Week 5 Big Ten Wrap

I will begin with my one Purdue positive this week. I felt that the Boilers could potentially have a 10 win season this year. The talent was there. There weren’t any overwhelming games outside of a trip to Ohio State. The defense seemed to be improved enough to give an “improved” Curtis Painter a chance in every game. We must not lose heart because if that 10 win seasons till happens, however unlikely it is, we will be playing in Pasadena on New Year’s Day. Wisconsin and Illinois, our two Big Ten no plays, already have a conference loss. To reach 10 wins we would have to go 8-0 in conference play, making us the undisputed champion.

Of course, that is not going to happen. I don’t even give it a realistic shot of happening unless we drastically turn things around and pull a pair of upsets the next two weeks. Five things need to happen before we can dream of championships again, and pulling five wins out of the rest of the season for a bowl appearance would necessitate about three of these things.

1. Fire Brock Spack – I can understand one year of a bad defense after that great one of 2003 sent numerous players to the NFL. That should have happened in 2004. That defense was actually pretty good. It was not the impetus behind that season’s slide, and it even came up with several big stops. Since 2005, the defense has been non-existent. To me, it is not a lack of talent (except in one area), but a lack of coaching. We simply refuse to believe that in game adjustments are even legal, let alone consider making them. A prime example, other than Saturday’s game, was Michigan State’s Devin Thomas catching slant pass after slant pass against us last season on third down. If I, a random blogger who never played a down of organized football in his life (I was always a basketball player) can recognize this need for adjustments it has to be a glaring issue.

2. Concentrate on recruiting real linebackers – Right now we have one serviceable healthy linebacker, and that is Anthony Heygood. Even he is a converted fullback. He’s a good player, but imagine how good he would be if this wasn’t just the second year he has ever played the position. Getting Jason Werner back will help, but this has been the overwhelming glaring weakness for us since Niko, Landon, and Gilbert left for the NFL. I think our line and our secondary are fine, but without good linebackers we’re essentially playing 8 on 11. No matter who is D-coordinator we will struggle until this is fixed.

3. Realize that other teams make adjustments and we’re allowed to counteradjust – The game of football is incredibly fluid. What works one moment will not work the next. This is true on both sides of the ball. Our coaching staff for too long on both sides of the ball has been WAAAAYYY too rigid. Another example: In Tiller’s first season we ran the bubble screen and it freaked people out. Not more than two years later a no-name linebacker for Central Michigan jumped on the play and returned it untouched for a touchdown. Other teams learn right now, we don’t.

4. Attack another team’s weakness – This may be the most maddening of all. Notre Dame cannot stop the run. We ran 17 times against them against 55 passes. Only once in almost every six plays did we actually attack a team’s weakness. The rest of the time we banged our heads against their strength, trying to break through. Running the ball (without the blasted no huddle) keeps the clock moving, keeps the ball out of the other team’s hands, and keeps our own weakness, the defense, off the field. It’s a strength this year, so let’s freakin’ use it! The same is true defensively, where we knew going in that if we blitzed Clausen he had a tendency to make mistake. Sure we may not sack him, but we might get incompletions or interceptions. Part of this is because we have linebackers that are so weak, but we still rely too much on getting pressure from just four guys. They cannot rush the quarterback and help the linebackers contain the run at the same time. It becomes a guessing game there, and we often lose.
5. Don’t panic – We are acting like John L. Smith’s teams at Michigan State when we go el foldo after a disappointing play. We showed some resiliency Saturday by coming down the field after the pick six and scoring, but once Notre Dame rolled down the field in the second half it was over. One might even say the missed field goal in the first quarter was the impetus behind that. Imagine if we make that kick, then score after not throwing the pick six. Suddenly we’re up 17-0 on the road. We cannot make mistakes, whenever they happen, affect us so dramatically anymore.

Simply put, it is up to coach Hope to fix these things. Only one involves personnel too.

At least the Cubs might win the World Series

Week 5 Big Ten rankings

11. (9) Purdue (2-2) Result: Notre Dame 38, Purdue 21 – And this is where we will stay until I am proven otherwise. Even Indiana put up a fight this weekend after falling behind Michigan State. The only thing that pulls us out of this ranking the next two weeks is an upset of the Nittany Lions or Buckeyes. That erases one of our losses.

10. (10) Indiana (2-2, 0-1) Result: Michigan State 42, Indiana 29 – I guess at this point I should say how every team ranked ahead of us would beat us. Well, with Indiana it is simple. They had a running game about as bad as Notre Dame a season ago and we refused to adjust to a simple halfback draw. This allowed Marcus Thigpen to gash us like Gale Sayers. Kellen Lewis is dangerous too, so we can forget tackling him. He is a better runner than LeFevour. Indiana doesn’t have much of a defense this year, but their offense will win some games.

9. (8) Iowa (3-2, 0-1) Result: Northwestern 22, Iowa 17 – noted Iowa blog Black Heart Gold Pants said that Northwestern is the worst 5-0 team in college football history, but what does that make the Hawkeyes after losing to them? I can’t see why we would lose to the Hawkeyes, except for the fact that we always play terribly in Iowa City. I’ll be in Miami that weekend, anyway.

8. (11) Michigan (2-2, 1-0) Result: Michigan 27, Wisconsin 25 – I was very impressed by the way Michigan got off the mat Saturday. The offensive numbers weren’t eye-popping and they were helped out by a huge pick six from the defense, but Threet as a running threat paid huge dividends. As they continue to improve, I will be proven more and more wrong about them.

7. (6) Minnesota (4-1, 0-1) Result: Ohio State 34, Minnesota 21 – I find it incredibly sad that Minnesota went on the road and played a better game in the ‘shoe this week than we did at home with a better team against the Buckeyes a year ago. DeLeon Eskridge made some hard yards on Saturday. He is a good back for them to build a rushing offense around and the passing offense isn’t too bad either.

6. (7) Northwestern (5-0, 1-0) Result: Northwestern 22, Iowa 17 – The curse of the pink locker room is broken? Iowa simply handed the game over with five turnovers and 19 unanswered points. The Wildcats might want to worry about their kicking game, as a missed PAT nearly cost them. They get a week off to host Michigan State in what should be a very interesting game. If they get past that a 9-0 start suddenly becomes realistic.

5. (5) Illinois (2-2, 0-1) Result: Penn State 38, Illinois 24 – I am still not quite sure what to make of the Illini. I watched a good portion of the Penn State game and they seem wildly inconsistent. One moment they look like they can do no wrong, the next they are getting burned by speedy receivers and can’t move the ball themselves. The game with Michigan should be very good in terms of positioning for the bowls.

4. (1) Wisconsin (4-1, 0-1) Result: Michigan 27, Wisconsin 25 – Wisconsin choked. That’s the only plausible explanation for blowing a 19 point second half lead. Wisconsin dominated nearly every statistical category, yet turned the ball over four times to negate Michigan’s five mistakes. Their loss was a lot like ours to Oregon in that they had several chances to put the game away, but couldn’t take advantage. Credit then goes to the Michigan defense.

3. (4) Ohio State (4-1, 1-0) Result: Ohio State 34, Minnesota 21 – I think the optimist in me has totally been burned away. Before Saturday, I was actually thinking Purdue had a chance of going to Columbus and winning. Even as Minnesota didn’t get totally blown out I thought that. Now, I expect nothing less than the next game in which we roll over and die after playing unexpectedly close against Penn State this week. Excuse me while I break something.

2. (3) Michigan State (4-1, 1-0) Result: Michigan State 42, Indiana 29 – Jevon Ringer’s worst game this season came in Michigan State’s only loss at California. Even then, he had over 80 yards rushing and a pair of scores. Right now he is the conference’s most legitimate Heisman candidate. If he stays healthy he will also be sleeping on a pile of money with many beautiful ladies at this time next year.

1. (2) Penn State (5-0, 1-0) Result: Penn State 38, Illinois 24 – The Nittany Lions are now a top ten team. They are the only team from the conference that has a somewhat realistic shot at the national championship. If true chaos were to reign, the Boilers would somehow bottle the magic from the great 1999 Michigan State game and pull off a huge upset this Saturday. The more likely of scenarios is that this team will play out of its mind for three quarters, suck me in again, then crush my heart, leaving me to drive back to Indianapolis and watch the tape of Miami-Florida State we’ll have in silence that evening as I write another tirade and wait for basketball season.

Blogpoll ballot:

There is some big news brewing in regards to the blogpoll. It is news that I can’t publish at the moment, but it will mean a lot more exposure for Off the Tracks. It was some very good news to hear today as today was also my grandmother’s funeral. There were a huge number of changes to this week’s ballot because of the number of upsets. My preseason tirade against Nick Saban and Alabama makes me look like a complete idiot, but I can accept that. After all, I predicted Purdue could win 10 games this year. Here is this week’s preliminary ballot. Feel free to comment in the comments.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oklahoma	2
2	Alabama	11
3	LSU	1
4	Texas	2
5	Missouri	2
6	Penn State	5
7	Georgia	5
8	Texas Tech	1
9	Southern Cal	8
10	Brigham Young	--
11	Auburn	1
12	Florida	7
13	Utah	1
14	South Florida	2
15	Wisconsin	7
16	Ohio State	2
17	Kansas	--
18	Boise State	1
19	Oregon	4
20	Michigan State	2
21	Vanderbilt	5
22	Wake Forest	7
23	Ball State	2
24	Northwestern	2
25	Oregon State	1

Dropped Out: TCU (#20), Clemson (#21), Miami (Florida) (#24).

Season over

It’s not even over as I write this, but this is the most embarrassing loss under Joe Tiller. The statistics tell the story.

Notre Dame came in as one of the worst rushing teams in the nation again, not even averaging 80 yards per game. We gave up 201 yards, including 134 to Armando Allen.

Jimmy Clausen had a career best 275 yards and three touchdowns. He had two picks in each game so far. We didn’t get a pick, and rarely got defensive pressure. I’ll give credit where credit is due. Jimmy Montana played a great game, but our defense showed no interest whatsoever in wanting to play the third quarter.

Notre Dame was susceptible to the run. After Kory Sheets’ early touchdown run we completely went away from the running game. Once down 14 points, we went back to it for a few plays and Kory gashed them. It seems to me that is this is working,a nd has for four games now, we might want to go to it again.

Kickoff returns were a strength. On most returns it was a comedy of errors.

We couldn’t afford empty trips into the red zone like two years ago. We missed a short field goal and went for it late when we probably shouldn’t have. Three points there might have at least given us a small chance. Notre Dame Answered with a three point drive of its own and it was over.

The one play I alluded to in the preview happened. Painter’s ugly pick six undid a lot of good for the senior quarterback. We were leading 7-0 at that point. We had missed a field goal, but survived an ND miss to even things out. The pick tied it, but after coming back down to retake the lead we were outscored 31-7 the rest of the way. We only slowed down the Irish when the game was well in hand at the end.

Brock Spack needs to be fired. Don’t even wait to get back to West Lafayette, just fire him in the post game press conference. The offense once again played well enough to win. His defense, however, continued its maddening tendency to not make adjustments or exploit weaknesses. It’s like he felt we didn’t need to play run defense because they were so bad. Why not play overwhelming run defense and force Clausen to throw 60 times per game? The game has passed Spack by. If he will not make any in game adjustments or even try make other teams adjust to his defenses it is time for him to go.

This season is now for all intents and purposes, over. We will not beat Penn State. We will not beat Ohio State. In two weeks, we will be 2-4 needing to go 5-1 in the second half just to assure a bowl game. That will not happen. Michigan will run wild on us after shocking Wisconsin today. Tyrell Sutton will gash us because we won’t adjust to Northwestern’s running game. Javon Ringer could possibly break LaDanian Tomlinson’s single game rushing record against us. That is 406 yards for those of you scoring at home. Even Indiana will run for over 200 yards.

It is not even the fact that we lost to Notre Dame. I can accept that as the Irish played a nearly perfect game offensively. It is the method in which it happened. There is absolutely no excuse for things that have been glaring weaknesses for at least 15 consecutive games to become overwhelming strengths. More examples:

We knew Notre Dame was vulnerable against the run. We ran 17 times and passed 55 times. That was with the game being within reach for the majority of time. It’s not like we fell behind early and had to pass, pass, pass to catch up. Kory Sheets ran for almost 7 yards a carry, yet he only rushed the ball 13 times and less than 10 in the first half when we led most of the way? WTF?

It led to only three points, but we got absolutely hosed on a play that even the receiver didn’t think he came up with the catch. At that point there was still the smallest of chances. A stop there meant it was a two possession game. With the way the offense was moving we still had time for two scores. The catch let Notre Dame get enough for a field goal, and it was game over from there.

The fact the Irish even made a field goal is the final insult. It was Notre Dame’s first made field goal of the year.

Now, matters are worse. We lost one of best defensive players in Frank Duong to a knee injury that certainly did not sound good. We also may have lost Kory Sheets for awhile too. When he went off the field late in the game favoring his shoulder it looked like he could be out for an extensive amount of time.

Sheets, Tardy, and Painter (if you take away the interception) played very well. Painter was spreading the ball around as he should. Sheets was elusive when we gave him the ball (which wasn’t enough) and Tardy was fantastic after the catch. Those are the only positive from this game.

Still, this coaching staff needs a drastic attitude adjustment. The “good” rushing team should never have 17 attempts when the “abysmal” rushing team has 40. That is what happened today. That lies strictly on the shoulders of the coaching staff. It is like they are trying to force Painter’s Heisman candidacy and record breaking attempts instead of doing what will help this team win football games. Against Oregon we ran a freaking no-huddle instead of running clock with the lead against a ranked team. These coaching decisions aren’t even questionable anymore. They are downright absurd.

Barring a drastic turnaround defensively, this season is all but over. We cannot stop even the worst rushing teams from running the ball down our throats. We are not generating a pass rush even against a team that doesn’t have a strong offensive line. We should be absolutely embarrassed with our second half effort this week after being able to play good second halves in all three games before this. We succeeded only in making Jimmy Clausen looks like Joe Montana and Armando Allen look like Marcus Allen.

We might find two or three wins the rest of the way, but five in order to assure a bowl game? I don’t think so.

Big Ten week 5 preview

I continue to kick some severe ass in the Big Ten bloggers’ pick ‘em standings, but I admit that the games have been easy to pick so far. That changes this week as everyone but Purdue opens up conference play. About the only thing I can pick with 100% confidence is that Purdue will be all by itself in 6th place come Sunday morning. Most of the games have clear favorites, but I get the sense we’re in for one of the more interesting conference races in years since the Michigan-Ohio State game likely won’t decide the conference champion.

Purdue (2-1) at Notre Dame (2-1) 3:30pm NBC

If Purdue plays a perfect game, or even close to perfect, I think the Boilers will win in South Bend. That is far from a guarantee, however. We are still susceptible to short screen passes and that is what the Irish love to do. Last year we didn’t defend the deep ball well and now Golden Tate has emerged as a solid deep threat. Unlike our visits to Ann Arbor, I feel truly cursed in Notre Dame Stadium because of the sheer number of mistakes we make just to cost us the game. At least going to Michigan I know we’re going to play like crap and get destroyed.

In 1998 it was two late Drew Brees interceptions when we only needed to run out the clock. In 2000 it was special teams miscues that allowed us to get beaten by a third string QB that eventually became a tight end. In 2002 it was three turnovers returned for touchdowns, including two on consecutive plays. In 2006 it was failing to get points on five trips into Irish territory. When we came up with the rare perfect game we stomped the Irish 48-16 in 2004. That is still one of my favorite games I have ever watched, but I don’t expect it this year.

We will know early if Purdue is going to win if they keep Notre Dame’s running game under wraps and can defend the short pass. I have confidence in our secondary because we have been able to defend the deep ball fairly well so far. We also must commit to the running game with Kory Sheets. Notre Dame is vulnerable against the run, and Sheets proved last year he can run on them. Like 2004, we need to get a lead early and not let up. That being said, I still need to see it to believe it. Something will happen to give Notre Dame another “luck of the Irish” win over us. Notre Dame 21, Purdue 20

Michigan State (3-1) at Indiana (2-1) Noon, ESPN

Ball State’s MarQuale Lewis ran all over the Hoosiers last week. Can you imagine what Jevon Ringer is going to do? It was because of Lewis’ effort that Nate Davis had a very efficient game that turned into a blowout. The Ball State defense even pitched a second half shutout, so what is an experienced and talented Spartan defense going to do? It is amazing to see that after one game Indiana’s dream season is in serious trouble. Ball State is good, but they still vastly exposed and humiliated the Hoosiers last week.

Michigan State only needs to be concerned about wearing down a great back Ringer. Yes he’s at almost 700 yards and has 11 TD’s on the year already, but he also has an enormous number of carries. Michigan State probably wants to limit his carries at least somewhat over the next three weeks before a key Ohio State-Michigan-Wisconsin stretch beginning in mid-October. If Indiana comes out and rolls over like it did last year in East Lansing they will be in severe trouble the rest of the year. A loss means they would have to run the table at home (and Wisconsin would likely prevent that) while gathering one win at Minnesota, Illinois, Penn State, or Purdue just to guarantee a bowl game. Michigan State 34, Indiana 21

Northwestern (4-0) at Iowa (3-1) Noon ESPN Classic

This will be an interesting game in terms of Big Ten bowl positioning. Neither team will win the conference, but both will be fighting for one of the last three bowl spots. The only real test either team has faced was Iowa’s visit to Pittsburgh last week, which the Hawkeyes nearly passed. Northwestern’s offense hasn’t put up the numbers that some expected from them, but they are 4-0 for the first time in 46 years so I doubt their fans have much to complain about.

Iowa’s offense faces some similar struggles. It put up some big numbers against Maine and FIU, but was bailed out by the defense against Iowa State and couldn’t get moving for a game-winning score at Pittsburgh. Northwestern’s defense has been surprisingly stout by Wildcat standards, so that should provide an interesting test. Iowa probably needs this game more than Northwestern at the moment. Home games against Wisconsin and Penn State with road trips to Michigan State, Illinois, and even Indiana (a tough out for the Hawkeyes recently) would all be tough if Iowa loses this game. I do think the Hawkeyes can squeeze this one out at home though. Iowa 17, Northwestern 16

Minnesota (4-0) at #13 Ohio State (3-1) Noon Big Ten Network

Am I alone in thinking this game could potentially be a lot closer than expected? Minnesota’s offense has had some pretty good moments so far this year. Still, they remind me of Purdue the last two seasons. Yes, they’re unbeaten, but this is their first real test. Ohio State isn’t playing too well at the moment, but this could be a game like last year’s in West Lafayette when they simply asserted dominance based on overall talent.

This will also mark the long-awaited return of Chris Wells to the Ohio State lineup. I didn’t think one player would make a difference with the sheer amount of raw talent the Buckeyes possess, but we’ll find out if it truly does make a difference. It should also be interesting to see how things open up for Terrelle Pryor at quarterback with Wells beside him. I can think of a lot worse options for teams. Minnesota will probably hang around for a quarter or two, but if Wells is back at full strength the Buckeyes probably won’t be challenged. Ohio State 28, Minnesota 13

#9 Wisconsin (3-0) at Michigan (1-2) 3:30 ABC

This has the potential to get ugly. Both teams have had two weeks to prepare for this game. Michigan certainly needed the time more. If it is a matter of practice and repetition the Michigan offense should be much better this week. Still, opening against the prohibitive favorite in the Big Ten is far from the best case scenario. What Michigan needs is a confidence-building win against a weaker opponent, not a top 10 team coming to town with dreams of something larger for its season. Michigan’s first four conference games are about as hard as it gets for anyone this year.

The Wisconsin defense has been lights out in the second half of games so far. They have given up just 17 points after halftime. If they lead at the half it is pretty much game over. Michigan will provide a sterner test than Akron or Marshall. They still have a ton of improvement to accomplish before I can pick them here though. Wisconsin 27, Michigan 10.

#22 Illinois (2-1) at #12 Penn State (4-0) 8pm ABC

Illinois needs to pull an upset here if it wants to return to a BCS bowl. Of course, I don’t think they deserved to go last year, but I’m sure the athletics departments of all 11 Big Ten Schools will thanks the Rose bowl committee for the extra payday their appearance produced. If Big Ten schools guarantee paydays for the Northern Colorados of the world its about time we got paid a little extra for one member to go take a beating. Illinois can silence a lot of questions by shocking the Nittany Lions.

