Lately I've been reading some Michigan fans' blogs and I've come up with an idea. After I stopped laughing at their anger for us, I decided it's time to start a new tradition.
Purdue and Indiana have the Old Oaken Bucket, Purdue and Notre Dame have the Shillelagh Trophy, and Purdue and Illinois, the Purdue Cannon. Purdue and Michigan need something to battle over, besides receivers.
Now I know that you Michigan fans out there think that Purdue is a second rate team that shouldn't even be allowed into the sacred "Big House." The wining-est team in the nation should not even be bothered by Purdue, right?? Well over the last two years, some drama has gone down and some shots were fired both ways, but now that we have beaten you two years in a row and sent your coach crying, I believe you have been brought down a few pegs yourself. Hopefully your ego has, too.
My roommate and I thought long and hard about this. Our first idea for a trophy was based off of Rich Rodriguez's nickname, DickRod. Clearly this is not a good idea...unless it was awarded to the loser.
Given the last two years, we should award the winner of the Purdue/Michigan game with the Snake Oil Trophy. In my mind I see a jar with DickRod's face on it. The trophy will be a token of the history (recent and distant past) of the two programs, and will remind everybody not to be a douche bag.
We can even have mini-traditions for the game. Say that Purdue wins, every year Purdue wins the team will hoist Zack Reckman and parade him around the stadium. Imagine, if you will, in 40 years time, an old Reckman being carried around by students who barely know why they're doing so. That my friends is a tradition.
I see the winners proudly hoisting the trophy above their heads and thinking that next year the same team that you deem unworthy may make a grown man cry and put the final nails in your season's coffin.
-D
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
History and Controversy in The Big House
This past Saturday Purdue did something it hasn't done since LBJ was in the White House; win at Michigan.
The game itself was a fast paced thrill ride that had its fair share of drama, but that was nothing compared to the post game drama between Purdue coach Danny Hope and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. For sanity's sake, we'll start with the game.
Purdue started quickly, moving the ball down field at will. Ralph Bolden looked like himself from the beginning of the season as he bounced a handoff outside for 22 yards, then caught a 35 yard touchdown pass from Joey Elliott two plays later. The lead would be short lived, however, as Michigan established star running back, or, as he is listed in their program, superback, Brandon Minor. Say what you want about the title, Minor lived up to it, punishing the Purdue defense to the tune of 154 yards and three rushing touchdowns. The first half was also the coming out party for Michigan receiver Roy Roundtree, a redshirt freshman who you may recall was at the center of some bad blood between these two programs two years ago on national signing day.
The night before that signing day Roundtree, a long time Purdue verbal commit, reassured then Purdue coach Joe Tiller that rumors of him considering changing his mind and commiting to Michigan were totally false. The next day Roundtree was wearing a Michigan cap, Purdue has no one to offer that scholarship to as all their backup players had commited elsewhere, and Joe Tiller was claiming Rodriguez broke a Big Ten coaches gentelmen's rule about recruiting other conference school's commitments. Tiller then let out the quote of his career calling Rodriguez a "person in a wizard's hat selling snake oil."
That was bad blood between Tiller and Rodriguez, certainly new coach Danny Hope has no ill will towards Michigan's second year coach, right? Wrong. Hope apparently was a bit peaved about Rodriguez mentioning in one of his press conference's that Purdue tackle Zach Reckman's hit just after the last play of Purdue's loss to Northern Illinois was not a football play. Rodriguez brought the event up because one of his players had been suspended for throwing a punch in their game against Notre Dame. When asked about it, Hope basically said Rodriguez should mind his own business.
Ok, enough history, back to Saturday.
Purdue trailed 24-10 at the half but answered the bell when Brandon King tipped an option pitch from Tate Forcier and then recovered it himself, Bolden would score on a 19 yard touchdown run the next play. Michigan would then answer with a long drive capped off by a Forcier touchdown run. But, the Wolverine would miss the extra point, and then you just got the feeling the football Gods were giving Purdue a little redemption for the way they lost the Oregon game.
Shortly there after, the Boilers would blow the game wide open with what can only be called the most amazing 15 seconds in Purdue football history. A long drive ended with a Bolden 10 yard touchdown run pulling Purdue within six. Then, on the ensuing kickoff, Hope opted to go with a surprise onside kick which was executed perfectly. Kicker Carson Wiggs bounced it off the turf perfectly and corner David Pender ran under it exactly 10 yards down field. Purdue's first play after the kick, Elliott would roll left away from pressure and finding a streaking Cortez Smith for the 54 yard touchdown, giving Purdue a 31-30 lead. Making his first start in place of the injured Keith Carlos, Smith would go on to lead Purdue with four catches for 85 yards.
