Heart of Dallas Bowl Predicto -- Poke the Cowboys!

Cowpokes!

Admit it -- you missed the BS Predicto. The sarcasm, the handsomeness, the information. It's all part of a delicious stew of yumminess that you only get to savor one more time before the Darrell Hazell Era is officially upon us.

What does the interim/lame-duck coaching staff have in store for tomorrow's Heart of Dallas Bowl tilt against the well-rounded, Cowboys of Okie State? Will they come out stiff? Or bouncing all over the place?

That's very hard to say. Hell, it was hard to say when there was a.....normal-duck coaching staff in place.

However, we're firm in our confidence that we have the ability to predict the fun for you. So read on...and get some skin in the game.

zlionsfan sez:

Many years ago, in the days when we took stone textbooks to class and built fires in our dorm caves to keep warm, Purdue football meant disappointment and sadness, and actually watching Purdue in a bowl game was something we had only heard about from our ancestors.

Then this new coach came to town, and he showed us that Purdue could, in fact, beat middle-of-the-pack teams on a regular basis ... and do so often enough to get to a bowl game. In that season, fifteen years ago, Purdue met another program that thought it was experiencing a similar renaissance: Oklahoma State. The Cowboys had endured six(!) miserable seasons under Pat Jones and then two more under Bob Simmons before finally cracking the .500 mark and getting into the Alamo Bowl to face the Boilers.

The 33-20 win marked a turning point for both programs, though not in the same direction. We know Tiller's story: in contrast, Oklahoma State would not break .500 again under Simmons, and they would win just one bowl game in four years under Les Miles (yes, that Les Miles).

But just as Purdue's fortunes changed as Tiller left, so too did Oklahoma State's after Miles. Under Mike Gundy (you know, "I'm 40!"), the Cowboys are making their seventh consecutive bowl appearance. Fortunately for the Boilers, this isn't the same team that was a touchdown away from a perfect season, the one that knocked off Andrew Luck's Stanford team in the Fiesta Bowl.

Unfortunately, they're still a class above Purdue. All five of Oklahoma State's losses came against bowl-bound teams, and two of those five won their bowl games (the other three have yet to play). The Cowboys feature an offense that gets a first down or a touchdown on seven of every nine drives, 11th-best in the country. (The median offense - Northwestern's - does so six times in nine. Purdue's rate is .588, 109th of 124 I-A teams.) They score almost 45 points a game, fourth best in the nation. It'll be a tough test for a team that's allowed 35 or more points in half its games this year.

To be fair, this would be a challenge for any team undergoing a coaching change ... but Hope was never able to get a consistent defensive effort from this team, so it isn't as though keeping him around would have made any difference (and it would likely have cost Purdue any chance at Hazell). Instead, it'll be Patrick Higgins taking one for the team - he'll become the first Purdue coach in 105 years to end his tenure without a win. (Those were dark days indeed: Purdue posted consecutive 0-5 records in 1906 and 1907, both times including a loss to Wabash. Yes, that Wabash.)  

Oklahoma State 44
Purdue 21

J sez:

Who was the best team the Boilers beat this year? That sloppy, thuggish Marshall squad? The reeling Hawkeyes? Could you actually make an argument that their best win was over....IU? I think you might-could.

Eastern Kentucky actually had the best record of any team that Purdue beat this season at 8-3, but they're not even FBS-level. No, folks, Purdue didn't beat a single, bowl-eligible opponent in their 6-6 season that Danny Hope termed "extremely successful" after the Bucket game. And there's yet another example of where the mindset has been within the walls of Purdue football.

We've made no secret of the fact that we're thrilled with the Darrell Hazell hire and truly excited for Purdue football for the first time in a while. (And not just in the Danny Hope "excited" sense.) But for now, there's one more game under the old regime...sort of.

Patrick Higgins has done an admirable job keeping the guys focused and, truth be told, he has been a big improvement over Gary Nord as OC, winning the final three games while using Robert Marve almost exclusively. Higgins should get a look at some head coaching positions, I think, and it appears that even the state-run Purdue athletics media agrees and is trying to pump him up to potential suitors. A UTEP blog was also clumsily trying to say earlier this month that he might/maybe/possibly will come back to the Miners as OC/WR coach, which seems like an odd move, but hey, who knows? Regardless, we appreciate that Coach Higgins has tried to keep the guys focused and is clearly trying to send off the seniors on a high note. The guy deserves a good job somewhere. 

Sadly, I don't think that tomorrow is going to go very well for the good guys. Even if Gary Nord is (hopefully) not even granted a credential to get into the building, the remnants of the Hope/Nord era remain on this team. They don't seem to focus all that well, they don't seem to grasp the tasks at hand and they tend to play up/down to their competition far too often. This will lead to near-misses against ND and OSU, but also far-too-close games against Marshall and Illinois. We've read some deeply concerned quotes from some of the players in recent days that look as though they were written as bulletin-board material by a blog looking to troll a team. As I said, a serious lack of comprehension of what's going on around them.

