldn't have had to experience the punch in the gut that we all felt in the early afternoon and might feel right now. Morgan Burke summed it up best, I think.

"As soon as it happened my stomach, it's still upset. I've got a knot in my stomach that I haven't had in a long time and that's just because I love the kid and hate to see it happen."

Precisely. I've met Rob a few times quickly...no real connection to him other than I really like him and the way he plays...and like so many other Purdue athletes, he was really nice to my son last spring. That's always endearing for a Dad. So I was as excited for him as anything else as he prepared to play with his pals one last season before heading to the next level. But plans seldomly go the way they're supposed to go.

So back to an alternate perspective.

Hypothetically, if my alma mater was heading into any other season returning TWO Wooden Award candidates, two former all-Frosh team players who were both starters, an instant-impact true Freshman and more frontcourt size and talent than they've had in five seasons and some guys who are much-improved (according to rumors), my outlook might not be too bleak.

Universally, people that have seen Johnson play in the last month-or-so say he's a different guy...a better player. A guy who averages over 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks/game wants more out of his game. He took the criticism given to him by the NBA scouts and didn't whine, but decided to get stronger and use it constructively. How many more points, rebounds, blocks per game will his workmanlike summer yield? How much does it help a guy to guard and face NBA all-stars day-in/day-out for over a month? We'll see soon.

The other big time talent...the forgotten guy on this year's Boilers has done OK, I guess. He was All-Big Ten First team, All-American third team and Academic All-American second team last season. He led the Boilers in scoring, has become a defensive force in the last two seasons...and some of the media think he's one of the top defensive players in the nation. He's not sexy to the media...but feared by his opponents. And he just quietly does his job- whatever's needed, he seems to do.

Patrick Bade, D.J. Byrd, Lewis Jackson, Ryne Smith and Kelsey Barlow all dedicated themselves to getting better months ago...their offseason work has just become more-important as their responsibilities will all likely increase in the wake of today's news. I always say sports are a microcosm for life. As we've seen with Rob Henry's emergence on the football field and what will be expected from Barlow, Bade and others this coming basketball season- like the boy scouts tell us, we simply must always be prepared. No one knows what's coming next.

I'll also say that Matty is a damned-good coach who seems to be able to squeeze a lot out of teams who look tapped-out from time-to-time. Remember, our pals in the media left Purdue for dead last season coming into the NCAA tourney...Purdue only went to the sweet 16 after most heads predicted Purdue to bow out in the opening round to Siena. Some of those same schmoes in the media have already dropped Purdue in their worthless pre-season polls from a top-3 team to an also-ran that's barely in the top-25. All that matters little at this point.

So, it seems our Boilers are once-again a team that few believe in...an underdog. This isn't a role that many of us thought our Boilers would be playing this season...but it's one that Purdue fans and players alike know well.

I think big things are still coming this season for our Boilers. I'll detail what I think can and will happen to make this season something to remember in the weeks leading up to the season. Here's to the forces of good making believers out of everybody.

Terrible News

Bringing the worst possible news to the Purdue sports world, ESPN and the Big Ten Network announced that Robbie Hummel tore his ACL in Purdue's first practice and will miss the 2010-2011 season.

This sucks.

Bleeding

Last year, one of my favorite parts of the season was when Coach Hope had a caller who was all over him and sounded like he was about to jump ship. This was early in the season, when Purdue had just one win, a whole bunch of question marks, some painful losses and a few losses that everyone thought shoulda been wins. After the caller ranted at the coach for a minute on his radio show, Hope said "Bleed with us" and requested that this disparaged fan should not give up as the team rebuilt and grew. He won a lot of fans that day and pleaded with others that things would get better.

Well, the second half of that season was better, the bar steadily rose as Purdue pulled off a few upsets, took some other teams to the wire and beat the hell out of IU. Coming into this season many, myself included, thought this team would be better than last year...no, not a contender for the BT title, but a team that would compete in most games, and win more than it lost.

Losses of Ralph Bolden, Keith Smith and others hurt badly. The season-ending loss of Robert Marve, psychologically, might have hurt even worse, as the keys to this year's offensive success all were removed from the table.

Now, we're all bleeding with you coach, whether we like it or not.

The fanbase seems to be mixed on what's coming next...but I don't think anyone is optimistic at this point. We saw Purdue get manhandled by a middling club from the MAC on Saturday...and not just on the oft-injured side of the ball...in all phases, Purdue lost that game. And in my opinion, Hope looked confused at times on the sideline- never a good thing.