Unfortunately, Penn State is the one team in the conference that has had absolutely no problems so far. They haven’t even fallen into the trap of playing down to their competition. A win this week likely means our next shot at a ranked team will come against a member of the top 10. I definitely want to keep an eye on this on to gauge our chances for next week, especially if we pull off the win in South Bend. Penn State is one of the few Big Ten teams left with a marginal shot at playing for the national championship. They will keep that shot alive, but Illinois proved last year they are not afraid to play in any venue. Penn State 27, Illinois 21.

National games of note:

#8 Alabama at #3 Georgia – This week’s SEC matchup of top 10 teams should be a pretty good one. Both teams are playing extremely well at the moment, so expect another close one like Last week’s Auburn-LSU game. This easily could be a preview of an SEC championship rematch, and even (if everything falls just right) round one of three between the two. Say it is a close game that Alabama loses. Both teams then run the table in a very tough conference and meet in the SEC championship where Alabama turns the tables and wins in a close one. If no one else is unbeaten you can bet there will be a lot of talk about a third game between he two. Georgia 17, Alabama 14

#24 TCU at #2 Oklahoma – this game ahs blowout potential. TCU already tripped up Oklahoma at home a few years ago when everyone was ready to hand them the national championship, so you can be the Sooners will not overlook this game again. Oklahoma 35, TCU 14

North Carolina at Miami (FL) – I was very impressed by the stomping the Canes put on Texas A&M last week. Next is a team that has given them all kinds of fits since they moved to the ACC. It is also a homecoming for Butch Davis, who is building a very good program at UNC. He was very responsible for Miami’s last national title, as he brought in many of the players on that dominant team. If Miami gets past this one, they are a serious threat to win the ACC. Miami 24, North Carolina 17.

Q&A with Rakes of Mallow

I wanted to thank everyone that has stopped by the last couple of days and offered their condolences. It has been a whirlwind since yesterday, and will continue to be until the funeral on Monday. I have a few things that were already pre made to post over the next few days in order to break up the monotony

The first such thing is a question and answer session that I had with the Notre Dame blog Rake of Mallow over at SB Nation. My answers can be found over here at this link:

Off the Tracks: Notre Dame's defense didn't help the offense at times last year. How much improvement have you seen on this side of the ball? Have you been concerned by the absolute lack of a pass rush?

Rakes of Mallow: This defense is pretty young and rather thin along the defensive line, but I think they've been playing well. The safety tandem of David Bruton and Kyle McCarthy has been fantastic, both nearly averaging double digits in tackles, and Brian Smith is emerging as a leader at linebacker. The corner depth is really strong, although relatively untested against the run-heavy attacks of Michigan and Michigan State.

You pointed out the lack of pressure, and yes, that's a cause for concern. The biggest weakness on the defense is negligible depth, and that means the Irish have to blitz to get pressure. While we all have faith that Coach Tenuta's blitzes will eventually begin hitting, they're just not getting there yet. I'd like to think they'll have success against Purdue Saturday, but there is no way to tell.

OTT: How has Notre Dame's running game struggled so much with such talented backs? Is it a result of the line or underperforming ballcarriers?

ROM: I would put it more on the line than the ballcarriers. Armando Allen seems to have difficulty finding space at times and James Aldridge has been dinged up since he started getting serious time, but Robert Hughes has had some solid production in his limited career. The line still doesn't have a lot of starting experience outside of right tackle Sam Young, and whether its scheme, play-calling or talent, the running game just hasn't gotten it done since 2006.

OTT: Where do you think Jimmy Clausen is in his development so far? Is he ahead of or behind Quinn?

ROM: Quinn and Clausen both were thrown into the fire their freshman year and performed admirably under adverse circumstances, but at this point, I'd give the nod to Clausen. To be fair, Quinn's sophomore year passing options under Ty Willingham were limited to "Bomb it deep to Matt Shelton" or "Throw a bubble screen to Rhema McKnight." Say what you will about Coach Weis, but he knows his quarterbacks, and the level Quinn reached his final two seasons in South Bend is something Clausen can only aspire to reach. There is enough talent at wide receiver (Tate, Floyd, Kamara), that Clausen could approach all of Quinn's records if he can get an offensive line in front of him comparable to what Our Fair Brady was working with, but he has to keep improving.

OTT: What do you think is the biggest reason Purdue has struggled to close out Notre Dame in South bend under coach Tiller? Is it simple "Luck of the Irish?"

ROM: I really have no idea, because Notre Dame Stadium has been anything but a house of horrors for most Irish opponents (Michigan won in '06, USC the last three trips, Michigan State never loses there). I guess just plain bad luck, plus catching some of the better Irish teams there (the'98 Gator Bowl team, '00 Fiesta Bowl team,'02 Gator Bowl team, '06 Sugar Bowl team) and hosted the atrocities in 2003 and 2007.

Finally, in an effort to pay some bills this week, it is important to remember that the Purdue-Notre Dame game is one for the Shillelagh trophy. If you're in need of your own trophy, feel free to visit the following sites:

golf trophies

cheerleading trophies

soccer trophies

Off the Tracks pauses for a moment

Today is a sad day, as the official grandmother of Off the Tracks, Edna Dillon, passed away this afternoon at the age of 91. She leaves behind four grandchildren with me, my sister, and our spouses, as well as two great grandchildren. My mother is the only child, but today my grandmother is reunited with my beloved grandfather. Both are very responsible for my love of sports, so in a way they have a big hand in the creation of this site. My grandmother was a Boilermaker fan by association. I was the first member on her side of the family to graduate from college, and I made sure she was there at my graduation six years ago. She proudly had a Purdue grandma shirt back in the day and was wearing a Purdue Rose Bowl shirt watching the game on TV back here in Indiana while we were out there. Naturally, the publication schedule will be a little hectic over the next few days.

Let's Boiler up on Saturday and win one for one less Boiler fan today.

Notre Dame Preview

I would almost say that Saturday’s game in South Bend is a must win for Purdue if we’re going to have a good 2008 season. We have already whiffed on one good chance for a “name” win. The Irish are better this year, but they are still beatable. With upcoming games against Penn State and Ohio State, plus a road trip to Michigan State later on we need as many wins as we can get for to stymie the inevitable game that we completely gack against someone we should beat. Unfortunately, our recent history has shown that Notre Dame Stadium is the most unkind venue of all for us short of Michigan and Ohio Stadiums.

What does a win do for us? It lets us keep the Shillelagh trophy for consecutive seasons, something that’s only been done once under coach Tiller. It also gives Tiller an even .500 record against the Irish, something many Irish fans would refuse to admit to. More importantly, it gives us a much-needed 3-1 finish in non conference play. Since we’re already down a strike to Northwestern and Minnesota record-wise in terms of bowl position we can’t afford to give them another strike, or give a strike to teams like Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois. 4-4 is a reasonable expectation for a Big Ten season, but needing 5-3 just to insure a bowl leaves little margin for error.

What scares me the most about this game is the sheer inability to finish when we have played in South Bend. Yes we finally broke through in 2004, but that should have been our fourth win in a row up there, not the first in over 30 years. We completely choked in 1998, 2000, and 2002. I fear another painful loss can happen this year. That is why I refuse to believe in any win at Notre Dame Stadium by the Boilers until the clock reads triple zeroes and we have more points than them.

Notre Dame offense:

I have derisively called him Jimmy Montana, but he has brought it on himself with the braggadocio he displayed in saying he wanted to win four Heisman trophies and four national championships at Notre Dame. While he will fall short of that goal, you have to give him credit for thinking big. After all, isn’t that the point of playing this game? Jimmy struggled last year, but has improved in year two. In what little that I saw of the Michigan State game I saw that he is already somewhat ahead of Curtis Painter in that he doesn’t zero in on one receiver every throw. He actually moves his head and scans the field. The numbers are respectable through three games as he has completed 55 of 96 passes for 626 yards and six scores. He also has 6 interceptions, so he is still learning.

Jimmy’s offense has improved because he has received better protection. He is no longer running for his life on every single play as the coverage breaks down. Purdue was able to knock him around last year, but he still made some good throws to go with the bad (18 of 26 for 169 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT). It will be important to get that same pressure, especially since the Notre Dame running game often offers him little help. Robert Hughes leads the Irish on the ground with just 142 yards and two touchdowns through three games. This has come on 41 carries, so it’s not like he is breaking big runs, either. Notre Dame’s longest run from scrimmage was a 24 yard end around by Golden Tate. As a team the Irish have only rushed for 234 yards and those two scores by Hughes.

Still, Central Michigan was only slightly better and they ran all over us. Most of that came from Dan LeFevour. Jimmy Clausen is no Dan LeFevour in terms of mobility. Hughes and Armando Allen have talent on paper, but have not shown it consistently on the field. We cannot let them go off as we let LaGarrette Blount and Jeremiah Johnson of Oregon. We have to make Clausen throw, and we have to learn to defend the screen pass to the running back.

Allen and Hughes have combined for 12 receptions so far, but have not gathered many yards. If Notre Dame is smart they will pass to them time and again out of the backfield on screens because we have been unable to stop this play for five years. We couldn’t learn it last week when Ontario Sneed caught six passes for 57 yards and two scores, so I doubt we’re suddenly going to learn it. This was a problem as far back as 2004 when Sam Keller kept dumping the ball off to his running back in the Sun Bowl. We continue to act like we have never ever seen this play, let alone think it is legal. Why do I expect us to start no?. If I were an opposing offense I would keep exploiting it until we stopped it.

As far as other receivers go we need to watch for Golden Tate. Tate was quiet last year against everyone else, but exploded for 104 yards and a score on just three catches. Two of them were highlight-worthy dives, while his remaining numbers on the season were 3 for 27. Thus far he has proved to be Clausen’s favorite target with 15 catches for 303 yards and two scores. He is a big play threat we must contain because he’ll actually catch the ball as opposed to dropping it like Central Michigan and Northern Colorado did. Michael Floyd is the next threat (10-118-2), while Clausen has spread the ball around to seven other receivers on the season with at least two catches. One is the suspended Will Yeatman, but he only had two catches for six yards.

The eye-popping numbers of as recent as two years ago are not there for the Irish. Still, we have a history of turning quiet players into stars for a day. A great example is Tate just a year ago. If we’re going to have a chance in this game we cannot allow this to happen. If we can hold the bulk of Notre Dame’s regulars to their season averages we should have a good chance at winning. If Allen and Hughes starts busting 15 yards runs every play (or 20 yard catches on screens) we’ll be in deep trouble. Notre Dame’s offense has improved so much because the line has allowed just 3 sacks on the season. Our secondary must keep playing well in coverage and bring down our 429 yards per game average.

Notre Dame defense:

Statistically Notre Dame’s defense isn’t good, but it is better than ours. Again, that is statistically speaking. Part of the reason it looks better is because of the competition it has faced. San Diego State bombed away with the passing game while Michigan’s offense is one in that calling it inept at this point would pay it a complement. Talking about the Irish pass rush would imply that it actually had one. The one sack that Notre Dame has in three games came from linebacker Maurice Crum. Our offensive line continues to improve in protecting Painter, so he should have plenty of time to throw again. The Irish have generated a more respectable 15 tackles for loss, so they have proven they can get into the backfield some.

Notre Dame has proven to be pretty good at forcing turnovers with nine takeaways in three games. David Bruton has two of those takeaways with an interception and fumble recovery. He is also tied for the lead in solo tackles with Kyle McCarthy at 18. Crum may be the most dangerous all-around player. He is a 3-year starter at inside linebacker and he has 10 solo tackles, 2.5 for loss. He is the player the defense revolves around.

The critical element of our offense will be Kory Sheets. Javon Ringer of Michigan State and Sam McGuffie ran all day on the Irish, as did Sheets a year ago (141 yards, 2 TD’s) in West Lafayette. Notre Dame is giving up more than 140 yards per game on the ground, but the past two games have been especially bad. SDSU had only 71 yards on the ground, but Um and MSU has 159 and 242 respectively. If Sheets continues to play well and has another day like he did against Oregon, Purdue has a great chance of winning.

The Irish are fairly average against the pass, giving up 215 yards per game through the air. Two years ago Curtis Painter had a great day in South Bend, but struggled in the red zone and got no help from the defense. Last year Sheets had a banner day, but the red zone struggles continued as Chris Summers bailed us out with his first four field goal day. We need every point we can get in South Bend. This year those field goals have to be touchdowns. We have to go for the kill offensively and not let up until this team is dead. Even then, as history has proven, we’d better score another touchdown just to be safe.

Simply put, Curtis Painter has to play better. He will have time to throw, so he has to go through his progressions and not make big mistakes as he is prone to do. He has not played well yet, but this can change with a good game on national TV. We also need to make sure we use Mr. Sheets plenty. If we get another 100 yard game we should be in good shape. An Oregon-esque performance means we will lose only if we beat ourselves.

Notre Dame Special Teams:

This should be a huge advantage. For all the four and five star players that Charlie Weis has recruited since arriving in South Bend he has yet to get an even serviceable kicker. Last year the Irish missed not one, but two extra points in West Lafayette. Brandon Walker is a perfect 9 of 9 on PAT’s, but it 0 for 3 on field goals with all three misses coming from 40+ yards. There have also been issues with snapping the ball on attempts. Weis is a sneaky coach, so I would be ready for a fake every time. It worked two years ago, if you’ll remember.

In the punting game we have to get better at coverage. We had success against Central Michigan, but the Oregon game is still fresh in my mind. Our own return game has been great so far, but I don’t want it to be a factor Saturday. We’re currently second in the country on average yards per kickoff return and we haven’t even taken one to the house yet. I would just as soon improve on that by having only one chance Saturday and taking it to the house. That means we pitched a shut out, but I don’t expect it at all.

Armando Allen is a dangerous returned, averaging over 11 yards on punts returns and 24 on kickoffs. Remember how Vontez Duff was such a difference maker in the 2001 and 2002 games? Allen could be the same.

Final thoughts:

On paper we should win. Notre Dame’s offense is one-dimensional and has a tendency to get bogged down on the ground. Michigan gifted them with a boatload of turnovers and San Diego State had an unfortunate fumble at the goal line. Otherwise, the Irish would likely be 0-3 right now. On the other side of the ball, we’re running the ball well and Curtis Painter is due for a breakout game. Why then, do I have such a bad feeling?

It has to do with history. We very rarely play well in South Bend. We almost always shoot ourselves in the foot with a costly turnover or special teams play. Our defense also has shown in recent seasons that we can even make the most average of players into superstars for one game. On paper the Irish have a huge talent differential if you go strictly on recruiting rankings. Those players have yet to produce, but that doesn’t mean the talent isn’t there. It only takes one game to break out, and we’re capable of being more than accommodating.

I like that our offense, even in its struggles, is still playing much better than Notre Dame’s. It has moved the ball when it had to and gotten points when needed. The defense has shown some good moments so far too. Clausen can’t run nearly as well as LeFevour, so we won’t have that element to worry about this week unless there is a disastrous breakdown multiple times. If we can actually figure out the damn screen pass we can slow down the Irish offensively. If we play like we did early against Oregon we should win.

But this is South Bend, and that almost never happens. I expect another close game with an agonizing finish like a 65 yard bomb of a field goal to beat us in the end. Pick forthcoming tomorrow in the Big Ten preview.

Big rankings for week 4 (plus blogpoll ballot)

Before we begin this wrap I wanted to touch on the events of yesterday evening. Last night was the final game in Yankee Stadium. I have never been a fan of the Yankees. I was raised a Cubs fan and I will die a Cubs fan (making this year a rare happy year in baseball). Still, I have a sense of history. I had a chance to attend a game at Yankee Stadium last summer. I knew I was going to be in New York City on the day of a Yankee game so I got tickets in advance. It was the only day I have ever been in New York. I went strictly as a sports fan visiting one of the great cathedrals of sport. I consider my single visit to be one of the jewels in my crown of sports attendance. It was only a meaningless July game against the blue Jays, but to stand in the same house where so much history was made was almost overwhelming.

It is a shame that we live in an age where money is more important than tradition. The single class Indiana High School basketball tournament, the Miami Orange Bowl, and now Yankee Stadium are all on that list of proud traditions that were lost, but did not need to be lost. I consider myself fortunate to have seen all three. Yankee Stadium, you will be missed. The only way baseball could be sadder is if Fenway and Wrigley (two other parks I have been fortunate enough to visit) go by the wayside as well.

Week 4 Big Ten rankings

11. (11) Michigan (1-2) Results: bye – The Wolverines had a bye this week, so there’s not really much else that needs to be said. Opening the season with the new prohibitive favorite in the conference won’t help matters much. Michigan can do wonders for its season by beating Wisconsin this week. The Badgers simply want to get past one of their most difficult road games.

I don’t think the Wolverines will stay down here for long. The long bowl streak is likely to end this season as everyone lines up to take their shots, but they will get better. Just how much better remains to be seen.

10. (7) Indiana (2-1) Result: Ball State 42, Indiana 20– The Dante Love injury last night was absolutely hideous. The news that he is moving again and seems to be recovering after a five hour surgery is incredibly encouraging. That is easily the biggest story from IU’s loss last night. It wasn’t even the only life-threatening injury on the night, as South Florida’s Brouce Mompremier had another very serious looking injury last night as well.

Ball State is very good this year. They may have the best team they have ever had. Their streak against BCS conference teams is now over and I suspected it would happen. I just never expected it would happen in such dominating fashion. The Cardinals completely shut down a very good Indiana offense in the second half. Now the Hoosiers had better hope they win five conference games to assure a bowl bid, because a later game against Central Michigan is far from a guarantee.

9. (10) Purdue (2-1) Result: Purdue 32, Central Michigan 25 – Most people thought Purdue would be 2-1 at this point regardless of what happened. The truth is that Purdue should be 3-0 right now if Curtis Painter had played up to his hype. If Painter ever starts playing to the massive expectations played on his shoulders Purdue has shown that they will be a difficult out every week. As I write this, I am watching the replay of yesterday’s game on the Big Ten network. They were talking about how we had nothing on the ground. Well, we had nothing on the ground because we didn’t go to the strength of the team (at this time, the running game) in Kory Sheets enough.

And what is wrong with that? The running game has been great when we have used it at this point. Why not commit to it and run until teams force us to throw? I know I am nothing more than a blogger instead of a head coach, but why not completely shift the perception of the team just to shock people for a few games? That’s a wild and crazy idea, considering everyone expects us to pass until Painter’s arm falls off. It would never work.

Seriously though, I am encouraged by much of our defense. Unfortunately, through three games opposing offenses have exploited the weakness of that unit. The front four has performed well, even generating great pressure yesterday. The secondary has been great with four picks in the last two games, three for absolutely huge plays. Opposing offenses have been attacking our linebackers at will. Heygood is good, but he has been on a bit of an island so far. If Werner gets backs they should be better, but if I were an opposing offense I would continue to do exactly what Northern Colorado, Oregon, and Central Michigan have done. Memo to Notre Dame: run the halfback screen all day and Clausen will break records.

8. (5) Iowa (3-1) Result: Pittsburgh 21, Iowa 20 – I don’t know if the following was an Iowa related e-mail, but it came from the state of Iowa. Therefore, I officially apologize to any Iowa fans that read this site for this e-mail:

Do you get paid to make your stupid predictions? I have seen some talking heads in my lifetime who thought they were so-called experts, but you really take the cake.

You are not even close. What a joke.

Doc,

Adel, Iowa

Okay, I predicted Iowa to lose, and they did lose. I am not exactly trailing the Big Ten bloggers’ pick ‘em standings by that much. So please, inform me what you are basing the accusation on?

Seriously though, Iowa needed a win yesterday against their first real opponent and they did not get it. Therefore, I have to continue reserving judgment on the Hawkeyes. Opening Big Ten play at home against Northwestern, who finally broke through and beat all of its non-conference opponents, will be a good gauge for both.

7. (6) Northwestern (4-0) Result: Northwestern 16, Ohio 8– Speaking of the Wildcats, they deserve congratulations for surviving C.J. Bacher on Saturday. The Wildcats tried their best to get their annual head-scratcher of a non-conference loss, but pulled it out in the end thanks to the defense. Bacher threw four interceptions, but the defense managed to block a pair of field goal attempts and kept the Bobcats from turning that generosity into a flood of points. If Bacher plays better, Northwestern will definitely go bowling somewhere. Northwestern is 4-0 for the first time in 46 years.