This was a bad, 3-6 football team that cobbled together suspect victories over truly bad Iowa and Illinois teams and then had a fun day at home against the hapless Hoosiers. When they played good teams, they were embarrassingly overmatched. Oklahoma State is a good team, make no mistake about that. Their 7-5 record belies the fact that they can score in bunches, have terrific athletes and are well-coached by a man over 40.

I think that Robert Marve will put on his superman pajamas one more time and his heart will keep the Boilers in the game. If you like scoring, this one will have scoring. The Boilermakers just won't have quite enough to keep up with the pokes.

Pokes 48
Boilermakers 35

Not a man, nor is
she 40.

Boilerdowd sez:

I've read everything that's out there about our transitional Boilers...Shorter, more-intense practices, team-building and a ton of positivity...that's all good.  No one (besides Kingsley Ike) who practiced with the Boilers for much of the season has missed bowl prep...another positive.  Sean Robinson has healed faster than many thought he would and has been upgraded to positive- the defense will need all hands on deck...so that's another positive. Even Ralph Bolden looks good to go; a super-positive for me as he's one of my favorite Boilers on the roster.

Gary Nord is still on the mend, Danny Hope has moved out of God's Country...the coaching staff is abridged but focused. Marve is as healthy as a guy with one working ACL can be.  The stable of running backs is hungry, the receivers are dialed in to play an opponent that's much better than any of the teams our Boilers beat this season.

Is this team capable of playing with or beating good teams? Hells yes! They showed that v. aOSU and UND.  Is this team capable of getting dismantled by high powered offense? No diggety, no doubt.

Okie State's 7-5 is deceptive- they beat some very good teams...and still have one of the best coaches in America, in spite of rumors that circled around Coach Gundy just a month ago.

Reading what the players have said both in Purdue outlets and other papers, it seems the players are very confident...that was never good news under Coach Hope.  And in spite of Hope's exit, the remnants of his program remain, and old habits die hard.

Here's to Robert Marve going out on top and proving me very wrong.  I think the Cowboys just have too much firepower for the defense to stop and for the offense to keep up with.

OK St. 52
Purdue 33

BS Trivia Contest Day 3: Win Tickets to Heart of Dallas Bowl

[UPDATE: We have multiple winners, plus some other alternates who knew the answer is Ryan Russell. Thanks for playing!]

We've reached Day 3 of the epic Boiled Sports bowl game ticket giveaway.

You know, when Coach Hazell has Purdue in a BCS bowl game, it'll be even more fun to give away tickets.

What a great Christmas present it would be to hand over a pair of tickets to see your Boilermakers play in the historic Cotton Bowl. Be one of the first two people to email the correct answer to today's question to BoiledSports@gmail.com and you'll win a pair of tickets.

View the question, after the click-through.

BS Trivia Contest Day 2: Win Tickets to Heart of Dallas Bowl

[UPDATE: Winners came in fast and furious... and so to give me less emailing to do, you can stop sending your answers now. We have two winners and an alternate winner in case one of them backs out. Next chance to win tomorrow at noon, eastern.

Oh, and the answer is eight years. 1997-2004.]

It's Day 2 of the great Boiled Sports ticket giveaway.

*tumbleweed*

Hey, that's not the joke you think it is! It's just meant to symbolize north Texas!

Anyway, it's Day 2. After the click-through, you'll see today's question.

Once again, the first two correct answers emailed to BoiledSports@gmail.com win a pair of tickets each to the Heart of Dallas Bowl on January 1 in the Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Tejas.

BS Triva Contest Day 1: Win Tickets to Heart of Dallas Bowl

I love you, BS Ticket Oak.

[Editor's Note: This was supposed to post at noon, but Blogger is dumb. Our apologies. That is all.]

Today is Day 1 of our monumental gigantic modest giveaway of tickets to see your Boilermakers play in the Heart of Dallas bowl on New Year's Day.

We kid, but a Jan 1 bowl game is actually a fun experience as you're one of only a few programs left playing at that point -- no matter how you got there, you're there.

We wish we could also fly you guys to Dallas for the game, but since we're not totally loaded (or we're just not willing to share our riches), we'll give you free tickets instead.

As noted earlier in the week, the first two correct answers emailed to Boiled Sports at BoiledSports@gmail.com will win a pair of tickets each. (Since I don't trust the class to follow instructions, I'm actually turning off comments for this post -- an unprecedented move that maybe we'll make more often. Heh.)

After the click-through, you'll see today's question. 

Where to Be Merry with Purdue Fans in Dallas [UPDATED]

As always, we defer to the locals to further inform this, but we wanted to get some info out there regarding where to gather with fellow Boilermakers while in Dallas for the Heart of Dallas Bowl and, potentially, for New Year's Eve.