One of our readers did me a huge favor by comparing what's happening now to what happened at EKU. While I'm not sure things will move at the same rate for Coach Hope and his staff at this level, it seems there are some similarities with the our out-of-conference problems thus far.

The problem the coach might have soon is that not everyone will stay and bleed with the team...I know I don't have anybody else I root for, and there's nothing better to me than being in God's country on a game Saturday when my favorite team's playing well. But empty seats are already increasing...and I really can't blame people too much. Tickets are pretty expensive, and lots of us are still smarting from the ways our jobs have been affected over the past two years.

Coach Hope and Co., my unsolicited advice is pretty simple- give everyone a reason to believe. We all know the offense will be struggling to find its identity over the next few weeks/month. But, this is the time when coaches earn their salaries...it's easy to coach with a bunch of talented, experienced players. It's a tremendous challenge to try to find something, anything that works when lineups are thin and inexperienced.

Much like Smith, Bolden and Marve are all fighting to get healthy, this team must now fight for every point and every yard...the offensive line simply must come together and play physically as running the ball is paramount...and finally, the defense no longer has time to get grow up over the course of the season (specifically in the backfield)...they must become dominant in the next few weeks in order for Purdue to have any success this season. Hopefully, the bleeding will at least slow down soon.

This Might Hurt Our T-Shirt Sales

As if there was ever any doubt, Robert Marve is lost for the season with a torn ACL.

Eventually, we'll have more guys on the sidelines limping than we do coaches. Which, come to think of it... maybe K Smith and R Marve should run the offense from the sidelines.

Our thoughts go out to Robert, who worked hard to come back this year and always seemed truly excited about his opportunity with the Boilermakers. Who knows what this means for his football future. It could be the end of the road, which has to be tough to take for a young guy.

Not Marve-lous at all.

MRIs Are Rarely Marve-lous

Interestingly, still no official word on the status of starting QB Robert Marve's bum knee. He had an MRI but no details or results were yet disclosed.

Based on what we saw, things are not good. And we all know that our eyes are right 99.9999% of the time. More right than a doctor even. In fact, if you have a malady, come see us and we'll look you over and tell you -- with precision -- what's wrong with you, whether it's fixable, and how long you have to live.

As B-dowd said to me, maybe the gods are trying to tell Robert something and it's time to give up football....for good. I don't know if a guy like him can do that, but it's definitely something he must be wondering now, too.

Addressing the Injury Issue

A lot of readers here have asked the question, "Why does Purdue have such an unusual amount of injuries this season?" I think we've all asked that, or a similar question, in the past few weeks. I asked my college roommate* about his theory of why we're seeing the rash of injuries this season.

His insight was good- he pretty much said he'd look at coaching, not strength and conditioning as blame for the type of injuries Purdue has been having. Flexibility (or lack thereof), overworking and fatigue might be the culprits when looking at the knee injuries, in particular. He expounded by saying, much of the time, a coaching staff leans heavily on grad assistants to make sure players are working on flexibility drills and exercises...and some grad assistants are very good at what they do, and some aren't.

But, there might be some hard data that pushes back at the idea that Purdue's football team is as injury prone as it seems to be. This site, covers.com, breaks down college football's injury reports and posts their findings. In this context Purdue looks amazingly-average on the injury front.

To me, the main issue Hope and Co. might still be fighting is depth. Skilled position players in particular have fallen at a higher rate than the rest of the team...and at this point, it's pretty difficult to have a true Frosh or another under-experienced player pick up where an all-Big Ten guy left off (for example).

A few seasons ago, Iowa lost their top-3 running backs...and had to deal with the hand they had. This is football. Every play is brutal...every play has a high-potential to see a season-ending, or team trajectory-changing injury. It hurts that Bolden and K. Smith (specifically) are out. But it could be worse...it can always be worse. Look at teams like "Tha U", Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse and others. All seem to be worse off than Purdue at this point...some are much worse-off. So, just as the coaching staff has to, we should probably focus on who is available, not what might have been, had everyone stayed perfectly healthy.

As we know in the wake of the last few seasons in basketball, coulda, shoulda, woulda-beens are worth nothing. At least we're not dealing with the garbage that USC, UNC and others are witnessing right now...that's avoidable, painful and flat-out embarrassing.

* After graduating from Purdue, he earned a masters in exercise physiology and a masters in sports management/administration [I believe]...sidebar: it sounds like he's a smart guy, he's really not...he's just a dumb guy like me with a lot more debt...but I digress.

A Somber Recap of the Win

The threat of rain was large in God's country, but it held off with the exception of some spitting showers in the second half, so Hope was able to approach the game with his intended gameplan...but that didn't matter. This one was filled with surprises...and most weren't the type that you like to see as a fan.

