Man, Did Purdue Need That Win
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
Still, patience has worn thin within some of the Purdue faithful with the progress, or lack thereof, in Darrell Hazel’s third year leading the program.
Then came Saturday.
Purdue 55, Nebraska 45.
Granted, it’s not like these are your father’s Cornhuskers. (I should know, I’m close to the same age as your dad.) Nebraska’s starting quarterback, Tommie Armstrong, didn’t make the trip. Even though Ryker Fyfe threw four interceptions, including a trio of picks to Anthony Brown, the Huskers hit enough big plays in the fourth quarter to make the black and gold sweat it out a bit on a cool fall afternoon.
But bit-by-bit, play-by-play, it was easy to see the belief level in the Boiler players go up in their quarterback, and by extension in themselves.
There’s isn’t much hope of a bowl game this season (a minimal standard in today’s big-time college football world) but there does seem to be hope on the horizon.
One of the things that concerns me is Purdue has burned through a lot of quarterbacks since Hazell took over. Transfers, quitting, whatever reason, getting that new offense established with a quarterback who can see it through has been elusive.
After Saturday, maybe not so much.
Redshirt freshman David Blough won’t make anyone forget Drew Brees anytime soon, but it was arguably the strongest performance by a Boiler signal-caller since Hazell came to town. He was named Big 10 Player of the Week after going 28 of 43 with 274 yards and four passing touchdowns, then added 82 rushing yards and another score. Freshman Markell Jones ran for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Suddenly, playing Michigan State close in East Lansing looks less like a fluke or a product of rainy weather, and more like the product Hazell intends to put on the field.
This was a far-from-perfect performance; let’s not make any mistake about it. The defense did give up 29 points in the fourth quarter, mostly on the strength of the big plays most of us expected Nebraska to make when they got here.
Nebraska drew within two scores and began making the Boiler fans a lot less comfortable. And when a team and its fan base is starving for wins there’s no comfort until the clock runs out. But Blough drove the ball down and burned off six minutes of clock and Purdue turned the ball over on downs. Fyfe threw another pick and the Boilers salted away the win.
Other teams will see how Nebraska racked up 45 points and exploit those weaknesses. But Saturday was about a giant leap forward for the Purdue program.
Now, the focus shifts to making another step forward, before this season ends. Of Purdue’s four remaining games, Illinois and Indiana appear to be beatable. Trips to Northwestern and Iowa; eh, not so much.
Getting blown out in either of the remaining home games resets the program back to where it was before the Huskers came a-callin’. Especially in the rivalry game with the Hoosiers, there’s an opportunity to set the tone for the offseason and 2016 with a win.
So Saturday’s win needs to be the first of many steps the Boilers take soon. The footing on the trail isn’t sure, and the expectations are now in place.
But without taking the remaining steps this season, the chair in the head coach’s office will begin getting uncomfortably warm by this time next year.
Now, did you really think I’d write this week’s column and not mention the Kansas City Royals?
As a young sports fan, I used to dislike with great intensity teams like the Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders and New York Yankees because it seemed like they always came back to win. With Roger Staubach, Ken Stabler and Paul Blair, you could never finish them off. Old highlight reels are filled with epic comebacks by those teams.
So when a bunch of people learn to dislike the Royals, I’ll understand their feelings. And being on this side of the comeback equation feels so much better.
My son woke up Monday morning, turned on Sportscenter, learned Salvador Perez was Series MVP and promptly changed into his No. 13 jersey. And my kids wish we lived in Kansas City today, where every school district in the five-county area has cancelled school for the victory parade.
And Times-Union Sports Editor Dale Hubler gets to debut his brand new Royals button at Thursday’s Bremen/Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball game. Victory is sweet![[In-content Ad]]
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Still, patience has worn thin within some of the Purdue faithful with the progress, or lack thereof, in Darrell Hazel’s third year leading the program.
Then came Saturday.
Purdue 55, Nebraska 45.
Granted, it’s not like these are your father’s Cornhuskers. (I should know, I’m close to the same age as your dad.) Nebraska’s starting quarterback, Tommie Armstrong, didn’t make the trip. Even though Ryker Fyfe threw four interceptions, including a trio of picks to Anthony Brown, the Huskers hit enough big plays in the fourth quarter to make the black and gold sweat it out a bit on a cool fall afternoon.
But bit-by-bit, play-by-play, it was easy to see the belief level in the Boiler players go up in their quarterback, and by extension in themselves.
There’s isn’t much hope of a bowl game this season (a minimal standard in today’s big-time college football world) but there does seem to be hope on the horizon.
One of the things that concerns me is Purdue has burned through a lot of quarterbacks since Hazell took over. Transfers, quitting, whatever reason, getting that new offense established with a quarterback who can see it through has been elusive.
After Saturday, maybe not so much.
Redshirt freshman David Blough won’t make anyone forget Drew Brees anytime soon, but it was arguably the strongest performance by a Boiler signal-caller since Hazell came to town. He was named Big 10 Player of the Week after going 28 of 43 with 274 yards and four passing touchdowns, then added 82 rushing yards and another score. Freshman Markell Jones ran for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Suddenly, playing Michigan State close in East Lansing looks less like a fluke or a product of rainy weather, and more like the product Hazell intends to put on the field.
This was a far-from-perfect performance; let’s not make any mistake about it. The defense did give up 29 points in the fourth quarter, mostly on the strength of the big plays most of us expected Nebraska to make when they got here.
Nebraska drew within two scores and began making the Boiler fans a lot less comfortable. And when a team and its fan base is starving for wins there’s no comfort until the clock runs out. But Blough drove the ball down and burned off six minutes of clock and Purdue turned the ball over on downs. Fyfe threw another pick and the Boilers salted away the win.
Other teams will see how Nebraska racked up 45 points and exploit those weaknesses. But Saturday was about a giant leap forward for the Purdue program.
Now, the focus shifts to making another step forward, before this season ends. Of Purdue’s four remaining games, Illinois and Indiana appear to be beatable. Trips to Northwestern and Iowa; eh, not so much.
Getting blown out in either of the remaining home games resets the program back to where it was before the Huskers came a-callin’. Especially in the rivalry game with the Hoosiers, there’s an opportunity to set the tone for the offseason and 2016 with a win.
So Saturday’s win needs to be the first of many steps the Boilers take soon. The footing on the trail isn’t sure, and the expectations are now in place.
But without taking the remaining steps this season, the chair in the head coach’s office will begin getting uncomfortably warm by this time next year.
Now, did you really think I’d write this week’s column and not mention the Kansas City Royals?
As a young sports fan, I used to dislike with great intensity teams like the Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders and New York Yankees because it seemed like they always came back to win. With Roger Staubach, Ken Stabler and Paul Blair, you could never finish them off. Old highlight reels are filled with epic comebacks by those teams.
So when a bunch of people learn to dislike the Royals, I’ll understand their feelings. And being on this side of the comeback equation feels so much better.
My son woke up Monday morning, turned on Sportscenter, learned Salvador Perez was Series MVP and promptly changed into his No. 13 jersey. And my kids wish we lived in Kansas City today, where every school district in the five-county area has cancelled school for the victory parade.
And Times-Union Sports Editor Dale Hubler gets to debut his brand new Royals button at Thursday’s Bremen/Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball game. Victory is sweet![[In-content Ad]]
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