Remember, folks, the Heart of Dallas Bowl kicks off at 11 AM, local time, so getting to Dallas that morning seems dicey at best. This is, of course, also an opportunity for all you generous lads to open your doors to any 20-something college ladies who are looking for a place to crash. You know, in the spirit of Hailing Purdue.

To begin with, the official Purdue alumni bar in the Dallas area is BlackFinn American Saloon, located in Addison, about 18 miles from the Cotton Bowl and a little bit north of downtown. The problem with BlackFinn, of course, is that it's also an Oklahoma State alumni bar. (Though the official bowl site is listing two other bars as Ok St. bars -- do we trust people in Big 12 country? I, for one, do not.) I mention it, though, because it's a good option for maybe the night before and potentially for during the game, as long as you don't mind being outnumbered.

More to most of your liking, though, is the bar that has agreed to host Breakfast Club on New Year's Day, Dick's Last Resort. No word on whether or not they're closing at all from the night before. Dallas being what it is, though, if you decide to party on New Year's Eve and your bar of choice does close, there is no shortage of strip clubs you can pass a few hours in before heading over to Dick's Last Resort for the first breakfast club of 2013.

The Dallas Dick's is located just five miles from the Cotton Bowl and as per Travis' post, is "conveniently located near the West End DART railway station, which connects to both the Union Station at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the Fair Park Station at the Cotton Bowl along the Green Line so that everyone can easily and safely make it to the game on time for kickoff."

Further details on Breakfast Club at Dick's are a follows:

Where: Dick's Last Resort 2211 North Lamar Street Dallas, TX 75202 (214) 747-0001

When: 7:30am - 9:30am; they will stay open for the game so those w/o tickets can stay and watch

What: $10 breakfast buffet (breakfast tacos, eggs, potatoes, sausage etc), $4 Bloody Mary's & screw drivers, $3 domestic pints. So come pig out! You're sure to come up aces!

Important: Please RSVP to the DFW Alumni Club email by Friday, December 28th, so that a head count can be passed onto to the people at Dick's Last Resort.(There is no commitment to buy -- but if you even might go, send in your RSVP.)

Breakfast club... where there's nothing to be blue about.

[UPDATE]

From regular reader ATL Boiler, the following will be happening at the team hotel:

Boilermaker Happy Hour - 12/31
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION: TEN Sports Grill, 1302 Main Street, Dallas, TX (OWNED BY A LOCAL BOILERMAKER)
OVERVIEW: Join other Boilermaker Alumni for a late afternoon, New Year’s Eve warm-up. Cash bar, appetizers provided.
ADMISSION: Open to all Boilermakers and friends

New Year’s Eve Celebration
7:00 p.m. to Midnight

LOCATION: Purdue Team Hotel — Hyatt Regency Hotel (300 Reunion Boulevard, Dallas, TX)
OVERVIEW: Join fellow Boilermakers and friends for Black & Gold camaraderie and New Year’s Eve cheer. Light appetizers will be available starting at 7:00 p.m. Cash bar.
ADMISSION: Open to all Boilermakers and friends

Let BS Provide You a Ticket to the Heart of Dallas Bowl

On January 1, our Boilers will take part in the Heart of Dallas Bowl versus the Oklahoma State Grown Men Who Are Over 40 in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.

The kind folks at the Heart of Dallas Bowl have made some general admission tickets available to us and so we're going to give those away this week. How are we going to give them away? Well, by judging your sad story of need and how you can't afford exorbitant (not really) bowl game tickets. No, not really... actually, we're thinking of making it fun and putting together a few trivia questions and then giving the tickets away to the correct answers.

So here's the deal. Starting Wednesday at 12 Noon (Eastern), a post will appear here with a Purdue-related trivia question in it. The first two correct answers emailed to BS (not in the comments) will be awarded with a pair of tickets each.

Yes, you'd still have to get there yourself. But I know there are a fair number of Texan Boilermakers and I also know the Boilermaker Special is bring driven down to the Lone Star State, so hitching a ride on the cowcatcher shouldn't be a problem.

Tune in Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 12 noon each day to get a chance at a pair of tickets to the Heart of Dallas Bowl.

If after Friday's contest we still have tickets remaining, we'll put up the BS bat signal and let you know.

Marvelous Ending at Ross-Ade

A few years ago, IU beat Purdue with a field goal...we all remember that for multiple reasons.  First, of course, IU doesn't beat Purdue very often, so it's easy to remember these rare events.  But maybe more than that, IU's sports marketing department (smartly) wouldn't let the memory go away quietly as they made that win their calling card, for not one, but two seasons, in an effort to sell more tickets.

Thankfully, on Saturday, Purdue's Seniors made sure that the 2012 Old Oaken Bucket game wouldn't be decided by a field goal (or even six field goals) as they simply ground Kevin Wilson's improving Hoosiers to a fine powder.