Purdue would later add to their lead with an Elliott touchdown run, and were clinging to a 38-30 advantage. Michigan scored great field position thanks to an excellent punt return and soon Minor punched in his third touchdown run of the day, pulling Michigan within two with just over two minutes to play. Unfortunately for Michigan, Ryan Kerrigan, or Superman as he is now known in the Purdue locker room, flew in off the left tackle and nailed Forcier for a sack and ended Michigan's hopes of evening the score.
Now, for the real drama. According to Rodriguez, Hope brought Reckman, his lineman who was suspended earlier this season, to meet with Rodriguez, telling the Michigan coach thankyou for what he did to Reckman. In his post game press conference, Rodriguez brought the incident up unprovoked, and said he did not think that was necessary. Hope, wisely, decided to keep the conversation private, and would not elaborate on what had happened. But this only took Michigan fans' minds off of the real issue, their big money coach is not getting the job done. An abysmal 3-9 record last year seemed all but forgiven when his team started 4-0 this season, including a home win against Notre Dame. Since that point the Wolverine have lost five consecutive Big Ten games, with their only win coming against Deleware State. While I do think Rodriguez is a bit of a skeez, he is a good coach. Unfortunately for Purdue, if the UM faithful give him enough time, he will have this team winning again. But for now, I'm going to enjoy the fact that Purdue is now under Michigan's skin, and that we have their coach fighting for bolw eligibility and, possibly, his job over the next few weeks.
The game itself was a fast paced thrill ride that had its fair share of drama, but that was nothing compared to the post game drama between Purdue coach Danny Hope and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. For sanity's sake, we'll start with the game.
Purdue started quickly, moving the ball down field at will. Ralph Bolden looked like himself from the beginning of the season as he bounced a handoff outside for 22 yards, then caught a 35 yard touchdown pass from Joey Elliott two plays later. The lead would be short lived, however, as Michigan established star running back, or, as he is listed in their program, superback, Brandon Minor. Say what you want about the title, Minor lived up to it, punishing the Purdue defense to the tune of 154 yards and three rushing touchdowns. The first half was also the coming out party for Michigan receiver Roy Roundtree, a redshirt freshman who you may recall was at the center of some bad blood between these two programs two years ago on national signing day.
The night before that signing day Roundtree, a long time Purdue verbal commit, reassured then Purdue coach Joe Tiller that rumors of him considering changing his mind and commiting to Michigan were totally false. The next day Roundtree was wearing a Michigan cap, Purdue has no one to offer that scholarship to as all their backup players had commited elsewhere, and Joe Tiller was claiming Rodriguez broke a Big Ten coaches gentelmen's rule about recruiting other conference school's commitments. Tiller then let out the quote of his career calling Rodriguez a "person in a wizard's hat selling snake oil."
That was bad blood between Tiller and Rodriguez, certainly new coach Danny Hope has no ill will towards Michigan's second year coach, right? Wrong. Hope apparently was a bit peaved about Rodriguez mentioning in one of his press conference's that Purdue tackle Zach Reckman's hit just after the last play of Purdue's loss to Northern Illinois was not a football play. Rodriguez brought the event up because one of his players had been suspended for throwing a punch in their game against Notre Dame. When asked about it, Hope basically said Rodriguez should mind his own business.
Ok, enough history, back to Saturday.
Purdue trailed 24-10 at the half but answered the bell when Brandon King tipped an option pitch from Tate Forcier and then recovered it himself, Bolden would score on a 19 yard touchdown run the next play. Michigan would then answer with a long drive capped off by a Forcier touchdown run. But, the Wolverine would miss the extra point, and then you just got the feeling the football Gods were giving Purdue a little redemption for the way they lost the Oregon game.
Shortly there after, the Boilers would blow the game wide open with what can only be called the most amazing 15 seconds in Purdue football history. A long drive ended with a Bolden 10 yard touchdown run pulling Purdue within six. Then, on the ensuing kickoff, Hope opted to go with a surprise onside kick which was executed perfectly. Kicker Carson Wiggs bounced it off the turf perfectly and corner David Pender ran under it exactly 10 yards down field. Purdue's first play after the kick, Elliott would roll left away from pressure and finding a streaking Cortez Smith for the 54 yard touchdown, giving Purdue a 31-30 lead. Making his first start in place of the injured Keith Carlos, Smith would go on to lead Purdue with four catches for 85 yards.
Purdue would later add to their lead with an Elliott touchdown run, and were clinging to a 38-30 advantage. Michigan scored great field position thanks to an excellent punt return and soon Minor punched in his third touchdown run of the day, pulling Michigan within two with just over two minutes to play. Unfortunately for Michigan, Ryan Kerrigan, or Superman as he is now known in the Purdue locker room, flew in off the left tackle and nailed Forcier for a sack and ended Michigan's hopes of evening the score.