Purdue escaped South Bend with no injuries of note...but versus the smaller Western Illinois Leathernecks, Purdue left the game battered, bloodied and bruised. The most-costly and noteworthy injury was that of All BT WR, Keith Smith. While there's no official press release of the extent to his right knee, the video, look of the play in person and reaction from officials and the WIU bench makes you think that Smith's season is over. Obviously, that is a season-changer. While Purdue offense has yet to get into rhythm, Smith was most-assuredly going to profit from the system once things solidified. Now, the sure-handed, solid route running Senior will probably not be a part of whatever happens from here out. Keep in mind, there's still no official injury report...but whatever comes of this, it's not good.

Brandon Taylor, Gerald Gooden, Albert Evans and Robert Marve were all also injured in the game in varying degrees...none as serious as Smith's it seems...but Taylor's forced him out of the game as did Gooden's and Evan's.

Hope said the game wasn't about the final score during his post-game interviews and the coaches needed to see what the young guys could do...and while I think that's important, I think it to be much more important to get the ones and twos to the point where they look like finely-tuned units. In my opinion neither does...and much of that can be blamed on coaching.

The offensive play-calling is still vanilla. Dink-and-dunk passes seem to be the norm for Nord thus far this season. Only one deep ball was thrown today by Marve...and it was incomplete. And the three-and-out possession was much more commonplace for the Boilers than their DI-AA opponent. That's very disheartening. Atop of that, the linebackers seemed to be out of position for much of the day as the zone Purdue was running was leaving gaping holes for dump passes to TEs and running backs. Purdue's defense against interior runs has been solid for both games, but on sweeps and pitches, the linebackers and ends tend to be in poor position to make tackles more than not.

On a day that saw another very-respectable D-I program (VaTech) fall to a lower-division team...and another mediocre D-I program (Minny) lost to an FCS team, I guess it's good that Purdue left Ross Ade 1-1. But, this wasn't that great of an opponent that Purdue played today, and our Boilers simply couldn't separate themselves. GBI was worried all week that Purdue might have a let down (after a loss, I thought that'd be difficult) and judging by what I saw, I'd say that's true. But, that in itself is a coaching problem. Simply because the fanbase is bored by the opponent (which we here at BS all were coming in), doesn't mean the players should be. And honestly, Purdue looked lethargic, uninspired and unemotional for much of the contest today. That's the hardest thing to swallow for me.

I am not saying the sky is falling. I am definitely saying there's a ton to work on in the next two games before the BT season begins- but it's not all on the players. I expect to see more out of the coaches in the coming weeks. If things don't improve from the coaches and players alike, this season might be very long.

Positives

Ryan Kerrigan led the team in tackles and TFLs. Plus, he forced yet another fumble, had a sack and was involved on nearly every play in one form or another...all while being held, double-teamed and triple-teamed. He's a monster. He hits hard, is very quick, doesn't take plays off and I think can get even better. With all of the great DEs we've seen in the last 15 years at Purdue, I think he could be the best...that says a ton. Along with Kerrigan, Kitchens, Gaston and Short also played very well at times...and the young guys' consistency should improve as they get more comfortable. Short already is looking vastly improved from last season.

Josh Johnson was very active, was second on the team in tackles and gave us a ton of reason to believe (for the second-straight week) that the DBs will be fine as the season progresses.

Dan Dierking finished every run very well, ran patiently and was reliable, yet again. Sure, this wasn't the most-athletic defense, but he had over 100 yards and averaged an eye-popping 7.3/carry...without a really long run (33 was the longest). His backfield mates also played well. Particularly, ATM, who only ran the ball 5 times, but definitely took advantage of his opportunities and finished with 81 yds rushing. One of the plays might have been what J was referring to on the Handsome Hour a week ago as ATM was able to have the wherewithall to keep going after rolling over a would-be tackler and galloping to a 40 yard touchdown. I'm still hoping the offensive line will be able to create more space in the middle, especially against teams that are undersized...but I might be dreaming at this point.

In my mind, Marve didn't take a step forward today. You can still see he has tools and his athleticism buys him time when there simply isn't any protection...but I want to see him progress which I'm positive he's capable of. That said, I believe the play calling left something to be desired. Henry played pretty well as Marve was trying to shake off the effects of a shot to the shoulder. In fact, he seems to have lost the odd throwing motion that bothered me so much in the spring. But, he missed OJ Ross on a slant route that most-definitely would have ended with Ross in the endzone had the pass not been thrown at 4's feet.