As J talked about in his post-game wrap-up, The Seniors deserved to go out like this.  This class was rightfully hyped by media, fans and Coach Hope alike.  They're talented, they're big, they're fast and they're solid...and they should have led our Boilers to have better than a 6-6 record this season.  But for a myriad of reasons, many outside of their control, potential never became reality this season.  Purdue ranks in the 60s in many important statistical categories because, as a team, our Boilers are who they are.  Poor play calling, lousy game planning, defensive schematic shortcomings, odd substitution patterns, injuries, mental lapses and poor development in some positions have made Purdue a .500 team. In spite of all of this, losing to IU would have been an unacceptable ending for this season, regardless of the compounding disappointment that came before yesterday's game. And the class of 2012, and specifically one of their leaders, made sure that their last walk off of the Prescription Athletic Turf was a happy one.

Leading.

As Purdue ran out of the tunnel before the game, Marve was the first to fire onto the field, and he seemed to nearly skip on before sprinting toward the end zone to pray with his fellow QBs.  Marve's child-like joy to play in today's game was very obvious in person.  Whether simply breaking the huddle, celebrating after one of his four TD passes or greeting the defense after big stops, he acted like a guy who was just pleased to be soaking up every last minute of his last game on the home turf.

A ton of people didn't buy into Marve as Purdue's next QB when he decided to transfer from Miami four years ago...and honestly, they had reason to believe he wouldn't be a great fit. His previous coach benched him to end his RS Frosh season as a Hurricane and his overall swagger was something that most Purdue fans didn't think would quite fit in West Lafayette.

But in this final chapter, Marve has fit quite well. In fact, even those who didn't have a ton of faith in the cocky kid from Tampa, grew to like, and even believe in the Florida transplant. That kid became a Boilermaker through one of the most-adversity-filled careers I can remember in the last 30 years of Purdue football.

He worked through the distraction of an NCAA investigation, fought through three ACL tears and stayed positive as he was benched time and time again for not staying within the parameters of an uninventive offensive scheme...and maybe most-amazingly, stayed tight-lipped when given ample opportunities to even hint at negativity toward his coaches and teammates.

"Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it."

Who knows what would have happened had Marve not torn his ACL the second or third times...no one can tell what would have happened had he been given the chance to start the second half v. UND...and we're only second-guessing when we say the season could have been different had the two-QB system been scrapped in favor of #9 just running the show.

What we do know is Marve handled crappy situations as well as anyone could have expected him to.  And on top of staying positive and being astoundingly-gutsy and gritty, when given the chance and the tools to do so, he proved that he's a pretty damned good quarterback...on one or two legs.

It's weird- in some ways, his nearly-four years within the Purdue family have seemed like an eternity as we waited for him to reach his potential. In other ways, it seems like it went way too quickly as his career at Purdue was so atypical, for so many of reasons.  But he went out with a bang yesterday as he played one of the statistically-best games a Purdue QB has played in the Oaken Bucket. Here's to him having one more showcase game in the gold and black.

Regardless of what happens in December, he's earned the respect of most within the Purdue family and fortified it for those who were already on board.

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.  

Do Not Tell Me "It Can't Be Done"

Whenever we lament the state of Purdue football, someone almost always tries to educate us on our lot in life as Purdue fans. They point out that the facilities are limited, the stadium is among the smallest in the Big Ten, it's a tough place to recruit, there isn't a history of winning, etc., and so forth, lather, rinse repeat. In the end, it can be summed up with "We're just Purdue."

Well, as we've said before here, we reject that out of hand. For one thing, Purdue has competed, and in different eras. The 1960s Purdue teams were a force, culminating in a Rose Bowl win over USC. Then, of course, there was the Tiller resurgence in the late 1990s into the early oughts, where Drew Brees and others carried the Boilermakers to the Rose Bowl once again. And less highly-thought-of, of course, was the short era right after that, when Purdue was now considered a major player and high-potential guys would gladly attend. The door was open and the mantra of being the cradle of quarterbacks was reignited -- guys like Kyle Orton stepped in and the pieces seemed to be falling into place. We all know what happened next and it's not worth re-hashing once again... but the point here is that, while the windows can be tighter and harder to open, it can be done.

And that's the issue for me. I'm tired of being told it can't be done or hearing about the limitations our school faces. Limitations only get legs when people begin to rely on them as excuses for a lack of success. This applies anywhere in life, not just in college athletics. There are stories about people overcoming incredible odds all the time and the consistent theme is always rooted in two factors: hard work and perseverance. If you work harder than others and you never stop trying, good things will eventually happen. It's not a complicated formula.

Morgan Burke and the athletic department at Purdue are happy with staying profitable -- it has never been worth it to them to wade into the deep end of the pool and shoot the moon. That would take more money, more risk, etc., and why do that when you're comfortable in the black?

And for anyone who points to the successes they've recently (last 15 years) enjoyed, let's recap once again.

Burke got lucky with Joe Tiller. Tiller wasn't a young, up-and-comer and as Bdowd reminded you all, Burke wanted Bob Davie. Tiller had enough energy left to go hard for a while and he had the cowboy swagger that is absolutely necessary to succeed at a place like Purdue on the metaphorically uneven field that is football.