6. (9) Minnesota (4-0) Result: Minnesota 37, Florida Atlantic 3 – Minnesota is an odd team so far. In their non-conference games that I expected them to sail through they struggled. In the two that I expected trouble, they won with ease. A 37-3 win over Florida Atlantic is nothing to be ashamed of, especially since the same team hung 42 on their defense a year ago. Tim Brewster’s bunch can now legitimately dream of the postseason with just a pair of conference wins. That’s quite a step forward from a year ago.

Unfortunately, as the close wins over Northern Illinois and Montana State have shown, the defense still has a tendency to go south at times. That will likely make for a very up and down Big Ten campaign.

5. (8) Illinois (2-1) Result: bye – No game for the Illini last week, which is probably a good thing after the close call against Louisiana-Lafayette. They don’t draw an easy assignment by opening conference play at Penn State. The Nittany Lions also have revenge on their minds after losing in Champaign last year. I admit I haven’t followed the Illini much this season since Purdue hasn’t played them in two years. I’m going to try and follow this week’s game at Penn State a little more, especially since we get Penn State next.

4. (3) Ohio State (3-1) Result: Ohio State 28, Troy 10 – I’m dropping the Buckeyes again because the Troy game was probably a little too close for too long. Minnesota may be feeling feisty enough to make a game of it this week, but I doubt it. More than Beanie Wells, this team feels like something is just off at the moment. Switching from Boeckman to Pryor appears to have helped, but that was against Troy. Minnesota is better than Troy, and could potentially pull an upset if the Buckeye aren’t careful.

3. (4) Michigan State (3-1) Result: Michigan State 23, Notre Dame 7 – Thank you, Spartans, for preventing the return to glory. Now just please make sure you run Javon Ringer as much as you have so he is exhausted by the time we play you. Seriously, Ringer is playing like the Big Ten player of the year so far. I might even say he is making a mild case for the Heisman. It’s unfortunate that the loss to Cal happened, because the longer that Michigan State stayed undefeated the better his chances were. The Spartans will have to balance their offense more in case teams either figure out how to stop Ringer or he gets hurt.

Notre Dame was also in position near the end to win when I didn’t expect them to. This makes me very nervous heading into South Bend Saturday.

2. (2) Penn State (4-0) Result: Penn State 45, Temple 3 – Penn State has been the most dominant team in the conference so far. They have yet to be tested by any of their opponents. Sure they haven’t played anyone of note, but it has to be encouraging that Penn State hasn’t even remotely played down to their level of competition. Now they face a pretty good Illinois team. If they win that one in dominating fashion we can seriously consider Penn state for even more than the Big Ten championship.

1. (1) Wisconsin (3-0) Result: bye – Wisconsin stays at the top because they have the most impressive win to date. They also get the first crack at Michigan in conference play. There is no true advantage coming into this week’s game because both had a bye before facing each other. As well as Wisconsin’s defense has played in the second half of its games Michigan may be lucky to see the other side of the 50 after halftime. October 11^th may be the best game this season in the conference when Penn State comes to Madison.

Blogpoll ballot:

I didn’t have many changes at the top this week. I couldn’t even punish Auburn that much because of who they lost to. Most of the changes are at the bottom. I had to give Ball state some love after Saturday night’s game. The Cardinals are definitely for real and the game at Central Michigan should be fantastic. I was also impressed enough by Miami stomping Texas A&M at College Station that I let them back into the poll. If Miami continues to improve like they are I expect the Canes to stay for most of the season. I may even be attending the November 13^th game against Virginia Tech down in Miami. Here is the rest of the poll, feel free to comment or gripe in the comments section.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	--
2	Georgia	2
3	Oklahoma	1
4	LSU	1
5	Florida	2
6	Texas	2
7	Missouri	1
8	Wisconsin	1
9	Texas Tech	2
10	Brigham Young	5
11	Penn State	6
12	Auburn	3
13	Alabama	3
14	Utah	5
15	Wake Forest	5
16	South Florida	3
17	Kansas	1
18	Ohio State	4
19	Boise State	7
20	TCU	6
21	Clemson	--
22	Michigan State	--
23	Oregon	11
24	Miami (Florida)	2
25	Ball State	1

Dropped Out: East Carolina (#16), North Carolina (#23), Fresno State (#24), Vanderbilt (#25).

Turning Point?

In the fall of 2004 Purdue reached the alleged high point of the program under the guidance of Joe Tiller. After a 5-0 start the Boilers were ranked 5th in the nation. Kyle Orton was a legitimate threat to win the Heisman and GameDay was in town for the Wisconsin game. Purdue was actually on the short list for the national championship, something that had not seriously been discussed in four decades.

Then the Fumble happened.

Purdue has been on a slide ever since. The slide appeared to reach an eerily similar bottom today when a phantom fumble by Curtis Painter, on another quarterback keeper for a first down that would all but seal the game, gave Central Michigan the ball back with new life. The Chips marched down the field with ease, scored a touchdown, and got the go ahead 2-point conversion on a gutsy call. Beating the MAC, As near to a sure thing as we have gotten under Tiller, no longer seemed so sure. We were getting the ball back with time, but after the offense had struggled all day there was zero confidence in the stands.

You could feel it in the stadium. We had had enough. Every pessimistic fan knew, even after a good return and fifteen yard penalty gave us good field position, we were in for another gut-wrenching loss in a long string of them.

Then something happened. Mr. Kory Sheets said he had enough. The much maligned running back ripped off one of the best plays of his career with a 46 yard touchdown run that not only rewrote the Purdue record books, but possibly saved the 2008 football season.

Central Michigan and Wisconsin are on different levels in the world of college football. Beating one in a close game does not necessarily mean you will beat the other. That game in 2004 and today’s game, however, were similar in that Purdue had a chance to end it, but an unfortunate turn of events reversed the scoreboard and put the Boilers unexpectedly against the ropes with less than two minutes to play. On that fall day in 2004, we crumbled and it sent the program into a four year tail spin. Today we responded to adversity and maybe, just maybe, turned that tailspin around.

This was another ugly game. We did not play well enough to win while Central Michigan showed that they are a very, very good football team. Dan LeFevour can play quarterback for nearly any team in the country and make them better. Our own highly touted quarterback had his third straight underwhelming performance. The entire team itself seemed to be missing the fire it had a week earlier. There are still maddening things that need to be worked on. We still treat a dump off over the rush to a running back like it is a legal play. The defense would play great one moment, then struggle to tackle or pursue the ballcarrier for two more. We made mistakes that need to be corrected now.

But the brighter point is that we responded to adversity. We got up off the canvas and actually delivered a counterpunch to win the game. The Chippewas are a very good team. They are even better than last year. They certainly could at least be in the top half of our opponents in terms of difficulty. LeFevour alone would give any number of teams trouble. For once we had an answer. Now that we have done it against a team even lowly perceived as Central Michigan the next step is to keep it going next week at Notre Dame.

Positives from the Central Michigan game:

Kory Sheets – A thread was started tonight on the GBI boards discussing if Sheets is the best running back that Purdue has ever had. We’ve long been known as the cradle of quarterbacks, so running backs have never been high on that list. The names Armstrong, Keyes, and Alstott are obviously in that discussion. If Sheets continues to play as he has the past three games, he will find his name in that discussion.

His first touchdown of the day tied Alstott’s record, and it came the way many of his 43 career scores have. It was a patient 1-yard plunge that tied the game. The record breaker was what we expected from Kory since day one. It was an explosive, unexpected big play in the open field that caught the other team at the worst time. Right now, Kory Sheets is the offensive MVP of this football team. If the passing game ever gets up to speed like we’re accustomed to, Sheets will give us a running threat that will make us very dangerous. At the very least, he needs to be considered one of the top five running backs in the Big Ten.

Frank Duong – If this kid doesn’t play a down the rest of the season he has already earned all the respect he needs from me. Here is an undersized, 5th year former walk-on that earned a scholarship just this year. When he came to Purdue, coaches probably never expected him to play a down. You can see when he plays that he gives every ounce of himself into every play simply because if he didn’t, he would have never seen the field. He’s not the biggest, strongest, or fastest guy, but his heart has earned him every second of playing time. Today he had the biggest play of his career with his pick six. Like Jake Standeford last year, he is an example every single player needs to follow.

Aaron Valentin – He only had one catch, but it was a tough catch and a huge runt hat setup a badly needed touchdown. The offense had been mired in a funk for several quarters and Valetin gave it a swift kick in the pants with his 57 yard catch and run. I only wish he had gone down earlier instead of flopping the ball around wildly at the end.

Dwight McLean – Dwight was in on a number of tackles, but made a very nice play with his sealing interception. As elated as I was when Sheets scored, the general consensus in my section was that there was too much time left. When the Chips quickly got across midfield our fears were confirmed. McLean made a big play reading the ball in the air and ending it then and there. Again, I wish he had just fallen down instead of risking a fumble on a return, but nothing bad happened.

Torri Williams – Torri had a couple of big hits, but one play in particular stands out. Late in the fourth quarter, just before Purdue got the ball back on the drive that ended in Painter’s phantom fumble, Williams played the ball perfectly in the air down the sideline and knocked away a potentially long pass. That was big at the time, and would have been bigger if not for the late fumble.

Joe Tiller – It was a fairly quiet game for Joe. He showed some gumption and actually went for it in the right spots. He had the defense actually make some adjustments that worked for most of the second and third quarters. Most importantly, he is mentioned here simply because no other Purdue coach has ever one 85 football game for us. Though he has taken some flack in recent years, I thank Joe for everything he has done for Purdue.

I actually heard comments in my section today about how Colletto had better defenses when he was here and play tougher schedules. I thought this was insane. Tiller has built this program into a regular postseason participant and has at least elevated us out of the cellar of the Big Ten. He also gave us three New Years Day bowls and 10 bowls total. As long as it is a step along the journey up from here on, I am fine with that. Thanks again, Joe. Even though win #85 should have come while ago, it is well deserved.

Negatives from the Central Michigan game:

Defending the running back screen – This is not a difficult concept to understand. Still, we have been vulnerable to this play for years. When you have an avalanche of guys pressuring the quarterback and he keeps dumping the ball off to his running back for huge gains maybe, just maybe, we should assign a linebacker, safety, cornerback, towel boy, or someone to cover the running back no matter what and light him up as soon as he catches the ball.

This is not hard to stop. The most infuriating thing is that we continue to struggle stopping it. A team runs it, has success, and we don’t adjust. When they lined up for the two point conversion I actually said they should run the same play again. Even if they announced they were running the same play as they lined up I doubted our ability to stop it. It’s like they were playing Playstation and kept running it over and over again (aka HB iso strongside with trips left).If we had figured out how to stop this and the QB scramble we would have held Central Michigan to half its yards gained.

Curtis Painter – The pick was atrocious. The rest was very safe as we appeared afraid to throw the ball more than five yards down field. Curtis continues to stare down receivers and needs to both look for other guys and learn to tuck and run again. I am tempted to say he played better last week.

I saw only a handful of plays inside Follet’s of the Notre Dame-Michigan State game. As much as I hate to say it, Jimmy Montana is a better quarterback than Painter. From what little I saw, Jimmy actually moved his head and scanned the field for open guys. When Curtis has the ball, if he’s not looking your way you might as well lay down because you’re not getting the ball. At least he did spread the ball around and got 8 receivers involved.

Receiver blocking – It would have helped if we had run more than swing passes, but our receivers were horrible on blocking and didn’t allow any gains after receptions. Much was made in training camp about how the receivers were blocking more, but it did not show today.

Containing a running quarterback – Every lesson we learned from containing the Oregon quarterbacks last week was forgotten. We got good pressure on LeFevour, but when he did run he had all day to run. What will Terrelle Pryor or Kellen Lewis do to us?

Using the tight end – I know Dustin Keller is gone, but do we even have tight ends we use as receivers anymore? This is especially frustrating because Jeff Lindsay, one of the few 4-star recruits we have gotten lately, isn’t even being used despite his tenacity.

Final thoughts:

This can be a huge step forward for us if we let it. The theme of this article has been one of redemption from adversity. We turned the normal fortunes of this program. I don’t care that it came against a MAC team, they are a good team. We had every reason to lose and finally stole a victory. When was the last time we did that? We cannot underestimate the value of that.

Next is Notre Dame. The Irish lost today, so we don’t have to worry about being a speed bump on the way to their next national title. We can win this game, but we have to play better. Because of our past history I refuse to count any win in South Bend until the clock reads triple zeroes and we have more points than they do. This feels like it could be a lot like the 2002 game where we outplayed the Irish, but our own screw ups led to another loss up there. The Notre Dame game is huge for our season. A win means we are all but assured of a bowl game because I know we can win four conference games. A loss means we will be fighting for bowl eligibility all year.

I thought I would be discouraged by a 7 point win today, but instead I am encouraged. I am encouraged by its nature. It is now time to build on it.

Central Michigan at Purdue open thread

In finding a song this morning I wanted to continue with a theme of threes. This is our third game against Central Michigan in the span of a year, and three major Purdue records could fall today. Someday I'll even get the editing software I want to edit some clips to go with this music, but for now, the music alone must do.

It's time for Metallica to bring us another win over the Chippewas. Comments are open for live notes during the game.

Big Ten Week 4 Preview

This is the last full week of non-conference action. As a result, there are not a ton of good games out there. In recent years, the Big Ten has been a conference where most teams have played it safe in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Since the schedule officially went to 12 games, more and more teams have tried to set up four easy wins to make the postseason easy to reach. Should teams get those four wins, they then only need two in conference play to get to eligibility. We saw this last year when a record 10 teams were eligible for the postseason.

We could see a similar cluster again this year. Long time residents of the bottom of the conference such as Indiana, Minnesota, and Northwestern have excellent chances to win their four non-conference games. Iowa, a team I picked to be the worst in the Big Ten this year, is a game away from doing the same. Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan State, and Ohio State are all good enough to go to bowls even though two of them have chalked up a loss already. Illinois is likely in the same boat. That puts us and Michigan in severe danger of missing the postseason, especially if we drop a second non-conference game at Notre Dame.

That makes this week a must-win for almost everyone. Since the Big Ten looks to be highly competitive once the conference season starts, no one can afford to have a late non-conference loss if they want to make the postseason. The conference needs to go 8-0 in order to save some face, but that is unlikely to happen.

Central Michigan (2-1) at Purdue (1-1) noon, Big Ten Network

Purdue is a team that has the most to lose with a loss this weekend. They are facing a very good team that is more than capable of pulling the upset if the Boilers aren’t focused. A loss virtually eliminates any postseason dreams in coach Tiller’s final season. If Purdue is focused though, I don’t think it will have much trouble at all. Curtis Painter loves playing against the Chippewas. Shoot, the entire Purdue offense loves playing against the Chippewas as it has averaged more than 50 points per game in the four meetings between the schools.

Coach Tiller should have notched win #85 last week to officially become the Boilers’ all-time wins leader as head coach. Of course, it should have happened sometime late last year but a late three game losing streak delayed it a few months. If Purdue plays like it can, the delay will be over around 3:30 Saturday afternoon. Another Boilermaker record should fall as well, as Kory Sheets needs one touchdown to tie Mike Alstott’s school career record of 42. Alstott had 39 rushing TD’s against three receiving scores, so the rushing TD record is forthcoming later in the year (Kory has 36 rushing, 4 receiving, and 1 return of a blocked punt). I predict both the coaching and overall TD records will fall Saturday, and I’ll be wearing my #24 jersey to honor Mr. Sheets. Purdue 45, Central Michigan 21

Ball State (3-0) at Indiana (2-0) 7pm, Big Ten Network

This is the first semifinal of the 2008 Indiana state Division 1 football championship. The Hoosiers will look to defend their title from last season after they beat the Cardinals, Purdue beat Notre Dame, then Indiana beat us in the bucket game. The Indianapolis Star on Wednesday was trying to make the argument that Ball State may be the best team in the state, and they may be right. Nate Davis heads a very powerful balanced offense. The Cardinals have never beaten a BCS conference foe, but Saturday is an excellent shot for them to end that streak.

People have ripped on Indiana’s weak non-conference schedule, but a loss to the Cardinals would be far from a bad one. Ball State could possibly go undefeated if they win this game. They’ve also played Indiana tough the past two seasons. Indiana’s defense has yet to be tested by a living, breathing offense either. The Cardinal defense isn’t great, but this could easily become a fun shootout. Ball State 38, Indiana 32

Ohio (0-3) at Northwestern (3-0) Noon, Big Ten Network

One more step. That’s what Northwestern has to be thinking. Even their great teams in the mid-90’s had unexplainable non-conference gaffes. For some reason, Northwestern has been unable to put together a perfect non-conference record in decades. That should end this Saturday, but Ohio is a team that could be much more difficult than expected. The MAC hasn’t gotten its Big Ten pelt for the year, but this game (as well as the two above it) is a strong chance for that conference to grab one.

Northwestern has a good chance here simply because they have the better offense. The Bobcat offense couldn’t do enough last week against a porous Central Michigan defense to get the win. It also surrendered a big punt return for a touchdown. The Wildcats can move the ball a bit, but their offense hasn’t been as explosive as expected yet. Northwestern is more than good enough to win a pair of conference games, so a win here probably gets them in a bowl. Northwestern 24, Ohio 14

Florida Atlantic (1-2) at Minnesota (3-0) Noon, Big Ten Network

I don’t know what to think about the Gophers so far. Obviously, they have improved from last year. Last year’s team would probably be no better than 1-2 at this point. Saturday should provide a good test as the owls have a pretty good quarterback in Rusty Smith. Last year he torched the Gopher secondary in a 42-39 win in Miami. Minnesota helped matters along with a boatload of turnovers in that game.

Minnesota also appeared to find a replacement for Duane Bennett last week with Deleon Eskridge (114 yards, 3 TD’s) He needs to continue playing well because historically few teams have done well in the Big Ten without a premier running back. The same appears to be true this year with P.J. Hill, Javon Ringer, Beanie Wells, Tyrell Sutton, Shonn Greene, and Kory Sheets all having very productive years so far. I think Minnesota gets through this game in the dome. Minnesota 27, Florida Atlantic 21

Iowa (3-0) at Pittsburgh (1-1) Noon, ESPN2

So far I have been wrong about Iowa. They haven’t played anyone yet though. Iowa State isn’t that good and both FIU and Maine are terrible. It’s no wonder that the Hawkeye defense looks like the 1985 Bears against a slate like that. Next they get a Dave Wannstedt Pitt team that is about as up and down as they come. Will the Panthers be the same team that stopped the seemingly unstoppable Rich Rodriguez last year with a national title berth on the line, or the one that got owned at home by Bowling Green. That’s the same Bowling Green that then went home and got destroyed by Minnesota.

At least we can finally learn something about the Hawkeyes. The defense does look to be pretty good. The offense is getting hard yards on the ground from Shonn Greene and quarterback play isn’t killing them. They should be able to beat Pittsburgh, but a loss would raise all kinds of questions. Pittsburgh struggled with a perennial doormat last week, but this could be the week things turn around. Iowa 20, Pittsburgh 17

Notre Dame (2-0) at Michigan State (2-1) 3:30pm ABC

I have one plea for you Michigan State. Please, please beat the Irish this week. I ask not as a Purdue fan that hates the Irish, but as a college football fan that doesn’t want to put up with a week of Return to Glory rhetoric coming from the media. If you lose to the Irish, you give them an actual credible win to base this return on. I don’t trust us to stem the tide next weekend in South Bend based on our history. Therefore, I am trusting you to please save us all before it gets out of hand. A loss means people start looking at Notre Dame’s weak schedule after the Purdue game and everyone will think, “Hey, they can be 11-0 before going to USC.” It’s up to you Michigan State, as well as Purdue, North Carolina, and Boston College to insure they don’t get another undeserved BCS bid. USC will destroy this Irish team, but if they reach 11-0 going into that game I may have to stick my head in a deep fryer in order to end the misery of hype. You can end it right here, right now Michigan State. Please don’t blow another home game to them. Give the ball to Jevon Ringer and let him run all day long. We’re all counting on you. Michigan State 24, Notre Dame 10.

Troy (2-0) at #13 Ohio State (2-1) Noon, Big Ten Network

If the Buckeyes struggle in this one it is time to have serious concerns about them. Should they somehow lose, I will no longer take them seriously as a threat to win the Big Ten. Michigan has obviously fallen off and I openly question why it is a guarantee that RichRod will turn them into a juggernaut. Have the past two weeks shown us that Ohio State may be stepping back too?