And speaking of Ross, he looked great on a kick return and showed some of the speed & quickness we had heard about on offense...can't wait to see more of him. And, like it or not, he'll be playing a lot more due to K. Smith's injury and C. Smith being a bit dinged up as well...honestly though, I think it's imperative to have his speed on the field if nothing else it'll keep DBs honest.

The kickoff coverage was much better than it was versus UND and the team was gang tackling all day on special teams coverage. Dierking and Johnson both played well on special teams coverage units.

Reason for Hope?

Joey Elliott ended last season strong and had over 3,000 yards, and 22 TDs once the dust had settled. But, his first three games left a ton to be desired...especially as his TD/INT ratio was not good.

Toledo 17/28 220 yds 3TD/3INT

NIU 20/31 188 0/0

Oregon 24/41 266 1/2

The rest of the season, he averaged 261 yds/gm, 2TD/1INT and completed over 60% of his passes.

I think Marve is naturally more talented than Elliott...so hopefully he can get more comfortable and the coaches can put he and the rest of the offense in a better position as the season progresses. But as I said before, there is a ton of room for improvement.

Looking Ahead

The cupcake jaunt continues as our Boilers play Ball State (who is coming off of a loss to Liberty), then Toledo, who ranks 100 or higher in almost every major statistical category...both teams, like Purdue are 1-1.

Taylor on the mend...commentary

GBI reported today that Jaycen Taylor had a second knee surgery in April to get his healing back on track following a torn ACL last fall. I'm glad to hear he's more positive about what's going on because he wasn't jumping for joy at the spring game.

I had the chance to talk to him a bit during community day, and he was apprehensive, to say the least, at that point. And from what I hear, he's a guy who's always positive...and we already know that he's tough as nails.

I wish he could be afforded another redshirt, but this is his last season as a Purdue football player, I believe because of JuCo rules. And while Taylor seems more positive in his outlook, I am not. Not because I doubt him in any way, but because it's just so difficult to gain confidence in a surgically-repaired knee that quickly.

Case in point- Ralph Bolden. Last season when we saw him play, he looked like he wasn't that quick and ran without attacking. Granted, he was a Freshman and Taylor's got a lot of experience. But, if you saw Bolden in the spring, you can see the difference- his first step is resolute, he's attacking holes and looks like the guy that Purdue recruited.

The good news is with ATM, Halliburton and Bolden in front of him, perhaps Taylor can take his time getting back into the rotation. Maybe he can play a third of the downs, or less in the first 3 games or so until he gets up to speed. Regardless of how much is asked for him, it'll be a boost to his fellow RBs to have him daily in practice and it will help the entire team to have his outlook and personality on the road. 100% or not, I'm looking forward to Taylor back in uniform...hopefully he doesn't rush himself into action like he did (successfully, mind you) with a broken arm two seasons ago.

Bernard Pollard Would Like His Bounty

Well, it was a former Boilermaker -- Bernard Pollard -- who may have altered the course of NFL history with his knee-buckling hit on Tom Brady yesterday, about twenty minutes into the Pats 2008 season. Peter King was very somber on NBC last night, implying this was bad for the entire league and "cast a pall" over everything. What? Shut up, Peter. It's an injury. It happens. Terrific Tom hasn't missed a game since he took over for Bledsoe back in '01 and, well, his luck ran out.

I was amused at Randy Moss' postgames comments on the hit:

"I don’t really want to get into it, but for me personally, I think it was dirty,” Moss said. “When I came back in (to watch the replay), it looked dirty to me. I’ve never been a dirty player. I honestly don’t even know how to play dirty. I just play the game. Any time you see something like that that looks foul, that looks dirty, it opens your eyes. So for me personally, it looked dirty."

You don't want to get into it, but you will. And shouldn't Randy be more concerned with, you know, holding on to the ball that he fumbled on that very play? Maybe he was distracted trying to determine if Pollard's hit looked "foul."

It's amazing how no matter what happens to the Patriots anymore, there's always whining and excuses. Pollard is now dirty even though he was blocked into Brady. The Giants shouldn't have won because there was holding on the Tyree play. The Giants shouldn't have won because the Pats dropped a sure interception. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're just another team, Patriots. And now you're one with Matt Cassell as the starter -- until they sign Chris Simms to start, anyway.

Pollard, of course, swears it wasn't dirty but he's in a completely no-win situation. What's he going to say? That he kind of wanted to take out Brady's golden knee? (By the way, I was all set to link over to Kissing Suzy Kolber and their "bounty" they'd put on Tom Brady last season -- and then I go look to provide links -- and they're already awarding it to Pollard. Well-done, gentlemen.)