Burke got very lucky with Matt Painter. Painter, for those who have forgotten, was hired as the associate head coach and successor to Gene Keady in 2004 at the age of 34. Matt had one season as a head coach at any level before coming to Purdue. Granted, it was a 25-5 season at Southern Illinois, a top 15 ranking and an NCAA Tourney appearance season, but it was one season from a very young coach all the same. Most of us look at Painter as the right guy for Purdue basketball now, but it's easy to see how this could have gone the way of Todd Lickliter, for example.

Burke got it wrong with Danny Hope. I think it's fair to say that now, as we've seen four years of middling to excruciating football out of the Hope regime. We've been complaining about the same missteps and inconsistency for four years now. It's fair to give a guy the chance to right the ship, but he's done nothing of the sort and only punched more holes in the hull. But the point of this post isn't to rehash the Danny Hope era.

Back on the theme of not wanting to hear it anymore, let's look at five programs who frankly have the same excuses that Purdue does (or similar ones) and yet find a way to produce success. Nobody here is suggesting that Purdue should be competing for the national title every year -- but how about a ten win season every 10-15 years? How about strings of 7-to-9 win seasons, which suggest you're knocking on the door and with a break here or there might bust through to a BCS bowl game?

The following programs are examples of what Purdue could be doing.

Rutgers

Boilerdowd likes to say that I love Rutgers because I live near the school and occasionally attend games. What can I say? I'm a sucker for awesome campus food and lukewarm fan support of a college football team?

But Rutgers is an afterthought in the minds of most NJ sports fans. Their stadium -- which was renovated in 2011 and is a great place to watch a game -- only holds 52,000 (up from 41,000). And they have almost zero football "tradition," in terms of success on the field. Rutgers went 0-11 in 1997. They went 1-11 in 2002. But then Greg Schiano began building something and just three years later, they were in their first bowl game in 27 years. A year later they won 11 games and rose as high as #7 in the nation. Starting with that 2006 season, Rutgers has won at least eight games in six of seven seasons (2010 was the lone hiccup, at 4-8), at least nine games in four of them and if they win one more this year (they're 9-1), they'll have won double digits twice in that span and are likely to get to a BCS bowl game this year. Sure, sure, it's the faltering Big East, I get it -- but I don't care how you get there... you still need to win the games on your schedule.

Boise State

Yes, we had the Broncos forced upon us for years as the little engine that could and the small-time program that could play with the big boys. For all the fun that could sometimes provide, Boise's success probably did more harm than good with regard to things like the BCS. Supporters of the idiotic end to CFB's season pointed to Boise State as evidence that everyone did indeed get a fair shake. It's nonsense, of course, as Boise has most certainly not gotten a fair shake or a legit chance to dethrone the big guys. When they have gotten such an opportunity, they've cashed in, winning two BCS bowl games (the Fiesta Bowl in '06 and '09).

There is no way Boise has more in the way of opportunity than Purdue. It's Idaho, plus the recruiting ground they are near is also shared with Pac 12 programs like Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, USC, UCLA, Stanford, etc. Bronco Stadium only holds 37,000. Oh, and hey, it's freaking Idaho.

Yet despite all of this, the Broncs have held onto Chris Petersen and are about to have their seventh straight double-digit win season, 10th in their last 11 season and 12th in their last 14 years. I don't care where you play -- that is reeeedonkulous. They have 15 losses in the last eleven years. The point of all this? Success can happen.

Cincinnati

You want something a little closer to home and the midwest? How about Cincinnati? They have below-average facilities according to everything we read, their stadium (Nippert) holds 34,000 and bills itself as the "Wrigley Field of college football" (which maybe means they have drunken fans who like a poor product, I guess?), and they of course have to recruit in the same state as O$U. Yet they just keep winning.

Entering 2012, the Bearcats have won double-digit games four of the previous five seasons. They're 7-3 in 2012 with two games remaining plus their bowl, so ten wins is actually still possible. They've also done all this despite having three different coaches since 2006, as they're becoming a popular team to poach from. With their facilities and conference alignment, it's unlikely that Cinci can make themselves any more appealing for a coach to remain at for more of a career. Yet again, they win games. Crazy!

Northwestern

Let's hit even closer to our hearts. The Wildcats are no football powerhouse, to be sure. There are some who feel they've never truly fit in the Big Ten, what with their snooty, private school image, low enrollment (around 8,000) and smallest-in-the-Big-Ten football stadium (47,000). And yet, Coach "Fitz" has the Wildcats knocking on the door of a -- brace yourself -- ten win season. They are 8-3 this year with Illinois and a bowl game remaining. Sure, they turn back into the Mildcats come bowl season (haven't won a bowl in over 60 years), but they fact remains, they're seemingly always bowl eligible anymore (six straight years and nine of the last ten) and Fitzgerald has won at least eight games three times in his seven seasons. Not incredible, I realize, but not shabby, either.