What I don’t get is why the Big Ten is perceived as down if Michigan and Ohio State happen to lose a game or two, but the SEC can be dead even and beat the living tar out of each other, yet is considered to be the greatest conference God ever created. I understand Ohio State has lost the last two title games to SEC teams, but it is not like the SEC is blowing the Big Ten out every year in the Capitol One and Outback bowls. What does this have to do with Ohio State-Troy? Nothing, actually. I just wanted to rant a bit. Ohio State 35, Troy 7

Temple (1-2) at #16 Penn State (3-0) Noon, Big Ten Network

The Nittany Lions get a final tune up before heading into the Big Ten season. JoePa should have little trouble adding to his record this week, as the real race is to see how many Florida State will lose this year. That record won’t be decided until Bowden or Paterno retires first. It is still fun to watch. Penn State, in the meantime, is reaching the point where I may be more afraid of them than Ohio State. We might scare them at Ross-Ade if we come out like we did against Oregon, but I fear we will start the conference season 0-2. Penn State 45, Temple 7.

Quick national picks:

Arizona State over Georgia – I just have a feeling here.
Wake Forest over Florida State – The Seminoles apparently couldn’t schedule Butler this week.
Oregon over Boise State – This one could be as fun as last week for the Ducks
Auburn over LSU – and the black and blue SEC begins
Florida over Tennessee – Florida is a damn good team

Central Michigan preview

Before getting into the Central Michigan preview, I'm still looking for a student who would be willing to take advantage of the University Bookstore Special for me on Monday so I can get a new jersey. Also, I still have an extra ticket for Saturday's game thanks to my old roommate. If interested, please e-mail me.

We've been here before. Playing a team for a 3^rd time in 14 games is often a rarity reserved for the SEC or other conferences with a championship game. Sadly, since many are projecting us for the Motor City Bowl (if we qualify for a bowl at all) we may get a fourth game against these guys. Frankly, I could do without that. This was originally supposed to be the week we played Oregon. Because of last year's Motor City Bowl the teams agreed to flip-flop spots in the schedule, but I would have preferred the original incarnation. While we're at it, I would have rather opened with someone else on the opening weekend and left this spot open, then reschedule the game somewhere down the line.

But we're here playing the Chips again. That is what we have been assigned and if we want to have any postseason expectations we must beat them for the third time in a year. Central Michigan is more than capable of beating us. A loss likely means a long losing streak that would put us at 1-5 midway through the season.

Central Michigan offense:

This is the reason the Chippewas have a chance to win on Saturday. As we learned in the Motor City Bowl, they have a powerful offense that moves the ball well. They can score points in bunches. Their weakness comes against teams outside the MAC. In the MAC, Central Michigan has been dominant with a 16-2 record the past two plus seasons. Outside the MAC is a different story, as they are just 4-9. The four wins have come against Temple, Eastern Illinois, Middle Tennessee State, and Army while the losses have ranged from Georgia to North Dakota State. This season is more of the same, as they opened with a 31-12 win over Eastern Illinois before losing 56-17 at Georgia. Last week Central opened MAC play with a 31-28 win over Ohio.

It is no surprise that Central Michigan's offensive attack revolves around quarterback Dan LeFevour. The junior struggled in the first half of both games against us a year ago, but had a great second half in each. If we are to win again we must do this for a third time and building another big lead early. So far on the year LeFevour is 72 of 116 for 828 yards and five scores against just one interception. Those are pretty good numbers, especially considering that he has played one of the best teams in the country in Georgia. His rushing numbers aren't as gaudy as last year's yet with only 106 yards and one touchdown, but that does not mean he isn't dangerous. He had over 650 yards passing and 6 touchdown passes in both games against us combined. He also rushed for more than 100 and two more scores in the bowl game. All told he finished with 1,100 yards rushing a year ago, while we have not had a 1,000 rusher since Joey Harris in 2002.

Central Michigan returns many of the other weapons that make LeFevour so dangerous. Ontario Sneed leads the team in rushing with 110 yards and three touchdowns. The Chippewas will need to do better than their 100 yards per game average as a team on the ground. Since they trailed from the start of the Georgia game they did have to pass a lot, and they had 59 yards rushing as a team. As far as the running game goes, we simply need to contain LeFevour and we should be fine.

Receivers Antonio Brown and Brian Anderson ran circles around us in Detroit, and we get to see them again. Both have combined for 34 catches, 380 yards, and a touchdown so far. Sneed has also been very effective catching passes out of the backfield with 10 catches for 98 yards. Jean Pitts (11-153-2) and Joe Bockheim (7-87-1) have been the other two top targets for LeFevour. He has been spreading around the ball more evenly this season. Still, he is a threat to tuck and run on every pass play. LeFevour seems to have more developed passing options than Painter at this point, so our improved secondary must be ready.

All that said, I was impressed by the play of our defense last week. Even in surrendering over 500 yards, it played well enough to win. It held numerous times in the red zone, making the Ducks settle for field goals. It also forced numerous turnovers and held a speedy team to less than 200 yards passing. Central Michigan lacks the team speed or running game that Oregon has. If we are motivated, I am confident that we can stop them. That is the key factor. If this Purdue team goes out and plays like last week never happened we can still have a good if not great season. We must continue to swarm to the ball. If we come out moping and let Central Michigan move at will like in the second half of the bowl game last year, consider this season over.

Central Michigan defense:

This is the reason that Purdue has a great chance to win on Saturday. In three games against Minnesota during his career Drew Brees lit up the Gophers each time on his way to setting a number of Big Ten career marks. If Curtis Painter breaks some of those records he owes a big thank you to the Central Michigan defense. Simply put, they cannot stop us. In two games last year Painter was 64 of 93 for 906 yards and six touchdowns. Considering we stepped off the throttle when we got up 38-0 in the first half of the regular season game a year ago, it could have been worse. When forced to move the ball an entire game in the Motor City Bowl Painter only broke Brees' school and Big Ten single game passing record with 546 yards. Even that could have been worse if for not two drops that turned into interceptions.

As evidenced last week, those drops could be a problem. Also, the biggest drop occurred on a play that shouldn't have been thrown to that receiver. On the critical third down play in the second overtime we had an incompletion, but Kory Sheets was so wide open on the other side of the field calling for the ball he could have walked in for the score. As long as Painter doesn't force his throws, and he didn't in the bowl game a year ago, we should be fine. We're averaging more than 50 points per game in the four contests against the Chippewas.

The defense this year is not appreciably better. They are giving up 32 points per game and almost 300 yards through the air. Ohio and Eastern Illinois are far from Texas Tech and Hawaii as far as passing offenses go. Despite that, Central Michigan ranks 109^th out of 119 teams in total defense. The rushing defense is not much better as Heisman hopeful Knowshon Moreno gashed them for 168 yards and three scores.

Nick Bellore is the Chips' leading tackler on the season with 31, but this defense has given up 12 touchdowns in its past two games. Frank Zombo is also a threat to get to the quarterback with 2.5 sacks on the season. Still, they tackled us quite a few times in both games a year ago. That didn't stop the 96 reasons we won both times. We probably won't even need to throw that much if Kory Sheets continues to run as well as he has. Sheets has a goal of a 1,000 yard and breaking the school touchdown record. While he won't get the 739 yards he needs for 1,000 in this game, he'll likely put a healthy dent in it. There is a very good chance he'll get the two scores he needs to pass Mike Alstott.

Central Michigan Special Teams:

Andrew Aguila has been perfect kicking the ball so far. He's 10 of 10 on extra points and has hit all three field goal attempts. He made a pair of field goals against us in Detroit a year ago. The more interesting story will be how Chris Summers recovers from last week. The two misses he had were not easy kicks, and Purdue didn't help him by getting into better position. Still, he did miss a game-winner. My inside sources tell me he ahs already gotten over it, and it was hardly the only reason we lost that game.

One area we have to be ready for is the punting game. It's not that Central Michigan booms 50-yarders all the time. Actually, it is the opposite. Brett Hartmann is only averaging 35 yards per kick. Because of that, the danger of another short kick bouncing off the leg of a gunner downfield is always there. Our own punt coverage must also clearly be better. Brown showed his speed last year and actually took one back 75 yards against Ohio.

Final thoughts:

Unless we have a severe letdown I like our chances in this one. The defense looks to be much improved considering that many of the yards it gave up last week did not result in points. The speed discrepancy isn't there this week. We also contained a running quarterback well. I like when Painter wasn't afraid to tuck and run a week ago. The offense moved well when he did, but once we went away from it we bogged down. The more that Curtis does that the more dangerous we will be. We showed we can move the ball just fine on the ground against a good team. We must not go away from this element.

This game should be a good opportunity to work on a passing game that has been less than sharp so far. Drops and missed receivers were huge last week. Those must be worked on if we're to have any kind of success this year. After Central Michigan we face a critical three game stretch against Notre Dame, Penn State, and Ohio State. In my opinion, we have to get one of those games to play in the postseason, and two if we want to go to a good bowl. Getting two is possible, but it begins this week.

Our rushing defense ranks 106^th in the nation at the moment, but so far Central Michigan has not been a good running team. A big reason that our average is so high is because we have only played two games and one was against possibly the best rushing team in the country. If we can contain LeFevour, this number should improve dramatically. A good start defensively will be critical in this. We must contain LeFevour early and move the ball at will. We built a big lead both times last year, and both times Central Michigan played a better second half. We must build a big lead again and weather any storm the Chips bring late, because they won't quit.

What it comes down to is attitude. If Purdue plays like it did in the first quarter last week we can play with any team in the country. That means a blowout in our favor. If we revert to our old form Central Michigan is easily good enough to beat us.

Big Ten bloggers’ roundtable, LTP edition

This week's Big Ten bloggers' roundtable was supposed to be hosted by my Boilermaker colleagues over at Boiled Sports, but J Money wussed out because of a little category 2 Hurricane that went through his hometown of Houston last week.

Pansy

Seriously though, it's great to see that J Money came through the storm safely. It's also perfectly understandable that he has more important things on his plate than some silly questions. As a result, Lake the Posts steps in as a pinch hitter with his week's questions.

1)The national media is using the Big Ten Conference as a punching bag in 2008 ranking us somewhere between the Big East and the MAC. Based on Ohio State's no-show, Purdue's "APPLE!!!" and Michigan's debacle, it is redemption week in Big Ten Country. However, several teams have very respectable, yet no name teams (ie. Troy, Central Michigan, Ball State). Tell us how the Big Ten will respond this week in the final week before conference play.

There are 8 games this week. In those, I think only Penn State (vs. Temple) and Ohio State (vs. Troy) are stone cold locks to win. Florida Atlantic has a pretty good quarterback and confidence that it beat Minnesota last season, so the Owls have a shot in Minneapolis. Indiana and Purdue are playing the two best teams in the MAC. Not only that, they have played them twice in the last two seasons before this one in essentially a home and home (I consider the Motor City Bowl a "home game for the Chips"). The MAC teams nearly pulled off upsets in the home games and they are very familiar with their opponents this weekend. I think IU is the bigger possibility, but both losing would surprise me.

If Ohio can almost win in the 'shoe they have a chance against Northwestern. Michigan State should beat Notre Dame, but if the Irish win be prepared for a flood of Return to Glory stuff. Iowa needs to win at Pittsburgh before I take them seriously. The Big Ten could go anywhere from a redemptive 8-0 to an embarrassing 2-6 this week. I'll go with a neutral 6-2 as Ball state upsets IU and Pittsburgh beats Iowa.

2)The conference standings look like someone took the 2007 results and flipped it upside down. Which of the undefeated teams are contenders and which are pretenders (another way of saying which teams have put lipstick on a pig)? Recalibrate your preseason rankings and tell us who the conference favorites are now.

Right now I think Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State are easily the best four teams in the conference. The other seven teams are mediocre to awful, with several of them being inflated by the schedule. Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota are all undefeated, but their best combined opponent is Iowa State. Northwestern is the best of those four teams in my mind because of Tyrell Sutton, followed by Iowa if Shonn Greene keeps playing well. Should both get hurt there is almost no running game whatsoever. Minnesota will struggle some with Duane Bennett out.

The old way of thinking that Indiana and Iowa can compete because they don't play Michigan or Ohio State isn't a factor this year. They won't beat the three of the top four they do play. I vasciliate from moment to moment on how good Purdue is. One moment I am encouraged by the fact we nearly took out Oregon, the next I am discouraged by the fact we should have blown them out. We do actually benefit from missing Wisconsin and Illinois, but opening the Big Ten season with Penn State and Ohio State sucks. If we upset one of them I can begin believing again.

As I said in my Big Ten wrap Monday, Illinois reminds me of our 2002 team in that we nearly upset alleged national champ Ohio State, but also nearly lost to Western Michigan in finishing 6-6. We lost 6 games by 22 points combined that year, needed a 4^th and 8 40-yard TD pass from Kyle Orton at Michigan State (off the bench in the cold no less), and beat the Broncos by 3 at home. Illinois can beat anyone this year, but they also looks like they could lose to anyone. Of course, this was true last year when they beat Ohio State and lost to Iowa.

3)Javon Ringer has emerged as the early season best-bet Heisman hopeful from the Big Ten. Real deal or non-conference smoke screen? Does anyone from
the Big Ten have a prayer for the Heisman, or is it too late?

It depends. The Big Ten is weak enough this year outside of my perceived top 4 (Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State, and Wisconsin) that the Spartans could potentially make a run and win the conference. If Ringer keeps putting up those numbers he has a shot. Beanie Wells probably can't win it now. Curtis Painter needed a much better game against Oregon to even have a chance. As it stands now, He would need to go off on the Big Ten and take us to the Rose Bowl to even get invited to New York. I like P.J. Hill's chances if Wisconsin stays undefeated and he keeps churning out yards. Anyone outside of those four would take a monumental performance.

4)After three weeks it is time to give your team a new slogan. What is it and why is it what it is?

Purdue football: It's 2002 all over again. We've only played two games, but this season looks eerily like that one. We began that year by blowing out a 1-AA team (in that case Illinois State) before doing everything in our power to lose to a BCS conference team on the rise at home we should probably have blown out. That year it was a 3-point loss to Wake Forest in which we had five turnovers and missed 3 fourth quarter field goals inside 35 yards. These were much easier kicks than Summers missed last Saturday, as wind wasn't even a factor. Next we have a MAC opponent from Michigan (Western then, Central now) we should beat, but I can see it being much closer than expected as it was then.

In 2002 we followed that with the most frustrating loss in Purdue history, a game in which we held Notre Dame to 3 points offensively in South Bend AND returned a punt for a TD, but gave up 21 points on turnovers in a 24-17 loss. In 2008 our last non-conference game is a trip to South Bend to face a Notre Dame team I know we can beat, but won't believe it until it happens because of that 2002 game.

2002 had a 2-point loss to Michigan at home, a 3 point loss at Iowa thanks to a blocked FG returned for a touchdown and a late 4^th down TD pass to Dallas Clark, the Holy Buckeye game, and an 38-31 OT loss at Illinois where we fell behind 24-0. In Champaign we fought back and took a 31-24 lead. Illinois then tied it with 8 seconds left on a fourth down TD that was questionable. Then we had a Hail Mary pass that should have been a touchdown because John Standeford broke the plane, but was ruled down at the 1 on the last play of regulation.

My point is that this season feels awfully similar. We were good enough that year to be agonizingly close against some pretty good teams (remember, Iowa went undefeated in the Big Ten that year and went to the Orange Bowl). Now, instead of getting blown out by ranked teams we may be back to losing winnable games against them in agonizing fashion.

5)By now, you've likely adopted a favorite non Big Ten team to watch. Flex your football worldliness by convincing your fellow Big Ten kool-aid drinkers to watch your "other" team.

It's no secret, but because of my wife I am now a pretty big Miami Hurricane fan. This year they really look like a team that is incredibly talented, but will lose some games because of its youth. In a year or two they will be phenomenal again. Watching all that talent grow is reason enough to watch.

Mini-Boilermakings:

• I wanted to take advantage of the extra space here to mention a few things non-football related as a mini-Boilermakings.
  
• The women's volleyball team continues to have an impressive start to the season. They are ranked 20^th in the latest poll and have an 8-1 record through 9 games. In that, they won the Mortar Board Premier Tournament in West Lafayette, the Active Ankle Challenge in Muncie, and the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City. The only loss was a shocking one to previously winless Utah State in five sets in Salt Lake City. Purdue will play in the Dayton Invitational this weekend before opening Big Ten play at #1 ranked Penn State.
  
• The women's soccer team won the Boilermaker challenge cup last weekend, but lost me some marital bragging rights by dropping a 2-0 game at Miami last Wednesday. They will begin defense of their Big Ten title this week.
  
• The women's cross country team began the season by winning the Great American Legends race in West Lafayette and hope to have its experienced squad qualify for the NCAA championships with a high Big Ten finish later this year.
  
• In a very interesting note I found here, Purdue will begin its 2009 baseball season in the Tampa area as part of the first ever Big Ten/Big East baseball challenge. This is interesting because of the 6 BCS conferences, the Big Ten and Big East are far behind the other four in terms of college baseball. As the sport gains in popularity though, both conferences want a piece of that lucrative pie. The ACC, SEC, Big 12, and Pac 10 already have established traditions, but the Big Ten and Big East either have dormant tradition, or are relatively new to the scene. This event should help not only Purdue, but Big Ten baseball as a whole since the Big East is probably ahead of the conference thanks to teams like Louisville and Notre Dame.
  
• I took a bit of a hit last week in the Big Ten bloggers' pick 'em contest, but the results have been pretty easy to pick this early. In 31 possible games I have missed only four, but those have all been in the past week. Here are the updated standings.
  
• Thanks to the internet, we all know the earth still exists. As Tim Bedore said on Bob and Tom this morning, they had better not turn that thing on before the Cubs win the World Series.

Two final notes:

First, if anyone needs an extra ticket to Saturday's game please e-mail me at tamiller@excite.com. My college roommate has an extra seat available for this game as well as likely the other four remaining home games.

Second, if there is a student that reads this blog and is interested in helping me out, please e-mail me as well. I am interested in taking advantage of the University Bookstore deal on Mondays, but can't make it to West Lafayette on Mondays. With a plethora of touchdowns likely coming Saturday, I'd like to work out a deal where someone can pickup a new, deeply discounted jersey next Monday and I can meet them at the next home game to pick it up and pay them.

Week 3 wrap and rankings of all sorts

This was not a good week for the Big Ten. Only Wisconsin won a marquee matchup, gritting out a difficult road win at a very good Fresno State. Because of that they will take over the #1 spot in my Big Ten rankings. Everywhere else the Big Ten whiffed in chances to improve the image of the conference as a whole. Even in wins Big Ten teams didn’t impress. Illinois had no business playing that close of a game with Louisiana Lafayette. The same is true for Minnesota against Montana State.

Since we now have some respectable data, I can now recap this past week with a new series of rankings.

11. Michigan (1-2) – Result: Notre Dame 35, Michigan 17

This is a provisional ranking for now, but the Big Ten’s only two loss team is actually quite lucky to have its one win. The Utah loss was understandable. Struggling against Miami of Ohio was rough, but still somewhat explainable. Saturday’s debacle in South Bend was simply inexcusable. Michigan kept handing Notre Dame great opportunity after great opportunity. The Irish did what Purdue was unable to do against Oregon and that is take advantage of them. If Michigan keeps doing this all year they won’t make it to any bowl game at all. As it stands now they must win at least four conference games to do so. With teams like Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan State out there on the schedule it is looking bleak. Purdue, Northwestern, and even Minnesota are certainly capable of beating them too. Michigan will get better because they are Michigan. They have to get better quickly if they are going to do anything this year.

10. Purdue (1-1) – Result: #16 Oregon 32, Purdue 26 2OT

I know I am being overly hard on my own team here, but I don’t see any other team in the conference right now that would have blown a 17 point lead Saturday. Not only that, but the lead should have been a lot more. I am probably listening to the doomsayers too much, but when some odd coaching decisions continue to hamper this team from winning you have to wonder after awhile if that is truly an issue. It seems like we always do the exact opposite of what we should do. The running game was working well Saturday but the passing game was not, so we kept trying (and failing a lot) to pass. We needed to use the clock with the lead, so we ran a no huddle. We needed to kill off less than two minutes before halftime to hold a 3 possession lead, so we passed until we threw an interception and gave up three points. We needed half a yard on a day we were getting almost five per carry, so we punt and it turns into a game-changing return. We were kicking well from the left hash all day, and it is easier for a right footed kicker to kick from there. We also had plenty of time to get a closer kick in a tricky wind. Instead, we don’t attempt to get closer in a swirling wind and add a degree of difficulty by going to the right hash for the game-winner in regulation. You’re going to have one or two bad decisions in every game, but that many?

