About 11 months ago, I covered the Nebraska-Purdue football game in Ross-Ade Stadium. After the 55-45 win, I thought Boilermaker head coach Darrell Hazell was on the cusp of turning the program toward respectability and, eventually, national relevance. I ignored the Huskers’ side of the score, noting the defense got big stops, and Nebraska made a few mistakes to put themselves in a compromised position. I saw David Blough throw four touchdown passes, and Anthony Brown intercept four passes, and got all fired up. The visitors that cool, wet fall afternoon also made things a little interesting in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get a stop when they needed one. In other words, I drank the Kool-Aid. If Hazell is to remain a coach in West Lafayette, then the game in two weeks against Nevada is about as close to a must-win as it gets. In fact, it might still not be enough. But without it, Purdue would have to have a turnaround season that no one can realistically expect from a 1-2 team about to enter play in a Power Five conference. The Boiler offense has been ‘eh, OK’ the first couple of weeks. They racked up 45 points against Eastern Kentucky, and 504 yards of total offense in Saturday’s 38-20 loss to Cincinnati. After Sept. 24, the competition figures to get a lot more difficult. But the Boiler D has been more or less non-existent. The unit gave up just shy of 400 yards to the Colonels in the opener, and 512 to the Bearcats. This is not a team that is built for shootouts; the offense isn’t likely to keep up with a defense that is allowing opponents to convert third downs to first downs at a 56 percent rate (worst in the Big 10 through two games) and has yet to record a stop on fourth down in three tries. Opponents are 8 of 9 in the red zone with six touchdowns so far; not necessarily alarming considering Penn State has the same stat, with Illinois and Northwestern not far behind. But it’s not exactly elite, either. The reality is this: after the Cincinnati loss (and the Bearcats certainly belong on the schedule of any Power Five team) is without beating Nevada, there is no chance of becoming bowl eligible. Granted, a pair of Big 10 teams went to bowl games last season with five wins, but how minimal does the standard need to be here? There are winnable games on the Purdue conference slate, but right now Boiler Nation can’t look at any game and say “we’ll get that one for sure.” I’m a Kansas Jayhawk fan; I know what that schedule looks like, except for the “winnable” part. This is the fourth season of the Hazell era in West Lafayette. With about 1,953 bowl games, a postseason appearance isn’t a lot to ask. But it’ll be a tall task for Purdue; one that can’t be accomplished by this year’s team. Darrell Hazell, we hardly knew ya.
On a happier note, many of the Purdue fans I know are also Chicago Cubs fans. My question for the rest of the regular season is simple: once the Cubs clinch the division (a foregone conclusion) and the No. 1 overall seed in the National League (the next best thing to such a conclusion), how will we know that Joe Maddon is resting his regulars? While I’ve hardly paid rapt attention over the last few weeks, it seems Maddon mixes and matches like a mad scientist trying to concoct a secret formula. Everyone knows Ben Zobrist plays all over the diamond, but other than Anthony Rizzo, Jason Heyward and David Ross, who doesn’t have 10 starts in at least two different positions this season? To keep his starting pitchers sharp, Maddon will have them throw at least 3-5 innings every turn. But barring a low pitch count no-hitter attempt, (like last night in St. Louis) the Cubs skipper won’t have a starter working past the fifth or sixth innings. But the position players will be used to the routine. So 105 wins is within reach, if the Cubs want it. It’s hard to imagine just how soul-crushing it would be for the Cubs to fall short of a World Series championship. But that factor increases with each round; if Chicago goes out in the Division Series, the faithful will be more mad than anything, lamenting a team that dominated the regular season but underperformed in the playoffs. With an elimination in games 5. 6 or 7 of the National League Championship Series, the crush factor goes way up. It becomes more like “please tase me, bro” with a World Series loss, regardless of the number of games. But, just in case, I wonder if people living in Wrigleyville have become “preppers,” ready to protect their property if the Cubs won the Series in Chicago? Or is that really a happy thought?
One last question, and I ask for objective opinions: Kyle Hendricks got a standing ovation from Cardinals and Cubs fans alike as he left the mound in the ninth inning Monday. If the reverse happened, and a Cardinal pitcher lost a no-hitter in the ninth, would the same thing happen at Wrigley Field?