Fitzgerald is a good comparison in another way, too, in that he has only had one bad season in Evanston, which was his first one, when he went 4-8. Every single other season he's had has been a bowl eligible season. Legendary success? No. But putting them in a position where a few breaks gets them into a conference title game or a top tier bowl? It certainly improves the odds, let's leave it at that.

Stanford

My final example is the Cardinal, a proud school with high academic standards that has managed to become a power player in the Pac 12. Standford has had a lot of mediocrity in their history -- more than Purdue, some might conclude. And yet, with the right coach (Jim Harbaugh), they quickly built a program that not only wins, it wins huge.

Stanford is about to have its third straight double-digit win season, assuming they can either beat UCLA or their bowl opponent. They're also going to play their fifth top-15 team this season, and they've already beaten #1 (Oregon, last weekend), #2 (USC, September 15) and #13 (Oregon State, two weeks ago), while very nearly beating current #1 Notre Dame in South Bend on October 13. That, my friends, is a program on the rise.

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

In closing, I'd like to say once again that I do not want to hear it cannot be done. It can be done, my fellow Boilermakers. It can and it should be done. I realize these aren't all perfect apples-to-apples comparisons -- that's why I provided five of them. These are programs that for whatever reason have the odds stacked against them in today's college football landscape, yet find creative ways to be successful -- some to extreme levels that even dreamy fans probably didn't dream of.

At Purdue, we want swagger back. We want excitement back. We want players and coaches who want to be here and who aren't interested in excuses. We want to see effort, preparation and creativity. You provide those ingredients and the fans will show -- as they have before -- that they will come into Ross-Ade and make even that marginal stadium a true home field advantage.

Make it happen, Purdue. We're all ready.

Coach Hope's Master Plan Still Developing, Likely To Be A Screen Pass

The always-talented and subtly-hilarious Mike Carmin of the Lafayette J&C has this gem regarding Coach Hope's "master plan" (if ever something deserved to be in quotation marks, it's that) and how it's, well, still in progress.

It starts off with another classic Dannyism, which sounds made up but isn't:

Has Danny Hope had enough time to get Purdue’s program to where he wants it? Asked that question Sunday, the fourth-year coach said, “no in some regards, but yes in some ways.”

So....sort of?

I think it's fair to assume it's not exactly where he wants it, as the Boilers are still searching for an over-.500 regular season under Coach Hope. But the question is whether he's had enough time, so the answer is even more vague. You either have had enough and think four years (plus a year as associate head coach under Tiller, which shouldn't be overlooked -- that allowed him a head start on recruiting for his tenure) is enough to get a program where it should be. I think most of us would argue the program is perilously close to being in a worse place than it's been in years.

“Where we were at when I came here and where we’re at now, we made a lot of progress but it takes time,” Hope said. “We really haven’t had time to cash in on some of our efforts in some ways. We’re just now getting some things in place that will impact the program that I wish had been in place many years ago or several years ago.”

What the what? Many years ago... or several years ago. You know, sometimes four weeks feels like a month, know what I'm saying? No? Neither do I.

And what efforts haven't been cashed in? What does that even mean? You haven't had time to cash in on your efforts in some ways.... just dizzying.

But in the end, Coach Hope thinks he hasn't had enough time because arguably the best coach in the history of the program left things a mess for him:

Ultimately, Hope said he’s “not really” had enough time.“Coming in, we were a long ways away in about every phase of the program and we’ve made some progress,” Hope said. “We’re still a long ways away in a lot of key areas and it’s going to take more than three or four years to turn around several years of maybe going in the wrong direction.”

So things were going in the wrong direction before he took over. I don't want to debate this too much, because we, too, felt things were no longer on a proper course under Coach Tiller. HOWEVER... blaming your predecessor for your failings when you've had four years (plus that associate HC year) to make things better is a little bit... desperate.

There is no longer room for debate in our opinion on this fact: the Purdue football program is not on course for success. Whether that's because the previous regime (that went to ten bowls in twelve years) screwed things up so irreversibly or that this group hasn't had enough time yet, I don't know for sure. What I do know is that if Purdue wins Saturday against the Hoosiers, there will likely be another bowl on Coach Hope's resume and he'll be talking successful season. If others in power agree with him, then there will be no longer any doubt that mediocrity is acceptable and will be the apex of Purdue football success for the foreseeable future. 

Staying Alive: Boilers Win in Champaign

They dug deep...they persevered...they fought through boredom and the urge to go to the hardware store.  I'm of course speaking of all of the Purdue fans who stayed awake for watched the throwback first half between an awful Illinois team, on Senior day, and a not-too-great Purdue team in their final stretch.