Oregon gave us every chance to win this game. Even considering the mistakes were about even on both sides we still outplayed them for most of the game. We are at a huge crossroads right now. Central Michigan is an absolute must win. They are a team that can easily beat us if we’re not focused on them. If they do so it means another long losing streak too. Even then, I’ll say Notre Dame is an absolute must win as well because a loss means a 2-4 first half most likely. I’ll believe again if we come out and stomp Central Michigan again like we did in the regular season game last season. If not, we’re in serious trouble.

I still believe in this team. I think we showed we’re better and can play with anyone by taking a team to double overtime that was supposed to blow us out. We showed enough positives in the first half to show me that things are fixable. The running game was very strong. The defense made some very big plays. Justin Siller can be incredibly elusive with the ball in his hands. That’s what makes it worse because so much of that went away after the first quarter. It’s like we got scared with the lead. It should never have gone to double overtime. If anything, we had a chance to blow them out but could never deliver the critical blow. Shoot, even Jim Colletto managed a blowout of highly ranked California. I was at that game and this one was a lot like it without the key turn that made it a blowout. Sadly, that has been our M.O. for way too many years.

On a brighter note, I do want to thank all the Oregon fans for stopping by last week. You’re among the most courteous visitors to this site, especially en masse. Saturday’s fans at the game were just as nice. I hope they enjoyed their visit to West Lafayette. I’m looking forward to the rematch next year when I visit Autzen.

#9 Minnesota (3-0) – Result: Minnesota 35, Montana State 23

I’m sure Gopher fans are ecstatic to be 3-0 after last season, but another effort like that against a decent Florida Atlantic team this week will result in 3-1. 12 point wins over 1-AA squads are hardly the stuff to get excited about, but Minnesota needs to be an exception after last year. Things are at least going in the right direction. The Gophers are good enough to pull an upset somewhere along the way in Big Ten play, but they may miss Duane Bennett more than they think. If they get past the Owls this week they are a legitimate bowl team on numbers alone.

#8 Illinois (2-1) – Result: #24 Illinois 20, Louisiana Lafayette 17

Illinois right now reminds me a lot of our team in 2002. They have the talent and ability to play with anyone in the country, but they are more than capable of playing down to the level of their competition. This was evidenced Saturday by the Illini needing a late field goal to seal a win over a mediocre Sun Belt team at home. That factor is what is going to make Illinois one of the most difficult teams to call in the conference simply because they can win or lose any given week. I can see them knocking off Ohio State again or losing to Minnesota.

#7 Indiana (2-0) – Result: bye week

The Hoosiers should actually get tested this week as Ball State is 3-0 and is receiving votes in both polls. The Cardinals have never beaten a BCS conference foe, but this is a golden opportunity for them. I think we need to officially place both Indiana Big Ten schools on MAC upset watch this week. The MAC usually gets one game a year, but it has yet to happen after a couple of close calls in 2008.

#6 Northwestern (3-0) – Result: Northwestern 33, Southern Illinois 7

If history is destined to repeat itself the Wildcats will lose this week. It has been decades since the Wildcats have had a perfect non-conference record. Only one game stands in the way, and that is Saturday against the Ohio Bobcats. That’s right, the same Ohio Bobcats who probably should have beaten Ohio State. If Northwestern rides Tyrell Sutton this week that streak will finally be over and the Wildcats can think about bowl positioning instead of a mere bid. It took a little while to get going, but Northwestern predictably dominated a weaker foe. That’s all you can ask.

#5 Iowa (3-0) – Result: Iowa 17, Iowa State 5

The Hawkeyes have made the biggest jump since the preseason. Thanks to Shonn Green in the backfield and the play of Ricky Stanzi they have moved past several underwhelming teams. It is the rare year where missing Michigan is actually a little disappointing instead of being a bonus to the schedule. A pretty tough test at Pittsburgh looms this week, but a win (coupled with wins by Minnesota and Northwestern) could insure that the Big Ten bowl picture will be very crowded for a second straight year. Yet another reason why Purdue’s loss Saturday hurts even more.

#4 Michigan State (2-1) – Result: Michigan State 17, Florida Atlantic 0

I think this is the point where we currently have some clear separation from the rest of the league. Javon Ringer has been nothing short of impressive so far, giving the Spartans a dominant aspect that few other teams have. Penn State’s overall team play (especially the offense), Wisconsin’s closer’s mentality, and Ohio State’s overall talent mean these four, as of right now, are head and shoulders about the other seven teams at least in my eyes. Michigan State may even have an advantage since Wisconsin and Ohio State must travel to East Lansing.

#3 Ohio State (2-1) – Result: #1 USC 35, #5 Ohio State 3

For the second week in a row the offense was terrible. With the talent that coach Tressell has amassed there is absolutely no excuse for that. Losing at USC is understandable. Getting blown out is not. Where on earth was the vaunted defense? One player cannot possibly make that much of a difference on a team this talented. Not only that, there are open quarterback questions now. Michigan and Purdue made the Big Ten look bad this weekend, Ohio State only complicated matters.

#2 Penn State (3-0) – Result: #17 Penn State 55, Syracuse 13

Penn State hasn’t truly played anyone yet, but in that they haven’t allowed an opponent to have even a glimmer of a chance. They may be the only team in the conference that has played 12 complete quarters so far. They won’t be tested again this week when they host Temple. Of the 3-0 teams against varying opponents of difficulty Penn State has been the most impressive by far. I expect them to be 5-0 when they come to Ross-Ade for our next chance at a ranked opponent. I also expect to be 0 for our last 16 against ranked opponents once it is over.

#1 Wisconsin (3-0) –Result: #10 Wisconsin 13, #21 Fresno State 10

This was a typical Wisconsin win on Saturday night as the Badgers did just enough without screwing things up. It was also impressive in that they took the best shot from a very good team in its home stadium. That lesson will come in handy later on. Because Ohio State and Penn state come to Madison I can see Wisconsin’s most difficult remaining game coming at Michigan State. For the conference’s sake we could benefit from someone else getting a chance in the spotlight other than the Buckeyes.

This week’s blogpoll

There weren’t a ton of changes this week as there is still not a ton of data to evaluate teams on. It seems more like I am eliminating ranked teams each week rather than finding new ones to rank. I am finding it harder and harder to do the last five, especially when teams like UCLA, who looked good early, get blasted two weeks later. I would have put Purdue at #25 this week if we could have stopped the game at halftime, but it wasn’t mean to be. I won’t even consider us again unless we win the next three.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	--
2	Oklahoma	2
3	Florida	--
4	Georgia	2
5	LSU	2
6	Missouri	1
7	Wisconsin	3
8	Texas	1
9	Auburn	1
10	Alabama	4
11	Texas Tech	2
12	Oregon	4
13	South Florida	5
14	Ohio State	8
15	Brigham Young	10
16	East Carolina	1
17	Penn State	6
18	Kansas	6
19	Utah	--
20	Wake Forest	2
21	Clemson	5
22	Michigan State	4
23	North Carolina	3
24	Fresno State	4
25	Vanderbilt	1

Dropped Out: Arizona State (#17), California (#21), West Virginia (#23), UCLA (#24).

2002 all over again

It feels like it is 2002 again.

Purdue had one play that would have won the game. We didn’t convert.

Oregon had one play to win the game. It converted.

The perception out there already is that this was a sloppy game. The only reason we were in it was because Oregon had five turnovers. We were given tons of chances tow in and couldn’t pull it off. CFN’s instant analysis even said this was a game no one wanted to win.

I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit.

The first half was the best half of football Purdue has played in years. We came out and punched a better team in the mouth. We were in full control of the game for the half. Oregon is a very, very good team, and for 29 minutes we outplayed them in every aspect. Joe was being inventive in playcalling, we were winning the battle on the lines, and our defense was playing out of its mind.

I say 29 minutes, however, because in that final minute we made a huge mistake. The one time we needed Tiller to go conservative on his playcalling and simply run out the clock we got greedy. Painter made a dumb throw and gave Oregon the ball back in field goal range. We held them to that field goal, but those three points were huge. They made a three possession game a two possession game at the break. That meant that one freak play could potentially cut that lead in half.

That one play, ironically, came when we were conservative and should have been aggressive. With the way we were running the ball a half yard would have been an easy gain. A simple Painter sneak would have gotten it done. That would have kept a potential scoring drive alive at a point where another score might have ended it. Instead, we punted on fourth and very short near midfield with a two touchdown lead and immediately gave up a punt return for a touchdown.

I’ll give Oregon a ton of credit. While we made them pay for their mistakes early on, they made us pay even more for ours. Even in the end things were almost even there. The points off of turnovers were dead even. Oregon gained a hundred more yards, but it didn’t really seem like that much since our defense was making them earn nearly every yard. Oregon never gave up, fought back, and walked out with a win because we made one more mistake than them.

Again, we didn’t take advantage of one play to win the game and they did.

Right now I feel sick. I haven’t walked out of a Purdue game numb and speechless like this since the 2005 Minnesota game in the Metrodome. I was spent on the drive home today. I had nothing left after doing what little I could to win this game. It feels exactly like 2002 when we had a number of games in the bag, but one little thing prevented it from going home. We could have regained so much respect with just one more play today, but instead it will just look like Oregon escaped a poor performance on the road. There will be no memory of just how hard we made a very good Duck team work for it. I think we earned the respect of a number of Duck fans, as well as any college football fan that watched this game.

But I could care less about respect. I got enough respect in 2002-04. I want to win.

Positives from the Oregon game:

Kory Sheets – This was, quite simply, his best game as a Boilermaker. Two touchdowns, 180 yards rushing, and it probably could have been more. Our running game was so dominant today that we should have kept running until they stopped us. With a first and goal from the 10 in the first overtime all we needed to do was ram the ball down their throats. We gained more than four yards per carry on these guys. That means three plays and we would have been with a win. Most importantly, Kory held on to the ball.

Playcalling, first half edition – I thought at first Tiller woke up and thought it was 1997 again. We were under center and running up the middle. We weren’t trying to run out of the shotgun. Curtis Painter actually tucked the ball and ran a few times in the right spots. Justin Siller had a fantastic play to set up the second Sheets touchdown. Oregon looked confused and we made them pay for every mistake. All was well until the interception before the half. That was the play that changed the game.

Brandon King – Another huge play was when he read Roper’s pass perfectly. That was a critical point in the game. If Oregon scores a touchdown there they take the lead and probably run away with the game. King’s pick was huge and nearly put it in our favor. Special credit needs to be given to the guy that ran him down though. Since we only got a field goal after the play, it saved four points.

Chris Summers – I know he missed two big kicks, but it is amazing he hit the four he did hit with the way the wind was swirling. I don’t know if someone got a hand on the potential game winner at the end of regulation, but he kept us in the game and at least gave us a chance to win. Our fumble in the second OT made sure his final kick was much more difficult, but he didn’t miss by much. He also had some very good pints.

The defense – Has a team ever given up 500 yards and looked good on defense? I think Purdue did today. We answered every challenge with their speed. We made sure this did not become a blowout. Even in that, we forced five turnovers and made several big stops that ended drives or held the Ducks to field goals. Unfortunately, those field goals won it in the end. They were 5 of 18 on third downs and 1 of 4 on fourth downs. We also held them to about a 40% completion rate when they were averaging about 60%.

Frank Duong – What else can you say about this kid. With his effort and heart, he is the Jaycen Taylor of the defense. His attitude needs to be spread around the entire team. I thought he was done when he was carted off, but he came back and was in it at the end.

The crowd -- The crowd did a great job of staying in the game and keeping the team up today. Even the club section was up and going today. Oregon brought a very good crowd as well, and from what I saw they were some of the nicest visiting fans I have ever seen at Purdue. In the end, everyone was treated to a really, really good game.

Negatives from the Oregon game:

Playcalling, second half edition – Again, we were conservative at times we needed to be aggressive and vice versa. When we needed to run more and melt the clock, we passed even though the run was working well. We easily could have taken the final two minutes of the first half away by running, but the pick gave them three points. If we run in the first overtime from the ten, we win.

Curtis Painter – He didn’t lose the game for us, but he didn’t win it either. He played better than he ahs in past big games, but he needs to do better if we’re going to pull one of these out. If he was as good as some have talked him up to be we would have won today. He is almost there, but not quite. I liked the touch he put on the ball that ended up being his second interception, but that was the wrong time for that touch. That play works when the defense (and especially the safety) commits to the blitz and we are able to get a guy behind him. A great example is the Illinois game from 2004 when Orton hit Brandon Jones and Taylor Stubblefield each for a TD on throws like that.

The killer instinct – I knew at halftime we could have dug an even deeper hole for them, but we weren’t able to do it. We let them hang around, and Oregon took advantage. We didn’t even need to play a perfect game as we saw. Instead, the little things killed us again. Special Teams was a strength last week, but this week we give up a punt return TD and miss two field goals. We had a chance to step on their throats and we didn’t do it.

Final thoughts:

I have no idea where we go from here. Today showed we are more than capable of winning a game against a good team. We haven’t even shown that much in the last three seasons. Still, we have to take that next step and do it.

First, we must avoid a very dangerous game against Central Michigan. This has to be a win next week at any cost. Second, we must take advantage of our next chance to win a big game in two weeks at Notre Dame. Even then, no one in the Big Ten looks overwhelmingly good at the moment. There is absolutely no reason we cannot win the rest of our home games, though Penn State will be the most difficult of those five.

I’m not a player on this team. I never have been, nor will I be. We now have two choices. We can learn and correct the little things that prevented us from winning today, or we can fold like we did in 2005. I feel exactly like I did at that moment walking out of the Metrodome. Should we crap the bed at home next week another 6 game losing streak is entirely possible. If we learn from this and play like we showed we can today at times, a 6 game winning streak is possible.

#16 Oregon at Purdue Open Thread

I'm doing the open thread again this week. I'll be back at Ross-Ade in the Shively Stadium Club for a second straight week, and I am getting used to it. it will be weird when I return to my normal seats next week. For those wtaching at home, feel free to stop by and comment as the game goes on. I'll have the game wrap posted later tonight.

And now, something to get us pumped up...

Cleaning out today's inbox

This is a quickie entry before I go to cover Zionsville and Hamilton Southeastern as part of my newspaper job tonight. First, we have noted Pac-10 blog Addicted to quack for a late-week Q&A session. My answers can be found over at his site as we get ready for tomorrow’s game with the Ducks. Special thanks to Dave for taking part in this.

Off the Tracks: What are your thoughts on why the Oregon offense is running so smoothly despite the replacements that have been made? Is it a testament to the talent Oregon has, or the lack of talent in the competition?

Addicted to Quack: Both. Lets be honest here, Washington and Utah State are terrible. But we've still rolled up 110 points in two games, with the most yards of anyone in the country. You don't do that, even against bad team, unless you're pretty good. We've replaced Dixon and Stewart with quality players, and have already shown the depth to overcome injuries (QB Justin Roper was knocked out of the first game with a concussion, and his backup threw two TD passes, RB Jeremiah Johnson knocked out after the first play of the second game with a separated shoulder, LeGarrette Blount rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdowns). Plus, we are absolutely loaded on both lines. We don't get the sheer numbers of talent like a USC does, but, despite the criticism, the uniforms and tricked out facilities are clearly working.

OTT: What is your opinion on speed since it is one of Oregon's strengths? Is there really that much of a discrepancy between the Big Ten and Pac-10 (or SEC for that matter)?

ATQ: We're decently fast. Not USC fast, but we play faster than we do because the no huddle keeps winded defenders on the field. Its tough to compare things like speed in conferences. I do think that the Big Ten is in a bit of a down cycle right now. We saw last year in the Michigan game that they were totally outclassed by the Ducks in the speed department. We've seen Ohio State, fastest team in the Big Ten, exposed in the national championship game. I'd definitely say that the Pac-10, and certainly the SEC, are faster than the Big Ten right now. But that kind of thing can change in a hurry.

OTT: Talk about Oregon's defense for the moment. They seem to go against the Pac-10 'no defense' belief. How will they respond when test really for the first time this year?

ATQ: First off, the Pac-10 'no defense' belief has always been completely unwarranted. If you look at the NFL, there are as many Pac-10 defensive players as there are from any other conference. Its just that because we traditionally throw the ball so much, we still see a lot of high scores. As for the defense, almost everyone of significant is back from last year. Because they have so much experience (experience in which they were totally badass), I think we can expect more of the same. And the strength of the unit is the secondary. They won't be surprised by anything in the spread (they're good, and practice against it everyday).

OTT: Who wins the battle between Oregon's great secondary and Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter on Saturday.

ATQ: Painter's good, but he has a history of struggling against marquee opponents. That said, so did Nate Longshore of Cal, and he was the only QB who really beat our secondary last year. Our secondary, though, is just really good. That said, Painter can improve his chances dramatically if he can get out of the pocket a little bit and use his legs as weapons. (Ed note: as I have been preaching all week) That will open up the receivers some. If he just stays in the pocket and tries to pitch and catch, he's done.

OTT: What is with Eugene, Oregon and the human Anterior Cruciate Ligament? Is it the worst place on earth for this body part? After the number of ACL tears Oregon has had it has to be.

ATQ: I have no idea, but I'm firmly convinced it cost us a national championship last year. The number of starters (QB, 2 WRs, and a LB), plus important backups (RB Johnson) going out with ACLs was ridiculous, then we have our starting QB this year blow a knee in the fall camp. Is it the spread? The turf? The water? We have no idea, but its really starting to piss us off. Maybe's its God's revenge for the uniforms?

Thanks again Dave. I’m looking forward to visiting Autzen for the return trip next year. Today’s second part comes from reader Tim Carey at Bleacher Report. Tim offers some much need advice for Purdue fans tomorrow, whether you’re headed to Ross-Ade or no. I suggest we take it, as it is the best I have heard all week. I am tired of hearing about reasons we will lose, how about we go out and win the damn game! Here is what Tim has to say:

Can fans make the difference in a football game? You'd better believe it. As a longtime reader and rare poster, I'm sick and tired of reading every excuse known to man for why Purdue is going to lose to the Oregon Ducks tomorrow.

So what if they're fast? Do you really buy into the Big Ten being the slowest conference in the country? I don't.

So what if we haven't beaten a ranked team in way too long? Doesn't that mean we're due?

So what if we're not picked to finish in the top half of the Big Ten this year? That didn't stop us from having a great year in 1997. And being picked to win the national title in 2005 (stupid Orlando newspaper) didn't help us go to a bowl game.

To every diehard Boilermaker within driving range of Ross-Ade Stadium...let's do something about it. I don't know about you, but my weekend will be a lot happier with a big serving of BOILED DUCK. Let's rally together and make Saturday a special day that will go down in Boiler/Tiller history with Notre Dame '97, Kansas State '98, Michigan '00, and every other huge win that lives in our memories later. COME TO THE FOOTBALL GAME. WEAR BLACK. BE LOUD. PULL AN UPSET.

Quit worrying about if it's going to rain or not...it's just water.

Don't wait for the students to fire the crowd up. Fire the students up.

Don't complain about whether or not the game sells out...just make sure YOU buy YOUR tickets.
Don't be the last person to stand up on the Ducks' 3rd and 2...be the first one.

Don't be the last person to yell on a kickoff...be the first one.

Don't be the quietest wettest crowd in Ross-Ade Stadium history...be the loudest one.

We're waiting on that signature win...some of you say we've been waiting way too long. Let's do our part to go and get it.

Make our own magic.

Need to get fired up? Go watch some Spoilermaker clips...check out the Rose Bowl celebration on Purduebands.com...rewind that Alamo Bowl classic on BTN one more time. Whether there's 40,000 or 50,000 or 60,000 in the stands tomorrow, let's be an insanely loud Boilermaker faithful.

Time for some duck hunting.

See you tomorrow.

GO BOILERS!

As Corey Taylor of Slipknot says in the song Pulse of the Maggots:

Tell me right now, what have you got to lose? WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE, EXCEPT YOUR SOUL? WHO’S WITH US!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big Ten Week 3 Preview

As evidenced by this week’s roundtable, presented by Maize N’ Brew, this is the week where the schedule finally begins to grow some chest hair. That’s not really the case for Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, Penn State, or Northwestern, but for everyone else there is at least a semi-challenging opponent to face. At least Illinois and Penn State have already faced major conference teams. The other three feature non-conference schedules that would make even Glen Mason say they were too easy.