Danny Hope said that, in spite of being in the building, Gary Nord DID NOT call plays.  But, he was wearing a headset, taking notes and clearly had some effect on the Purdue offense for much of the game. The gameplan we saw versus Iowa was no where to be found...in its place, an array of draw plays, screen passes, and, of course, first down wheel routes were on display in the storied stadium that Red Grange built (not literally).

Sarcastic cheering, even in photos, is pretty funny.

At the end of the first half, it was 6-3 in favor of the good guys...and the game had all of the excitement of a 6-3 game.  But, Purdue was given the gift of two turnovers on Illinois' side of the field and another not too deep in Purdue territory...those three turnovers, of course, led to ZERO points for Purdue.

At the end of the first quarter though, Purdue had one yard passing and eight yards of total offense.  Those stats are absolutely legit.  And on the opposite side of the ball, the fighting Illini had 29 yards of passing and not many yards rushing.  It wasn't that these two defenses were just firing off of the ball and doing everything right.  Oh no, this was an exhibition of two of the least-inventive and most-boring play-callers, not in the nation, but in the history of college football.  We know Illinois' OC was one of them...I'm just not positive who was the guy calling the game for our Boilers.

In the second half, it started out similarly, but a few minutes into the third quarter, Akeem Hunt broke free on a wheel route in which there were no Illinois defenders in the stadium, it seemed.  He scored easily as Purdue's linemen pulled and couldn't find anyone to hit for about 25 yards.

Hunt's 63 yard catch led him to lead all Boilers in receiving for the game...sure, there were a few passes thrown and caught by Hope's squad, but most were for around three or four yards.  Marve finished the game with a solid outing and utilized the gameplan given to him as well as possible while completing nearly 70% of his passes for 173 yards.  But, he kept the first touchdown drive alive with his lone ACL as he scrambled in a pocket that was pretty non-existant all day long.

Badass

One thing the OC did well was feed the RBs, especially in the closing 15 minutes of the game.  Shavers ran hard all game, and finished with 99 yards on 21 carries.  Cottom had a couple hard runs as the change up back after Bolden went down...and Bolden was ripping it up until he was hurt after a 63 yard run. He finished with 93 yards on 7 carries.  But during the big run, it looked like he re-tore the fourth right ACL that he's had.  In fact, I was pretty positive that he had done it.  Thankfully, I was wrong.  He tweaked his hamstring...but instead of running out of bounds after the injury, he hobbled about 45 yards with a bum right wheel.  The dude is a badass...always has been, always will be.

Purdue's defense kept Illinois in front of them for the most part, but Scheelhaase did what he does v. Purdue as he scrambled for a ton of yards as his pocket collapsed time and again.  He led the Illini with 76 yards rushing to go along with his 160 yards passing.  Scheelhaase will graduate this season, but might take advantage of the stupid NCAA rule that allows players to transfer to another school if their current grass isn't green enough school doesn't offer the grad program they want to pursue.  I'm pretty sure Illinois doesn't have what he wants to study.

"Would they fire me
after one season?"

Purdue's defense allowed 17 points on the day, and just 333 yards of total offense.  That's pretty damned respectable in this era of high point totals and mileage, not yardage.  But this Illinois team is unconventional.  They don't like scoring (they've scored 17 or fewer points in all of their B1G games) and they really don't like winning much either...they're now 2-9 (0-7) with an extremely weak schedule that didn't help them out too much.

The Seniors on defense did play big though, it seemed that Maci, Johnson, Ezenwa, Charlot and of course, Short were around the ball all day.

The ST units shined today.  Webster punted well...in fact had a huge 60 yarder late in the game that gave Illinois a very long field after Anthrop downed the Illini on the five.  McCartney was 2-for-2 while kicking field goals and 2-for-2 while kicking points after.  And Hunt averaged a solid 22 yards/return on KO returns. The little things matter...and they especially mattered in this 20-17 victory today.

It's funny, there are some Purdue fans who wished Purdue to lose today in order to insure that Hope would be gone at the end of the season...but we believe the damage is already done regardless of what happens and has happened the last two weeks.  The facts are still the facts, and Iowa, Illinois and IU are three very bad teams...heck, a few of the good teams in the conference that kicked the hell out of our Boilers aren't even that good.  And the season ticket sales have spoken loudly to the Athletic Department.  All of that said, I don't know a Purdue fan, I mean a real Purdue fan that can legitimately say they want to see IU beat Purdue in Ross-Ade on the Senior Day of Short, Marve, Shavers, Johnson, Bolden and others.

My wife and I will be at the game next Saturday.  Like many of you out there, she hasn't been to a game in two years...so I'm hoping she gets to see Purdue beat the hell out of IU for old time's sake.

I don't agree that a 6-6 record in this era of football is at all special or noteworthy, as Hope told us it would be last week. What I do know is that having a losing record, with this talented of a team and this weak of a schedule, would be an abomination.  Plus, a crappy bowl is much better than the Oaken Bucket becoming a quazi bowl game.