This week we will see the finale of the Big Ten-Pac 10 challenge. The challenge is currently tied at one apiece after Michigan State lost at California and Penn State beat Oregon State. The Big Ten is not favored in either game this week, but I would love for my Boilers to assure the conference of at least a tie before the USC-Ohio State contest Saturday night. That would then make the Rose Bowl this year’s rubber match. Because of that and some other games this week, it is an important week for the conference profile as a whole. Wisconsin goes to BCS giant-killer Fresno State. Michigan renews its cripple fight with Notre Dame. Michigan State even plays a conference champion from a year ago in Florida Atlantic.

#5 Ohio State (2-0) at #1 USC (1-0) 8pm ABC

One benefit of having a job where internet access is banned like we’re behind the Iron Curtain is that I don’t have to be inundated with hype about this game. From what little I have seen, the media is panicking over Ohio State’s near miss against Ohio. Beanie Wells is notgoing to play, but with the 10+ point line on the game it seems like it will hardly matter. Why should we even bother playing the game at this point?

I think Ohio State has a chance because they always show up for big (regular season) games. I am not comparing us to USC, but when the Buckeyes came to Ross-Ade last season it was a huge game for us. The crowd was hyped and everyone thought our offense had a chance of moving against them. They proceeded to let us do virtually nothing for 60 minutes and did the O-H-I-O cheer in our own stadium (one of the most embarrassing moments I have had as a Purdue fan). USC is a much better team than us, but Ohio State always plays well in big regular season games (i.e. the two-game series with Texas). I think USC will win this, but Ohio State will make it much closer than people think. USC 16, Ohio State 14

#16 Oregon (2-0) at Purdue (1-0) 3:30pm ESPN

This is our shot. If we can win this game suddenly the 2008 Purdue football season takes on a whole new character. We will gain the confidence we can beat a ranked team, meaning games at Notre Dame and Michigan State, as well as home games against Penn State and Michigan can be dreamed of as wins. I was thinking about this on the way to work this morning. If we win Saturday, we will prove that we are good enough to be in the conversation for a Big Ten title should Ohio State falter, especially since we miss Wisconsin and Illinois this year. If we lose, I can see us struggling to make a bowl because of the number of good teams we play. A loss means we have to win at least one game against Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, or Michigan State without losing another game somewhere along the line just to insure qualification for a bowl. It remains to be seen if Michigan and Notre Dame are “good teams”, but given our recent history against both (and the venue) I cannot guarantee a win against either.

The weather does not look like it will be good Saturday. It may slow down Oregon some, but they prefer to run more than we do. It won’t favor our passing game any, especially if the wind is blowing in from the open end of the stadium. From the comments on the Oregon article,t he Jeremiah Johnson injury could be a big factor. Will Tiller show patience with the ground game and turn this into a grind it out game with Sheets, Halliburton, Dierking, and Siller? Will Painter tuck and run when the opportunity presents itself? We need to do these things to win, but history says no. Last year I asked Purdue to prove me wrong against Ohio State and they didn’t. I give them another chance with this prediction. Oregon 35 Purdue 28

#10 Wisconsin (2-0) at #21 Fresno State (2-0), 10:30pm ESPN2

Because we’ll be driving back from West Lafayette I probably won’t be able to watch most of the USC-Ohio State game, but I am excited for some late night football to watch with this game. This year’s Wisconsin looks like many in past years as it is experienced in every position but quarterback. That quarterback is an upperclassman, however, that has patiently waited for his chance and is asked to simply not screw things up. Badger quarterbacks are experts at that, and we can expect more of the same next year when Dustin Sherer takes over.

If the Wisconsin running game asserts itself this one will be over quickly. Fresno State is a blood in the water team, especially at home. The longer they stay in the game the better they start to play. If the Badgers win this I think it makes a two game season for them. Beat Michigan State and Ohio State and the Badgers can think national title. This should be a fantastic game. Wisconsin 24, Fresno State 21

Florida Atlantic (1-1) at Michigan State (1-1) noon ESPN2

I think this game could be quite interesting. Florida Atlantic already has a Big Ten pelt from knocking off Minnesota last year. That wasn’t any great feat, but it was still a big win for their program. They went on to win the Sun Belt and the New Orleans Bowl. That’s not bad for a school that didn’t even have a football program 10 years ago. They like to pass, so this should be a decent test for the Michigan State defense.

The Spartans were impressive last week in working on what they needed to work on against Eastern Michigan. Javon Ringer threw up some huge numbers and is now leading the conference in touchdowns. That was one of his biggest knocks last year, but he has already found the end zone more than he did all of last season. Expect Michigan State to have a closer than expected, but business-like win. Michigan State 37, Florida Atlantic 21

Iowa State (2-0) at Iowa (2-0) noon, Big Ten Network

This game is in Iowa City, so the Hawkeyes should win. That, at least, seems to be the trend of late since the home team has won four straight. This is one of the oddest rivalries out there in that you would think the Hawkeyes would own the Cyclones, but Iowa State has more than held its own lately. You simply cannot predict these games anymore. Iowa State last year without even scoring a touchdown. As the 2002 season proved, a loss to the Cyclones doesn’t necessarily mean a bad season.

This may be one of the nastier non-conference rivalries involving a Big Ten team. I really have no idea about this game. Iowa State won last year, and this is the first semi-real team Iowa plays. Since this is the first real look we’ll get of the Hawkeyes I’ll pick them. Iowa 24, Iowa State 20.

Michigan (1-1) at Notre Dame (1-0) 3:30pm NBC

Jimmy Montana says Notre Dame is a good team. Yes, they survived a game against San Diego State that shouldn’t have been close, so obviously the return to glory is happening before our eyes. Two years ago was supposed to be Notre Dame’s last national title. Michigan ended those hopes by stomping the Irish in South Bend. Saturday could be the first step in the magic number of four. The four stands for the four losses the Irish need to prevent the Notre Dame clause being invoked by the BCS and they are handed another undeserved huge payday.

Hatred of that clause aside, the Irish did at least show some signs of life last week by winning a game they really shouldn’t have. That is a step in the right direction. They are better, but how much better remains to be seen. Michigan’s offense needs to take a step forward this week, but who knows how big of a step that will be because we don’t know how good Notre Dame’s defense is. I do know Michigan has a pretty good defense, and Jimmy will probably running for his life a lot. Michigan 10, Notre Dame 7

#17 Penn State (2-0) at Syracuse (0-2), 3:30pm ABC

Syracuse sucks. There are no two ways about it. The loss at Northwestern is fine. The loss at home last week to Akron is embarrassing. They are approaching the rare territory of displacing Duke as “Worst BCS conference team in America”. Also in the running for that title is Baylor. Penn state should have very little trouble here. I can’t believe they picked this game for ABC. Penn State 38, Syracuse 10

Louisiana-Lafayette (0-1) at #24 Illinois (1-1) noon, Big Ten Network

The Illini needs to seriously work on their defense this week. So far they haven’t shown much, surrendering 21 points to Division 1-AA Eastern Illinois a week ago. They should have that luxury this week as Louisiana-Lafayette is among the worst teams in the nation. Expect a ton of points

Louisiana Lafayette doesn’t necessarily have a defense to speak of after giving up a ton on the ground against Southern Miss in the opener. Illinois should have a huge day on the ground. Illinois 45, La-Laf. 14

Southern Illinois (1-0) at Northwestern (2-0), noon, Big Ten Network
Montana State (0-1) at Minnesota (2-0), noon, Big Ten Network

No Big Ten team should ever lose at home to a 1-AA team. This is especially true of both of these teams, as they have been guilty in recent seasons of doing just that. Both are through the most difficult parts of their non-conference schedule, but that isn’t saying much. Both have no excuse for being 4-0 outside the conference (except for Minnesota, which still must play a feisty Florida Atlantic). Since they play each other, that means one of them would need just one more win to be conditionally bowl eligible. Northwestern was there last year, but that’s a big step forward for Minnesota. The Gophers have already lost Duane Bennett for the year, so I’d give the edge to Northwestern for now. Both should have little trouble Saturday. Northwestern 31, Southern Illinois 10. Minnesota 38, Montana State 7

Oregon preview

Based on the very early returns this season, we face our most difficult out of conference test when Oregon comes to town Saturday afternoon. This does not mean that the other two pre-conference games are easy. Because of the way Central Michigan played us in the bowl game and the difficulties we have had in South Bend historically, we could easily be 1-3 before the conference season even starts. We can’t afford to be, but it is possible. Oregon presents a more daunting challenge though. Notre Dame struggled last week against San Diego State, giving me a measure of confidence that we at least can win in South bend. Central Michigan can beat us, but we should still beat them (and indeed must if we want to go to any bowl).

The Ducks are a very formidable foe. They feature a number of weapons on offense. There isn’t a single player that we can point to and say, “if we stop him, we stop the team.” From what they have done, there aren’t even two or three guys that we can say that about. I don’t think I am speaking too highly when I say that a win over a very good team like Oregon means we can think of a New Year’s Day bowl. At the very least it would wake up a lot of teams to us, as it would mean the 14 game losing streak against ranked teams would be over.

Oregon offense so far:

Statistically, no one has been better in the country so far. In two games they have racked up 1,185 yards of total offense and 15 touchdowns. Against Washington, the Huskies actually played a good first half before 30 unanswered points blew open a close game. I was able to watch that game and Oregon’s superior talent prevailed in the end. Not only have they gained a lot of yards, the offense has been very balanced with a 664-520 running versus passing ratio. 408 rushing yards against Utah State skewed things a little last week, but the point is that Oregon has proven they can move the ball no matter what method they choose.

So how do we stop them? Their spread offense is one of the smoothest we will see all season. Quarterback Nate Costa was lost for the season before it even started, but he was lost last year as well. So, it is not like he was a vastly experienced quarterback. Three different quarterbacks have played in both games so far, and all three have been effective. Justin Roper and Jeremiah Moseli have taken most of the snaps so far. Each has two passing TD’s and a completion percentage north of 55%. Roper has a rushing touchdown, but both haven’t rushed on keepers much with only 12 of the team’s 97 carries between them.

If there is such a thing as a change of pace quarterback it is true freshman Chris Harper. When he is on the field he is much more like Dennis Dixon than the other two. So far he is 4 of 6 for 40 yards passing with a score, but he is very dangerous with his legs. He has gained 85 yards on 16 carries with a pair of scores. This was also in minutes that were not mop-up action in both games. Oregon quarterbacks are always a threat to run, but when Harper is in there he is a bigger threat.

Speaking of running, I remarked earlier how we may have caught a break when Johnathan Stewart declared early for the NFL. While he is doing well in Carolina, I officially retract that statement. LaGarrette Blount and Jeremiah Johnson have more than picked up the slack in his absence. Against Washington it was Johnson (124 yards, 2 TD’s) who did most of the damage. He has 161 yards and two touchdowns total.. The reason for his lack of production against the Aggies was Blount. Blount, one of the top JuCo players a year ago, tore up the Aggies in similar fashion (132 yards, 2 TD’s). He has 153 yards and two scores as well. Both have big runs of more than 35 yards on their resume, which would have been longer if that pesky goal line hadn’t gotten in the way. Remene Alston provides another worry with 93 yards and a score. All told, Oregon had seven rushing touchdowns to go with 408 yards against Utah State.

So it’s simple: if we slow down their running game we’re okay, right? Ha! When these Ducks take flight they are just as dangerous. Terrence Scott has been the biggest receiving threat so far with 10 catches for 161 yards and two scores. Jeff Maehl is next with 9 for 121 and a score. Oregon has used 10 different receivers on the season, but that is a bit skewed because of their margins of victory in each game. While they would prefer to run, their passing game has proved to be ample so far.

Granted, much of this has been against teams far worse than us. Utah State is one of the worst teams in the country. They weren’t going to compete at all, and Oregon had a field day. Washington made things tough for awhile, but the defense got tired in the second half and things quickly got out of hand. Washington’s offense didn’t help matters any by doing little after some early scoring drives. The rest of the game was mostly Jake Locker running for his life. Our defense will do a better job, but I still have trouble seeing how we will keep them under 30 points. That just means we have to score more and get a few key stops.

Oregon defense so far:

Again, these numbers are skewed somewhat because of Utah State’s putridity, but they are a still a very good unit. We must be a lot sharper offensively to have any chance, and we have to keep the ball longer than we did against Northern Colorado. So far the Ducks have actually only forced one turnover, but they haven’t needed to do more. They boast one of the best secondaries in the nation as well. Curtis Painter won’t find cornerbacks dropping easy interceptions like Northern Colorado did.

Because of that, it will be strength against strength. We’re going to pass. Everyone knows that. Oregon is going to defend the pass because that is the strength of its defense. In two games they have given up only 365 yards and two touchdowns through the air. Bear in mind, this was with the lead and other teams throwing a lot. Utah State and Washington were a combined 40 of 70 against them, so they are allowing some completions. Neither passing offense was as good as our own.

A telling stat is the number of sacks the Oregon defense has. Oregon has 8 sacks through two games, meaning our offensive line must be ready. They performed admirably against Northern Colorado and that was with two starters out. Both starters will be back this week. Will Tukuafu has gotten to the quarterback twice, while the other six sacks are spread evenly among six players. Defensive end Nick Reed will also be a player to keep an eye on. He has 11 tackles and a sack so far.

Spencer Paysinger leads the team with 19 tackles and a sack from his linebacker position. Walter Thurmond, Jairus Byrd, and Patrick Chung form the bulk of a very good secondary. Between them they have 29 tackles and five pass break ups. It will be interesting to see how our new found physicality in the slot with Keith Smith will match up against them. Last week we got a lot of yards after the catch, especially from Smith and Desmond Tardy. Those yards will be harder to gather this week.

Washington had some success when Jake Locker was able to run out of the pocket. Curtis Painter has proven in the past he can run, and Purdue is a better team when its quarterback can duck and run when the opportunity is there. Drew Brees was a master at this. If Painter is going to take the next step and beat good teams he must be able to do this starting Saturday. Oregon will cause pressure. Their secondary will cover our receivers. If Painter can recognize this and step past the pressure there should be room for him to run.

So far Oregon has given up just 183 yards and one touchdown on the ground. We cannot abandon the running game as we have in the past. That plays into Oregon’s hands. Teams haven’t run on them yet since they have trailed. If we abandon the running game early as we did so many time last year, this game will be over in a hurry. We must be patient. Kory Sheets showed some elusiveness last week. If he gets 100 yards we should be able to win because it means we held the ball away from their offense enough for him to get those yards.

I have a feeling that time of possession will be a huge statistic in this game. If we win this category it either means we’re playing well and keeping the ball from them or they are scoring so quickly it won’t matter.

Oregon Special Teams so far:

Naturally, since Oregon has been scoring a lot of touchdowns they have had little need for huge contributions from their special teams. Matt Evensen has made two medium-range field goals and has been 13 of 14 on extra points.

Byrd is averaging 11 yards per return on punts, but has a long of 51 yards bumping up his average. As a team the Ducks are averaging a modest 24 yards per return on five returns.

Final thoughts:

I’ve said all along that our showing in this game will dictate our performance on the season as a whole. If we win on Saturday, there is no reason we cannot win in South Bend or beat good teams like Penn State at home. A loss, especially a bad one, puts us in danger of missing a bowl game. We have done well in the past against BCS teams outside the Big Ten when they come to Ross-Ade. Under Tiller we are 6-3 against such teams in Ross-Ade (4-2 against Notre Dame, 0-1 vs. Wake Forest, 1-0 vs. Arizona, 1-0 vs. Syracuse). This will be the best team out of conference we have faced at home, however.

I also hope the crowd is into it Saturday afternoon. It’s not Notre Dame or a Big Ten team, so the crowds tend to be fairly lackluster. Honestly, we don’t have a lot riding on the game if we lose because we were expected to and it doesn’t count in the Big Ten. It’s been quite a awhile since we have played a ranked non-conference opponent at home not named Notre Dame, so it is a new experience for us.

I do think we need that elusive perfect game in order to win. It’s unfortunate because the program badly needs a win like this. It’s been 14 games and almost five years since we have beaten a ranked team anywhere. The weather could be a factor, as rainy conditions could slow down Oregon’s team speed. They are run-oriented though and we are not. This means our passing game likely will struggle much more than their speed. We also cannot afford to turn the ball over. This means no high Curtis Painter passes or Kory Sheets fumbles.

I think if we win we can honestly dream of a 10 win season, something that has eluded us for years. It was possible in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, and even last year had we not lost winnable games. In order to win, we must at least slow Oregon down and not allow the big play. We have to get at least a couple of key stops and prevent them from putting it away early. We also must score. We cannot have empty trips into Duck territory. If we can score early, get a lead, and hold it for awhile we will have a chance. Oregon plays better when they are ahead, so we must deny them that opportunity.

That said, we are still Purdue. Until we rise up and beat a good team like this I won’t believe it. We can take a big step forward on Saturday, but I won’t believe it until it happens. Right now, I am thinking the Ducks will win, with the prediction coming in tomorrow’s Big Ten preview.

It's business time, roundtable style

It’s Wednesday at Off the Tracks and you know what that means. Awwwwww, yeah…


Well, it may not quite be business time. It is Big Ten Bloggers’ roundtable time though. This week’s edition is hosted by the distinguished Michigan blog Maize N’ Brew, who helped me out last season with some Q&A before the debacle in Ann Arbor.

Also, this week’s new Blogpoll is out. Purdue is bringing up the rear of the others’ receiving votes category, but I hope that changes this week.

1. We're two weeks in and everyone in the Big Ten, minus the two Michigan schools, are 2-0. This week marks the end of your early "tune-up" or serious OOC play. Are you satisfied with the way your team has played against the cupcakes on your schedule, or happy with the way they've competed against serious competition?

Aha! We’re not 2-0 yet, though I would like to be. 2-0 means we beat Oregon this weekend and finally broke a 14 game losing streak against ranked opponents. We have far from a tune-up schedule too. Our one tune up was against Northern Colorado last week and my thoughts have morphed quite a bit on that. The score ended up not being what I thought it would, but I think Northern Colorado played a better game than most thought. It was still a blowout. The defense still performed much better than in past openers as their 10 points were scored on a 4 yard “drive” after a punt went off our own player’s leg and a sustained drive against the second string when the game was well in hand.

I am very pleased with the play of our special teams. We blocked a pair of punts, one of which was returned for a touchdown. We had some touchbacks from a true freshman kickoff specialist who will likely move into the placekicking role in two years. We also had two big kickoff returns that set up a pair of touchdowns. Desmond Tardy showed a lot of shiftiness once he had the ball, giving us a missing element. Keith Smith also showed we have a large physical presence in the slot.

2. You knew this was coming. This week's OMG Game of teh Century!!!!1!!1!! until next week's OMG Game of teh Century!!!!1!!1!! is Ohio State versus Southern Cal. Who are you pulling for and why? Further, if you're pulling for one particular team tell me why they'll win, or won't. If you're like me and will be attempting to cure a sunburn from over exposure to the sun during the Michigan Notre Dame game by drinking large quantities of whiskey instead of watching the game, state your excuse.

After the events of the 2002 Fiesta Bowl I am barred from ever cheering for Ohio State. As J Money stated in a comment last week, my sex life does indeed depend on it. Because of that, I will have to go with USC. I do want to see a competitive game and not a blowout.

I probably won’t be able to see the beginning because we’ll be heading back home from West Lafayette after the Purdue-Oregon contest. I am shedding my perceived Michigan bias in the hopes that the Wolverines spank Jimmy Montana and Notre Dame Saturday the same time we are facing Oregon. I don’t think it will quite be the cripple fight it was perceived as last year, but both teams are far from the status many of their fans think they are. At least Michigan fans are more realistic about it.

3. Besides the above mentioned Game of the Century, there are actually some decent match ups this week in the Big Ten. Purdue v. Oregon; Wisconsin v. Fresno State; Michigan v. Notre Dame; Michigan State v. Florida Atlantic; or Iowa v. Iowa State. I said decent. I didn't say they were all good. Pick the best game from that group, pick the worst game from that group, and Minnesota and Illinois bloggers must post an apology for scheduling Montana State and Louisiana Lafayette respectively.

You’re inferring that we actually have an Illinois blogger. Paging Jim Shikenjanski and the Daily Gopher mean a double apology though. As much as I am looking forward to Purdue-Oregon on Saturday I think we’re headed for another loss. Oregon just has too many weapons in my opinion. For us to have a chance we must slow down their running game and force them to pass.

Unfortunately it has been a LONG time since our defense has been good enough to force teams to go against their strategy. That being said, I am really looking forward to the Wisconsin-Fresno State game late Saturday night. Fresno can be a nightmare if they play well at home, which happens often. Wisconsin has stomped opponents in the second half so far, so it will be interesting to see what happens if they fall behind and can’t turn it on immediately.

It will also be interesting to see if Iowa finally asserts the dominance it should against Iowa State. As my friend Greg once said about something about prison rape, “It’s not a sexual thing, it’s a dominance thing.” In a related note, Greg is a strange guy.

4. Out of Conference scheduling is always something that draws the ire of journalists and bloggers alike. You all know how weak your OOC really is. Admit it. You're sad. So fix it. Pick two teams out of conference you really wish your school would schedule. Nursing colleges and the Center for Veterinary Sciences are verboten. Pick two major conference middle to heavy weights or two heavy weight non-BCS conference programs to add to the schedule. (Please note you get to keep your two patsies per season).

Our out of conference schedule is weak? When Notre Dame may be our third toughest opponent it is far from weak. We play a very good Oregon team, Notre Dame in South Bend (which is always tough for us), and the two-time MAC champion with one of the most dangerous quarterbacks at a non-BCS school. This is a year we could use another patsy!

As far as non-conference matchups, I’d like to see us play Miami for obvious reasons. I just want to see what we would do against them before they get good again. Thanks to the Champs Sports Bowl there is always that possibility at the end of the season. A second BCS conference team I would like to play is Colorado. I love the scenery, so a road trip would definitely be in order. Also, they are a mid-level Big 12 team we could have a decent game against. I would also like to play Nebraska, a traditionally strong program that is down a bit. They would be a good test and a good “name win” for us.

5. All college football fans love to tailgate. Even you, your mothers' basement dwelling bloggers, you. Name your beverage of choice on game days. Alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage, your readers need to know these things about you, to judge you. Confirm all their suspicions.

My parents don’t have a basement, and I moved out when I got married at 25. My reasons for moving back home after graduation were financial. I got a good job in my home town and saved a ton of money living at home. Er, wait, what was the question?

Since I value the chance for sleep over early tailgating, I usually don’t have beverages of a spirituous nature until after our noon kickoffs. Should we have a later kickoff, I have preferred the Boiler-rita. My dad’s business partner is a Purdue alum and regular tailgater in the R Lot. Until a few seasons ago, one of his companions brought a giant margarita machine hooked up to a generator. I know beer and Jose Cuervo went into them in large quantities. I was very thankful for several of these before the 2005 Notre Dame game, as they helped ease the pain. Post game I usually have a beer before heading home. At least once a season a stop at Harry’s is required for a Long Island.

Once I’m safely home and watching the night games I prefer a Breckenridge Brewery Avalanche Ale as my beer of choice. If we’re watching the Canes on TV a category five hurricane is a must. We have studied the recipe while in Miami and have all the tools to duplicate it home. It’s a good thing too, because duplicating it elsewhere then trying to get home is difficult due to its strength.

Bonus Question!

6. Rivalry games dot the schedule this week. If your team is playing in a rivalry game, say something nasty about your opponent then predict a lopsided score to infuriate the opposing fanbase. If you're not playing a rival, then start a rivalry by saying something nasty about your opponent and then predict a lopsided score to infuriate the opposing fanbase. Or just give me a non-offensive prediction and a reason to watch.

I have absolutely nothing against Oregon. I have been excited about this game for a long time because it is an opponent we don’t normally get to see. There’s no real rivalry, as Purdue won the only game in the series 13-7 a few weeks before I was born in 1979. I’m already planning on heading to Autzen Stadium for the return game next season simply because it is a trip we don’t normally have.

As far as a reason to watch goes, this could potentially be a fun offensive shootout. Oregon’s defense has done alright so far, but Washington and Utah State don’t exactly have unstoppable offenses. If our offense is sharp (and it had better be after last week) we can score some points. Oregon has already proved it can move. They currently have the best offense in the country. Again, Washington and Utah State won’t be mistaken for the 1985 Chicago Bears. Our defense is better, but can they slow them down enough? This is the first real chance to see just how much better we are defensively.

Big Ten week 2 review (with blogpoll)

This week was a very good week for the Big Ten. If you picked a Big Ten team to win, you were right. Sure, a number of teams didn’t exactly impress much in said wins, but each team is now assured of not having a winless season. Because I picked Minnesota to lose I lost my perfect record in the Big Ten Bloggers’ pick ‘em contest, but I am still comfortably in first place.

This was also a good weekend to check out the rest of Purdue’s competition. All three of our remaining non-conference opponents were in action. I’ll talk about them a bit after I work my way through the conference. Also, while I’ll be posting this week’s blogpoll ballot for critique, the power rankings will be officially on hold until the week before the conference season starts. This allows me to get a better handle on all 11 teams since people like Indiana, Purdue, and Iowa haven’t really played anyone yet.

Minnesota 42, Bowling Green 17 – I wanted to start with the Gophers because they had probably the most impressive week of anyone based solely on their expectations coming in. I picked them to lose because of how well both teams performed in week 1. Instead, the Gophers thumped a team in their house that had beaten them in Minneapolis a year before. If Minnesota can get past Florida Atlantic at home, another team that beat them a year ago, they will likely have a 4-0 non-conference record. That makes them a bowl threat with just a couple of conference wins. Next up is a perceived layup against Montana State.

Penn State 45, Oregon State – The injuries on the defensive side of the ball are not slowing them down so far. The Nittany Lions dominated at home for the second straight week, all but assuring their own 4-0 non-conference record. Oregon State was supposed to be a sleeper team in the Pac-10. They need to wake up. Evan Royster, with 141 yards and three touchdowns, is beginning to look like a pretty good back for the Lions. This will most likely be our most difficult home conference game. Penn State now has one of the easiest BCS opponents in all the land with a trip to Syracuse.

Wisconsin 51, Marshall 14 – They kept showing this one on the scoreboard and it looked like Marshall was going to put quite a scare into the Badgers. The Wisconsin ran off an astounding 51 unanswered points. Akron had a similar fate last week with a fast start before Wisconsin dominated the second half. It certainly looks like if the Badgers are going to lose a team will have to put them away early. In the second half of both games they have outscored opponents 55-7. They may be the best closing team in the conference right now. A little bit of everyone is contributing, but it will be interesting to see how they handle a tricky trip to Fresno State.

Iowa 42, Florida International 0 – The Hawkeyes got another big win with a dual–headed monster at quarterback, but both must be viewed with the competition in perspective. Maine is terrible and FIU might be even worse. Things get much tougher this week with their annual struggle with Iowa State before a trip to Pittsburgh. Until I see how Iowa performs in both I have to give them a grade of incomplete. They have taken a step forward in a sense that the offense is running smoothly against inferior opponents. That wasn’t the case a season ago.

Indiana 45, Murray State 3 – The Hoosiers are 2-0 for the fifth straight season. They have never been able to boast such a streak, though the most difficult opponent they have faced in these ten games is the same Oregon team we face this week. They also have to be pleased that they received production from the ground game other than Kellen Lewis. There is little question that the Hoosiers are much better than in the past. They are annihilating teams they should annihilate. Next up is a bye before a home game against a pretty good Ball State team that knows it can compete with the Hoosiers. The Cardinals have never beaten a BCS conference foe, but have come close several times lately.

Illinois 47, Eastern Illinois 21 – I loved the throwback uniforms that the Illini wore on Saturday. They re-dedicated Memorial Stadium after the renovations were complete in style with a big win. I sure hope they took care of the concourse size and restroom problems, as it was the worst of the seven Big Ten stadiums I have visited. While this was never in doubt, the Illini have to be concerned about their defense. Giving up a ton of points to Missouri is one thing, but 21 points to a 1-AA team we shut down last year? They can do better.

Michigan State 42, Eastern Michigan 10 – I said that Michigan State needed to work on its running game and defense in last week’s preview. Please place a checkmark next to both. Javon Ringer is already in midseason form with more than 200 yards and seven touchdowns on the year. If he keeps up those numbers Michigan State will have a very successful season. A Florida Atlantic team that can throw a bit is next and should provide another good test for the defense before Jimmy Montana comes to town.

Purdue 42, Northern Colorado 10 – It was far from an unmitigated disaster, but the Boilers still showed a lot of room for improvement. After had a fairly healthy camp we ended up missing 40% of our offensive line and maybe our best linebacker were hurt. Three key defensive players sat out with suspensions that were expected to play. Brian Waggener showed why he was a Florida recruit too. Just because he transferred doesn’t mean he can’t play ball. All of those players should be back against the Ducks, and I have a suspicion that, at least as far as the injuries go, they were held out as a precaution. Purdue also maintains an incomplete grade.

Northwestern 24, Duke 20 – Much was made about how Northwestern almost lost to Duke again. The Blue Devils had a game-winning touchdown called back on a penalty and gained nearly 500 yards in the loss. The most important figure is still the score. Northwestern is not going to play for the national championship. Their goal is a bowl game and the fact they won places them a step closer to that goal. Facing Ohio this week suddenly looks a lot tougher after the Bobcats went into the ‘shoe and fought the Buckeyes hard.

Michigan 16, Miami (OH) 6 – I’ve received a lot of comments about being an anti-Michigan blog lately. I do not hate Michigan. Far from it, in fact. I respect the Wolverines as one of the greatest college programs in the nation. Unlike other great programs of the past, Michigan is still relevant to the modern college football world. All I have done is raise some honest questions instead of bowing in awe before this mystical force that is the Rich Rodriguez spread offense. So far, those questions have not been answered. The Wolverines struggled again this week, but still got the W. They will get better each week, but until that offense can really get going even bad teams will have a shot at them.

That being said, I will definitely be a Michigan fan this week.

Ohio State 26, Ohio 14 – The Buckeyes are way too talented for one player to make that much of a difference. Unless they were holding back a lot in Milton Berle fashion the Buckeyes must play a whole lot better against USC. I don’t even think it was so much a case of Ohio State winning the game as Ohio losing it. In the future, I think Ohio state should make any game with an in-state opponent (since they haven’t lost such a game since 1921) be a game for the THE in THE Ohio State University. Can we make this happen?

Notre Dame 21, San Diego State 13 – I think I will leave most of the scathing rhetoric on the Irish to my friend J Money over at Boiled Sports. San Diego State was mere inches (and some would say they got those inches) from putting this game away at 20-7 with a fourth quarter touchdown. I’ll give the Irish credit for maintaining their composure to come back and win this, but they still struggled against a team that got dominated by a 1-AA team just a week ago. What’s going to happen when they face a good defense or a good offense that can take advantage of all those mistakes? They could change my mind by beating Michigan this week (who has a much better defense), but as of right now I don’t think Notre Dame is much better. CFN and ESPN have to be smoking a big fat bag of crack if they think Notre Dame is worthy of a New Year’s Day Bowl on anything but name recognition alone.

Oregon 66, Utah State 24 – The Aggies are one of the worst 1-A teams in the country, but good criminy the Ducks looked good in smoking them. The running game had over 400 yards and seven touchdowns. Instead of one guy in Johnathan Stewart we get to stop two great backs in Jeremiah Johnson and LaGarrette Blount. Oregon now has the best offense in the country yardage –wise.

Eeeep.

To have any chance at winning this week we have to slow down their running game, not bite on their fakes, and make them throw the ball. We will get multiple looks at both running back and quarterback, meaning we have to be totally alert defensively. I have a bad feeling about this now.

Georgia 56, Central Michigan 17 – Had the Chips played a better game in Athens I would be very concerned. Central Michigan continued its regular season tendency of getting blown up by non-MAC teams, however. This is still a dangerous game in two weeks and must be treated as a must win game. Assuming a loss to Oregon (which is looking more and more likely) we cannot afford to lose a game to them.

Blogpoll ballot:

There are not a ton of changes this week as there weren’t many upsets outside of East Carolina over West Virginia. Though the Hurricanes fell at Florida Saturday night, I was impressed that they played a very good game for three quarters before running out of gas. They didn’t roll over and die like they did so many times last year, sot hey are turning a corner. Feel free to discuss the poll here before I finalize the ballot late tomorrow night.

Also, there will be dual roundtables on Wednesday before a Thursday Oregon preview and Friday Big Ten preview. Somewhere in there I may be interacting with the Oregon blog Addicted to Quack once again.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	--
2	Georgia	1
3	Florida	3
4	Oklahoma	--
5	Missouri	--
6	Ohio State	4
7	LSU	--
8	Auburn	--
9	Texas	--
10	Wisconsin	1
11	Penn State	2
12	Kansas	--
13	Texas Tech	2
14	Alabama	--
15	East Carolina	11
16	Oregon	--
17	Arizona State	2
18	South Florida	--
19	Utah	2
20	Fresno State	2
21	California	3
22	Wake Forest	2
23	West Virginia	13
24	UCLA	2
25	Brigham Young	8

Dropped Out: South Carolina (#23), Miami (Florida) (#25).

Purdue 42, Northern Colorado 10

Vanilla is often used to describe sporting events where teams play things very simply. If that is the case, then today was vanilla ice cream topped with vanilla sauce, served by Vanilla Ice himself. As I was driving home from West Lafayette late this afternoon I was trying to sort out my feelings for the game. It wasn’t as big of a blowout as I expected, but it was still a blowout. We struggled offensively, but we really didn’t show a lot of creativity. Defensively, we continued our maddening tendency to simply refuse to cover a hot receiver, (Ryan Chesla in this case) but only surrendered 10 points thanks to a fluke play and a drive surrendered when the game was well in hand.

Of course, as I write this Lou Holtz is using the “holding back for Michigan” excuse as the reason Notre Dame struggled with San Diego State. I do think we held back a lot with Oregon coming to town, but I also think Northern Colorado played a lot better than I expected. Both contributed to a blowout that was simply not as big as expected.

When I viewed this game on the schedule I had visions of our players running up and down the field, gaining huge chunks of yardage and scoring on big play after big play. This vision was born of the total ineptitude that I viewed Northern Colorado’s football program as having. They were certainly a lot better than I expected. Bear fans can expect more than one win this season from what I saw today.

In the end, Purdue did not play its best, but they also held back quite a bit. I feel much better than I did after the 60-35 win over Indiana State two years ago, but we must improve if we’re going to have a good season.

Postives from the Northern Colorado game:

Frank Duong – Frank has earned his place on the field. It is clear he plays kamikaze-style football. He flies around with reckless abandon, just wanting to hit someone. Today he saw quite a bit of action for the first time, and did very well. He was in on a ton of plays, had a few big hits, and generally made his presence felt. While it was clear he was overmatched a few times, I can see him turning into a Jake Standeford-type of asset at safety.

Keith Smith – It was clear today that Smith’s physical presence will be a nice plus in the passing game. He just looked better than Dorien Bryant in the slot because of his size. Smith led us in catches, found the end zone with his first career reception, and looked very comfortable at the position. As he continues to develop into a quality option we will get better.

Desmond Tardy – Tardy technically didn’t start, but he had several big plays. It’s not his fault we didn’t score off of his first big catch and run. His second set up a touchdown while his big kickoff return set up another score. All told he gave us 180 all-purpose yards, and had three plays that he threatened to take it all the way. He’ll be a huge factor in the return game as the season goes on.

Special Teams – These guys were phenomenal today. Only some confusion on the opening kickoff and a fluke play on a punt in the fourth quarter were blemishes. I don’t even blame them for the punt miscue. When you play a team with deficiencies like Northern Colorado, punts are always an adventure because the punter normally drops the ball right into the middle of the crowd instead of kicking past it. That makes what happened much more likely, and we were simply unlucky.

Obviously a blocked punt returned for a TD (by Mike Conway in what will likely be his only career TD), two near kickoff TD’s, and a couple of touchbacks from a true freshman kicker are huge positives. It looks like Special Teams will be a major advantage that we must exploit. Chris Summers also boomed a couple of big punts.

I feel especially good for Mike Conway, a walk-on who will always remember what may be his one big play. I probably spend way too much time paying attention to Purdue football and I didn’t even know the kid before today. You could tell with his lunge that no silly punter was denying him his touchdown.

The running game – When we did use it, we tore through Northern Colorado as expected. Kory Sheets had a modest 81 yard, 2 TD day. Frank Halliburton was a big plus on special teams (and is quite the dancer as we saw during SHOUT). Justin Siller also looked pretty good the first time we saw him with the ball in his hands. I’d still like to see Painter run more, as we’re better when he is a threat. Even Kyle Orton ran quite a bit as a senior.

The defense – Were they really that bad? Again, we didn’t show much. They still nearly pitched a shutout. Most of Northern Colorado’s yards came on the late touchdown drive and the missed field goal drive. It was frustrating to see Ryan Chesla look like Antonio Gates, but he didn’t cause too much damage. There were no huge plays like against Indiana State two years ago. Brian Waggener isn’t exactly a stiff if he was recruited by Florida, and he showed he could play a bit today.

Negatives from the Northern Colorado game:

Finishing drives – Against the rest of our schedule we are not going to go for it on fourth and five inside the 10. It should have never gotten to that point anyway. It seemed like any time we needed to run and assert dominance we tried to pass and it was met with miserable results. The passing game wasn’t sharp. I understand the need for balance and to work on the passing game, but today there were moments (like at the end of the first half) where we needed to just run the ball. Going for it there was a calculated risk that didn’t work out. Leaving three points on the field wouldn’t hurt us, and we won’t alter on.

Penalties – I’ll attribute this to being the first game, but we had a lot of uncharacteristic penalties. Some of the penalties were the result of horrible calls though. The most notable was the pass interference called by the back judge 25 yards from the play. The officials missed a couple of other penalties that Northern Colorado committed quite obviously. This was a minor problem.

The Ryan Chesla factor – As usual, we had one receiver that we refused to cover even though it was obvious he was the other team’s only receiving threat. Today it was tight end Ryan Chesla. He’s good, but not 9 catches for 99 yards good.

Using other receivers – Painter had a bad game. He was overthrowing guys and our receivers were dropping passes. For the number of options we allegedly have, only four guys caught passes. We didn’t have a lot out of anyone not named Orton, Smith, or Tardy and we need more. Again, this could be the result of holding back a lot offensively.

Curtis Painter – Statistically 286 yards and two scores is good, but it could have been much better. Painter overthrew a number of guys, especially in the red zone. He also had two sure interceptions dropped by inept defensive backs. He can make those mistakes against Northern Colorado, but Oregon’s secondary is one of the best in the nation. They would have eaten him alive today. He will need to play MUCH better next week. The Bears defensive line got way too much pressure as well. Oregon will certainly bring more.

Final thoughts:

It wasn’t what I expected, but it wasn’t as bad as we think. It’s not like two years ago when Indiana State, a team worse than the Bears, hung 35 points on us with a number of big plays. The special teams were fantastic. The defense was better than it has been, and the offense showed enough to know they can be better. The game was a blowout, just not as big of a blowout as many of us were expecting.

I think also that a lot of our problems were first game rust. When you’re playing that many receivers for the first time there are bound to be some problems. The guys worked hard though. Many of the drops were because Painter simply didn’t throw the ball well. His first pass to Tardy down the left sideline was beautiful. He tapered off after that.

Another important factor is that we allowed Northern Colorado to have the ball for almost two thirds of the game. Despite that, we scored 42 points and they only had 10. Any team is going to get 300 yards of offense if they have the ball for 37 minutes.

That said, we have to get better this week. Oregon annihilated Utah State as expected today, and with Washington’s close loss to #15 BYU their win over the Huskies looks more impressive. We played well against the run, but we will need to be even better at it against the Ducks. They threw down 408 yards rushing today. We’ll need to at least slow that down and make them throw to have a chance.

This is a huge week for the 2008 Purdue football season. Oregon is beatable. In my opinion, a win means as much as a 10 win season. A loss means that we still cannot compete with ranked teams and we will struggle to make a bowl.

Utah State wasn’t going to do much, and Washington was about the same. Painter cannot continue to overthrow receivers. We have to get a better pass rush and learn to wrap guys up. This was a good game for showing what we need to do. The lesson must now be applied. The real season begins in seven days.

Special Note:

I didn’t touch on this, but I think it is because it was pretty much a foregone conclusion. With today’s win coach Tiller tied Jack Mollenkopf at 84 atop the list for wins as a Purdue head coach. Joe has been under a lot of criticism lately. His regime feels like it could have been more, but the fact we are even where we are is a credit to him.