I'm looking forward to sending the Seniors off with a win...and if IU's QB passes for 600 yards, I really don't give a damn.  As we saw today in Happy Valley, and a few years ago in Ross-Ade, eye-popping passing stats are worth little when they lead to a loss.

Go Boilers, beat little sister like a rented mule.

Send them home sad, Seniors.

Boilers-Illini Predicto: The 95 Cent Edition

Chillin'

As recently as Thursday morning, end zone tickets for tomorrow's heavyweight tilt between Purdue and Illinois could be had for as little as $.95 per ticket. Note the decimal point -- that's 95 cents. Which puts it at the same popularity level as actual heavyweight fighting. Hey-yoo!

Purdue and Illinois get into a slap fight tomorrow at 3:30 on the Big Ten Network. Why 3:30? Who knows? I guess we should just be happy the BTN hasn't decided to record the game and show it at 3:30 AM on Tuesday morning.

After a win to sorta, kinda save what's left of their train wreck of the season, what happens this week for our Boilers? It's time to find out. 

So put in a nice dip o' chaw, pull up a chair, and get some predicto.

SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: THIS FOOTBALL GAME MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. DO NOT OPERATE HEAVY MACHINERY WHILE USING/WATCHING/LISTENING.

zlionsfan says:

Saturday, Purdue will find a kindred spirit in an Illinois team that has spent the entire season preventing the Boilers from finding the bottom of the East. Like Purdue, they beat the clearly-weaker teams on their non-conference schedule and lost their other games (the loss to Louisiana Tech looked bad in September; with the Bulldogs in the top 20 and having just one loss, to Texas A&M, Illinois' loss to them doesn't look so bad now). Like Purdue, they stunk up the joint in conference play, except they didn't get to play Iowa, so the Illini are still searching for their first conference victory.

And unlike Purdue, Illinois is doing this with a new coach. Halfway through the 2011 season, Illinois was 6-0 and looking great ... but they dropped their next six and got Ron Zook fired. In a move that Morgan Burke would approve, the Illini hired Toledo coach Tim Beckman, even though Beckman had only three years of experience at Toledo, his only time as head coach, and had only four years of assistant experience at power-conference schools before that. The move was something of a gamble ... and so far, it has not paid off at all. By either standard stats or advanced metrics, this Illini team would struggle in the MAC, never mind the Big Ten. Their offense and special teams are better suited to a weak Sun Belt team; averaging less than 17 points per game, the Illini are 118th of 120 I-A teams, and of the four new to that level, three of those also outscore Illinois. (The fourth is UMass, a new MAC team with DII-caliber talent.)

The latest chapter of the Beckman Experience posted just 3 points against a rebuilding Minnesota squad; that performance has at least one writer calling for a new coach. (Beckman's comments in that article should sound familiar to Purdue fans.) I don't believe Illinois would cut a coach loose after just one season, but a bad performance in Champaign might turn up the heat. The September Purdue squad would induce that kind of Illini performance; the October team would pull Beckman out of the frying pan and drop Hope in the fire.

Which team do I think will show up? The November team that squeaked by - but still beat - OMHR in Iowa City.

Purdue 21
Illinois 16

J says:

Not amused.

Sure, why not? The Boilers -- after looking utterly hapless and finished -- go into a place they haven't won at in two decades and win. And they don't just win, they win despite losing the turnover battle, 3-0 and allowing one of those turnovers to be returned for a TD. How many bad teams win road games when those things happen? In all seriousness, not many. Does that mean Purdue actually is good, after all? No, it does not.

The Boilers have absolutely no excuse to not win this game in Champagne handily. They need the win to keep bowl hopes alive. They need it to keep their coach employed (if he has any chance at all). And they're a far superior team, which says a lot considering they're not very good. Does any of this give me confidence? Of course not. It's still a conference road game, too, and they're never gimmes (unless you're Wisconsin in West Lafayette).

In the end, though, I've been pretty correct this year going with my gut. It looks like Marve will continue to play the majority of the snaps and if the play calling is at all clever, Purdue should win this one without trouble.

Boilermakers 31
Illini 16

Boilerdowd says:

We talked about this during the Handsome Hour: Illinois is not a good team...their stats show it, their record shows it...and if you're into that sort of thing, their body language shows it.  Guys clad in orange and navy who have played well in previous seasons can't find production.  The Zook magic left with him.

I kid, but what we know is it takes a season or two to implement a system.  That's especially true when the predecessor is so different from the current coach.

Purdue should be motivated as the Seniors see the end of their careers within sight.  Marve, Shavers, Short, Johnson and co. should all play like men possessed; I'm counting on it.

Boilers roll and keep their post-season hopes alive.

Purdue 35
Illinois 20

Final Stretch Handsomeness is Upon Us.

With our Boilers fighting for their post-season lives and Coach Hope trying to scheme and plan his way out of a corner, the hamn dandsomest pair in the universe decided to weigh in.

Listen to these two losers of low character...

Now!

Listen to internet radio with Boiled Sports on Blog Talk Radio