Before Joe came to town we had been to five bowl games period. Joe has taken us to ten so far. We hadn’t even smelled a winning record, let alone a bowl game, in 13 years before he came. He immediately made us a regular in the postseason. He also made us a legitimate threat in the Big Ten each week instead of an automatic win for opposing teams. We aren’t where we want to be, but it is because of Joe Tiller that we are even within sight of it.

Joe has done more for Purdue football than anyone else since Mollenkopf left. It is, therefore, fitting that he tied Jack today. Yes we could have been more. Yes we still can be more. We have still come farther than anyone could have dreamed 12 years ago. This is a tremendous honor for coach Tiller, and this Boilermaker thanks him from the bottom of his heart.

BOILER UP! Northern Colorado open thread

Get ready for lots of that today. I hope the steam whistle has plenty of steam because we’re going to need it in this one. This is the first official football open game thread in Off the Tracks history. This worked quite well for the first NCAA tournament game against Baylor, so I figured I would try it again.

If you can’t be in West Lafayette today, but have the Big Ten Network and can watch from home feel free to stop by and comment about specific plays, players, even other games going on. Short of hauling a laptop into the Shiveley Stadium club, I’ll try to see if I can add a few comments from my phone. I’ll be viewing this week from Section C-5, row of the stadium club (my parents seats since they are out of town, so SWEET!). I'll post a full wrap tonight as I am watching Miami upset Florida.

BOILER UP!

Big Ten Week 2 preview

I was going to do a more in depth preview, but my look at Northern Colorado from the summer should suffice. We have a decided advantage in every aspect of the game. It will simply be nice to head to West Lafayette on Saturday and be back in Ross-Ade Stadium for what should be a gorgeous afternoon. Other than that, it is the type of game that can only raise questions instead of find answers.

The rest of the Big Ten is in action against a rather mediocre slate of games. The conference didn’t do itself any favors by losing its only difficult games last week, and nearly dropping another one it shouldn’t have when Minnesota struggled with Northern Illinois. We could have an 11-0 week this week, as the only difficult game should be Minnesota at a confidant Bowling Green team. That is far from a guarantee since the Falcons beat the Gophers last season in an overtime thriller at the Metrodome. It is the only time a Big Ten team visits a MAC team this year.

Northern Colorado (0-0) at Purdue (0-0) – We’re the last team in the conference to start, and we should join seven other teams at 1-0 around 3:30 Saturday afternoon. To be frank, if this is not a blowout in every sense of the word we should be very concerned for the rest of the year. One of the few good things that can happen in this game is learning if Kory Sheets is over his fumbling problem. I would not be surprised if he had a 139 yard, 2TD day, so the carries will help him get used to not fumbling.

Bryan Waggener, a transfer from Florida, poses a mild threat at quarterback, but I don’t expect him to have any time to throw at all. In what little research I found about Northern Colorado I could find I saw where the offensive line, which may be more banged up than our, allowed 8 sacks in the spring scrimmage. By the way, Northern Colorado’s defensive line is supposed to be the weakest part of its team, so it’s not like they had a lethal pass rush to fend off in the spring.

Northern Colorado could not stop anyone last year, ranking at the bottom of Division 1-AA in pass defense. They also could not move the ball or score, breaking 20 points just twice. Their special teams is a huge weakness also, meaning they’ll likely need to be inside the 15 to even have a chance at scoring unless they break a big play. These guys lost 31-0 to a Division 2 team at home, so we should have very little trouble. I don’t normally predict a shutout, but honestly this one should be unless we surrender said big play. We’ve also never failed to hang 50 on a 1-AA team, and we won’t fail to this year. Purdue 56, Northern Colorado 0

Minnesota (1-0) at Bowling Green (1-0) – The only team that has beaten us in a home opener under coach Tiller hosts Minnesota in a rematch of a pretty exciting game a year ago. The Falcons now officially have a reputation of surprising BCS teams on the road to start the season, having done so at Purdue in 2003, Minnesota in 2007, and Pittsburgh just last week. Pittsburgh and Purdue were both ranked at the time, while the Falcons could find themselves in the top 25 somewhere down the line if they get a second BCS foe.

When the Big Ten travels to the MAC it is always more dangerous for the Big Ten team. The crowd is jacked up for the biggest home game of the year, the players are ready, and the usual night kickoff is a departure from the normal Big Ten routine. Hen you couple that with the fact that Bowling Green is a pretty good football team while Minnesota showed last week that it still has many issues makes this a tempting upset pick. Bowling had a lot of composure in the upset at Pittsburgh. They also know they can beat the Gophers. It won’t be an upset if they win. Bowling Green 24, Minnesota 20

Eastern Illinois (0-1) at #24 Illinois (0-1) – Expect Juice Williams to have another really good week passing the football. Curtis Painter lit these guys up for 348 yards and six touchdowns a season ago, and I don’t think the Panthers’ secondary is appreciably better. Eastern Illinois is one of the better 1-AA teams in the nation, making the playoffs once again a season ago. They are clearly outclassed against the Big Ten, however. Illinois 52, Eastern Illinois 17

Murray State (1-0) at Indiana (1-0) – This is the weakest game on Indiana’s schedule, but the other two non conference games against Central Michigan and Ball State will be more difficult as the Hoosiers will have to face living, breathing offenses in those games. For the second week in a row Indiana should have little trouble. Kellen Lewis should move the ball with reckless abandon. Indiana 45, Murray State 10

Oregon State (0-1) at #19 Penn State (1-0) – This looked like a really good game in the preseason. Penn State had some questions and Oregon State was a sleeper in the Pac-10. The Nittany Lions impressed many even in beating a 1-AA team, while the Beavers lost on the road at Stanford. Suddenly this looks like a chance for the Big Ten to even the Big Ten/Pac 10 challenge standings at one apiece before Purdue-Oregon and Ohio State-USC decide things next week.

Oregon State’s Lyle Moevao threw for over 400 yards in the opener against Stanford, but he’ll have to avoid the two interceptions he threw against the Cardinal. More than 300 of those yards went to just two receivers, so spreading around the ball will be paramount. Happy Valley is also a much more hostile venue. Penn State 31, Oregon State 17

Marshall (1-0) at #11 Wisconsin (1-0) – Wisconsin is another team that impressively stepped on the gas last week and made a game that was close a blowout. Unlike Oregon with Washington, we don’t have to face them. P.J. Hill made a very large case against better competition hat he might be the best running back in the Big Ten. He also could be deserving of some Heisman consideration in his own right. If he outperforms Beanie Wells when the two face each other in Madison and leads the Badgers to a win he just might get it too.

Marshall continues it stunning dropoff from the Chad Pennington/Byron Leftwich/Randy Moss days. They were a MAC power and legitimate threat to bus the BCS, but have been found wanting since moving to Conference USA. Marshall opened the season with a 35-10 win over Illinois State at home. And have the most conceited name in history for a receiver in Darius Passmore. It won’t matter if they pass more because Wisconsin will run more. Wisconsin 42, Marshall 7

Northwestern (1-0) at Duke (1-0) – I don’t understand what vendetta GBI has against Northwestern this season. Four different people picked the Blue Devils to repeat their upset of a dangerous Wildcat team. As a sidebar, what do I have to do to get on this media predictions page? It’s time for me and the guys at Boiled Sports to storm the GBI offices like it’s Bastille Day.

Last week Tyrell Sutton proved he was healthy. Like Damian Anderson and Darnell Autry before him, that makes Northwestern incredibly dangerous in any game. The Blue Devils are unlikely to have anyone parachute in to help them here, either. Still, this could be a close game simply because of the IQ levels involved. These guys may not make it to the NFL, but they will all be our bosses some day very soon. Northwestern 30, Duke 20

Florida International (0-1) at Iowa (1-0) - The Golden Panthers have one thing that stands out in their illustrious history. They will go down as the final team to win a game in the historic Orange Bowl. They were forced to use it as a temporary home last season as their on campus stadium was undergoing a serious renovation. They won their last game there against North Texas on December 1st in what was the final collegiate game in the facility. It is their only win in their last 25 games, so don’t expect a W to be on the docket in Iowa City.

Iowa looked impressive against Maine last week, but it was still against Maine. Florida International will be a slightly better road trip before Iowa State and Pittsburgh follow. FIU already got drilled at Kansas last week, so they don’t have a ton of confidence coming in. This is another opportunity for Kirk Ferentz to play musical quarterbacks before settling on a starter. If he doesn’t settle on one, don’t expect Iowa to do much this year. Iowa 45, FIU 14

Miami (OH) (0-1) at Michigan (0-1) - This is a very interesting game. Miami is considered to be one of the better teams in the MAC. Michigan, on the other hand, rarely has any trouble with MAC schools. It was a notable exception two years ago when Ball State nearly bombed its way to wrecking the Wolverines’ perfect season. I thought Miami had a puncher’s chance until they were easily controlled by Vanderbilt a week ago.

I am also tired of hearing that it is a guarantee that Rich Rodriguez’ offense will be unstoppable by the end of the year. As I mentioned in the roundtable yesterday, what makes this a guarantee. As they slowly learn the offense teams will slowly learn to stop it. It’s not like it is this freakish new offense that no one has ever heard of either. A Dave Wannstedt coached Pittsburgh team figured it out pretty easily last year with better personnel running it. To me, that says more than anything. Michigan will likely win this, and they had better since it is one of their few guaranteed wins. Michigan 23, Miami 7

Ohio (0-1) at #3 Ohio State (1-0) - The third of four Big Ten-MAC matchups this week may end up being the biggest mismatch of them all. Beanie Wells likely won’t play, but the rest of the running backs should have a field day against one of the worst rushing defenses out there. I’m not exactly sure what Ohio State’s record against in state opponents is, but I know they have a pretty good streak going against the likes of Ohio, Akron, Kent State, Toledo, Bowling Green, Youngstown State, Cincinnati, and Miami combined. Their tradition is to play at least one per year at home, and this year fans get treated to two blowouts.

Look for Ohio State to use this as little more than a tune up before the USC game. If Beanie Wells plays at all coach Tressel is an idiot. You don’t risk one of your best players coming back from an injury before the biggest game of the year. If I were an Ohio State trainer I would be hiding Wells’ helmet somewhere. Ohio state 41, Ohio 10

Eastern Michigan (1-0) at Michigan State (0-1) - Eastern Michigan has long been one of the worst Division 1-A teams in the country. This was the type of team that Jim Colletto could blow out, and he did once in 1991 49-3. They rarely register 52-0 wins, but that is exactly what they did last week. Sure, it was against the mighty Trees of Indiana State, but a 52-0 win is a 52-0 win. Moving one state north will be much more difficult to reproduce the same result.

As required by the ethics of journalism, I must mention how Michigan State is this year’s official sleeper in the Big Ten. They weren’t as sharp as necessary last week though. They didn’t get the one stop they needed to hold of California on the road. The running game also didn’t produce like many expected either. Since defense and running were to be the hallmarks of the Spartan program this year, that has to be a concern. Expect them to work on both this week. Michigan State 38, Eastern Michigan 7

National game of interest

Miami (FL) at #5 Florida

I’ll be rushing back from West Lafayette in order to be on my coach for this 8pm kickoff Saturday night. It is our first chance to see if the Canes are really going to make a return to prominence. They are a three touchdown underdog heading into the Swamp, but they have enough talent to make things very interesting. Florida has also been talking about they are going to run up the score and take the Seminole War Canoe back to Gainesville for the first time in over two decades.

I’d like this game better if it was being played in the old Orange Bowl, but it isn’t even a pile of rubble anymore. Miami had a 52-7 win over Charleston Southern last week, but that was Charleston Southern. Florida is also facing some injury issues, most notably to Percy Harvin at wide receiver. It will be interesting to see how Miami’s young guns play in this one. A Miami win would announce they are ready to contend nationally right now and would be a huge boost for the ACC. I have long predicted an upset in this one, so why back off now? It’s not like I have any credibility to lose. Miami 24, Florida 23

Big Ten bloggers' roundtable week 2

There are some odds and ends to clean up before we get to the first Big Ten Bloggers’ roundtable of the regular season, so here we go, in mini-Boilermakings style:

· The week 1 Blogpoll is out, and Purdue didn’t even make the Others Receiving Votes category. Even if we beat Northern Colorado by 145 I don’t expect to, either. It will take an upset of the Ducks to even come close to cracking the top 25.

· The men’s basketball schedule was officially released today. Since I don’t have the money to buy season tickets or drive to West Lafayette 18 times in the middle of winter I can hope for a two game package of Duke and Indiana. Since the Blue Devils are coming to town, I finally have a game I want to go to more than Indiana. I will be at Mackey on December 2nd. I think getting Georgia before New York is a very harsh road as a number 1 seed in the preseason NIT. There is no reason we can’t win at least 10 games against a much tougher non-conference slate.

· The women’s volleyball team is 3-0 after winning the Mortar Board Premier with an upset of #14 Kansas State at the IAF. This upped its ranking to #18 before heading to a tournament at Ball State this weekend.

· If our men’s football team can’t beat the Ducks, at least our women can after a 3-1 win in Eugene Sunday. The women’s soccer team is ranked 25th and stands at 2-1 with wins over Oregon and Eastern Illinois after a season opening loss at Kansas.

· The noted Oregon blog Addicted to Quack participated in a Pac-10 roundtable this week that seems very high on the Ducks in its questioning. I’m keeping an eye on the Ducks as we both essentially have byes this week, them with Utah State and us with Northern Colorado. We seem to be their first true test of the season.

· Finally, after getting back from Chicago and the Indiana Dunes this weekend, Off the Tracks was greeted to the Big Ten Network on channel 76 via Brighthouse Networks in Indianapolis. The reason for Brighthouse is that I don’t have any other options. I cannot get dish or U-verse at my apartment and Comcast only recently became on option. As Mrs. T-Mill said when I found out the channel worked, “Good, now maybe you’ll stop bitching.”

· Now on to the Roundtable, hosted by the Iowa blog Black Heart Gold Pants (God help us all).

1. Week 1's in the books. What surprised you about your team? Are you optimistic? Disappointed? (NOTE: Purdue does not apply here, so these fans must talk about Wake Forest instead)

Boy, that was a great win over Baylor, wasn’t it? It should count as half a win, since Kirby Freeman, formerly of the University of Miami, is now quarterback at Baylor and continues to struggle with the concept of throwing to the guys on his team. I’ll leave the Boiled Sports guys to take over the true analysis of that game.

Wake Forest is a bit of a bad word around these parts. When I hear of them I can’t help but think of the game that Purdue handed them in 2002 with 5 fumbles and three missed fourth quarter field goals at Ross-Ade. Despite, we still only lost by 3, and it started the frustrating 2002 season of close losses.

Seriously though, there isn’t much surprising about Purdue because there is really nothing to report. We had an off week and we’re preparing to play one of the worst Division 1-AA teams in the nation from a year ago. They are so bad that, according to my GBI this week, their defensive line is a major issue and it still managed eight sacks in the spring scrimmage against its depleted offensive line.

I guess the greatest surprise that we have had so far is the move of “quarterback of the future” Justin Siller from quarterback to running back. In the spring Tiller was so high on him that he was expected to get some snaps during the season before starting next year as a dual-threat. A bad spring put him further behind Joey Elliott for the #2 position, and the injury to Jaycen Taylor was the impetus behind the move to running back. Tiller insists that is where he is staying, but right now he is behind Kory Sheets, Dan Dierking, and Frank Halliburton.

2. Beanie Wells' foot is definitely the top story in the conference. What's #2?

As bloggers, aren’t we required to remark how it is obvious that Michigan will struggle offensively this season because it lost at home to a very good Mountain West team, but will be an unstoppable juggernaut when the right recruits come next season?

Why is this a guarantee?

Didn’t Notre Dame reportedly recruit everyone perfect for its system before last year, yet had the worst season in school history? Why won’t Big Ten defenses learn to defend this as Michigan learns the offense. Think of it this way: if Big Ten defenses can learn to stop it at a much slower speed with poor execution, wouldn’t that be a building block to stopping it when it is at full speed.
Leading into question #3, I guess this is where I make a comparison of Rich Rodriguez to Hitler in terms of the number of crimes he has committed against humanity. The bottom line is he is a football coach. Yes he has bent some unspoken rules, but it has happened before with other coaches and will happen again. We just happened to have an ornery old coot off a coach that spoke up about. I don’t particularly like him, but not because of this. I don’t like him because he is yet another coach that has jumped around cashing in contract after contract without actually accomplishing much of anything yet. He has basically had success in what is generally regarded to be the worst BCS conference and his team had one phenomenal half and held on to beat SEC champ Georgia in a bowl game. He’s far from Hitler, but he is far from the second coming of Christ as well.

3. Admit it: you loathe DickFraudROFL (*né* Rich Rodriguez), but when Michigan scored that last touchdown, you were rooting for them to make the 2-pt. conversion.

Actually, I was at Wrigley Field watching Geovany Soto strike out looking with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th inning down by three runs. I had waited all summer to go to Wrigley, and the Cubs were on a 7 game win streak before I showed up. Now I feel like I jinxed everything because they are on a four game losing streak (at home, no less) and Carlos Zambrano left last night’s game with arm soreness. I fear that if I see he is visiting Dr. James Andrews on the ESPN crawl I’ll have to do something drastic.

What does this have to do with RichRod? I don’t know. I have always felt rather neutral toward Michigan. When Purdue plays them I have been conditioned to get beaten (except in one of the greatest football miracles of all time when Jim Colletto beat them). If it’s possible for the coach himself and not the program to get a healthy dose of Schadenfreude I hope it happens. I have nothing but respect for the Michigan program as a whole.

4. Is this weekend's slate of games actually *less* interesting than last week's?

Well, we have round 2 of the unofficial Big Ten/Pac-10 challenge when Oregon State comes to Penn State. This looked like it would be a good game and a chance for the conference as a whole to save some face before the Beavers lost at Stanford. Now, if they win in Happy Valley, it will make matters even worse. The Miami (OH) game against Michigan took a hit as well when the Redhawks got owned by Vanderbilt. We’ll really see how much Michigan will struggle this year if they have trouble with a team one of the worst SEC teams handled easily. Minnesota goes into a game at Bowling Green that could be mildly interesting if the Gophers actually win.

Nationally, the best game of the week will be Miami (FL) at Florida. The Gators have been talking a lot about how they are going to run up the score and beat Miami for the first time in over 20 years. The Canes are extremely young, but very talented. I don’t like how Robert Marve is going to start after being suspended for the opener last week. This gave Jacory Harris more experience, and to me showed that Marve is uninterested in being the starting quarterback. Miami has to play a nearly perfect game, but they have enough talent to pull the upset. Florida has been talking a lot of smack this week about running up the score, so we’ll see if the old Canes of the Swagger respond or not.

5. Don't you hate pants?

Only because I have to wear them because of “dress codes” and I can’t wear basketball shorts year round.

Blogpoll Ballot: Week 1

I am still new to this blogpoll, but I operated under a simple philosophy this week: If you were ranked and lost, I did not rank you. I view teams that make the preseason top 25 as chosen by people that are probably much more educated than I on such matters. They are, in my opinion, the 25 best teams suited for the season before it starts. Therefore, if you lose that first game, you did not deserve the ranking. The two exceptions this week were Illinois and Clemson, who played ranked teams to start. Both are gone though, Illinois because they were already low and Clemson because of the margin of loss. What follows is my first week ballot. Feel free to comment and add suggestions before I submit the final one later this week. Remember, this is the only Purdue ballot out there, so make your voice heard!

(Ed. Note: I'll likely change things even more depending on the result of Rutgers- Fresno State and Tennessee-UCLA tonight)

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	1
2	Ohio State	1
3	Georgia	2
4	Oklahoma	3
5	Missouri	--
6	Florida	--
7	LSU	3
8	Auburn	6
9	Texas	--
10	West Virginia	1
11	Wisconsin	1
12	Kansas	--
13	Penn State	6
14	Alabama	12
15	Texas Tech	5
16	Oregon	2
17	Brigham Young	2
18	Tennessee	1
19	Arizona State	3
20	South Florida	1
21	Wake Forest	5
22	Utah	1
23	South Carolina	3
24	California	2
25	Miami (Florida)	1

Dropped Out: Clemson (#8), Virginia Tech (#13), Fresno State (#22), Rutgers (#24), Pittsburgh (#25).