Now, for the real drama. According to Rodriguez, Hope brought Reckman, his lineman who was suspended earlier this season, to meet with Rodriguez, telling the Michigan coach thankyou for what he did to Reckman. In his post game press conference, Rodriguez brought the incident up unprovoked, and said he did not think that was necessary. Hope, wisely, decided to keep the conversation private, and would not elaborate on what had happened. But this only took Michigan fans' minds off of the real issue, their big money coach is not getting the job done. An abysmal 3-9 record last year seemed all but forgiven when his team started 4-0 this season, including a home win against Notre Dame. Since that point the Wolverine have lost five consecutive Big Ten games, with their only win coming against Deleware State. While I do think Rodriguez is a bit of a skeez, he is a good coach. Unfortunately for Purdue, if the UM faithful give him enough time, he will have this team winning again. But for now, I'm going to enjoy the fact that Purdue is now under Michigan's skin, and that we have their coach fighting for bolw eligibility and, possibly, his job over the next few weeks.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
New Recruits
A bright spot to note in the otherwise bleak aftermath of Purdue's blowout loss in Madison is the major recruiting coup the Boilers made in Daytona, FL. Mainland High School star receivers O.J. Ross and Chevin Davis, along with their highly touted cornerback teammate Ricardo Allen, all commited to Purdue earlier this week after having been on campus the weekend of Purdue's monumental upset of then-No.7 Ohio State. In my post Ohio State post I said I believed the Ohio State game was the biggest one we could have won this season because of the national coverage and recruiting implications and I believe these commitments show that was the case. All three of the nationally recruited prospects cited the atmosphere in Ross-Ade during the victory as a deciding factor in their commitment.
As for who these recruits are and what they will bring to the table, that is obviously impossible to predict, but it is fun, so I'm going to give it a shot.
O.J. Ross: Rivals.com's No. 45 Player in Florida and No. 41 Receiver: 4 Stars - This kid is the stud of the class so far, and has vitals and combine numbers similar to that of another speedy Purdue receiver who was able to make a meaningful impact as a freshman, Dorien Bryant. Ross is still going to take at least one more official visit, to North Carolina, but has said that he is "pretty solid" with the Boilermakers. If he does make it to West Lafayette, his highlight video indicates that he certainly has the game breaking speed that Danny Hope and his staff have talked about getting since they took over. If he lives up to the hype, he could be an instant starter in the slot.
Ricardo Allen: Rivals.com's No. 58 Player in Florida and No. 27 Cornerback: 3 Stars- There are three star prospects, and then there are Ricardo Allen caliber three star prospects. Some three stars have offers from Ball St. and Indiana. Allen is not one of them. With an offer list that includes some of the nation's best programs, including Michigan, West Virginia, Clemson, and Ole Miss, Allen is certainly a huge pickup for the Boilermakers. His film shows he has great lateral movement with exceptional speed in and out of breaks. He is a bit undersized, as are most defensive backs when they first get on campus, but makes up for his slight lack of height (5-foot-9) with excellent leaping ability. He would really benefit from a redshirt year to bulk up, but a lack of depth at corner where only Charlton Williams, Josh Johnson, and Chris Quinn return could force him into playing before he is physically ready.
Chevin Davis: Not Yet Rated- I am no recruiting expert (who really is) but I do not see how Davis is not yet rated and ranked. If schools like Ole Miss, Illinois (can't win, but man they recruit well) Cincinnati, Michigan State, and Nebraska all want you, you gotta be pretty good. Nothing else I can really report on him because there is no film of him available(probably why he is not ranked), but you have to be exicted about beating Houston Nutt, Ron Zook, Brian Kelly, Mike Dantonio, and Bo Pelini all out for a recruit, considering their reputations as great recruiters.
As for who these recruits are and what they will bring to the table, that is obviously impossible to predict, but it is fun, so I'm going to give it a shot.
O.J. Ross: Rivals.com's No. 45 Player in Florida and No. 41 Receiver: 4 Stars - This kid is the stud of the class so far, and has vitals and combine numbers similar to that of another speedy Purdue receiver who was able to make a meaningful impact as a freshman, Dorien Bryant. Ross is still going to take at least one more official visit, to North Carolina, but has said that he is "pretty solid" with the Boilermakers. If he does make it to West Lafayette, his highlight video indicates that he certainly has the game breaking speed that Danny Hope and his staff have talked about getting since they took over. If he lives up to the hype, he could be an instant starter in the slot.
Ricardo Allen: Rivals.com's No. 58 Player in Florida and No. 27 Cornerback: 3 Stars- There are three star prospects, and then there are Ricardo Allen caliber three star prospects. Some three stars have offers from Ball St. and Indiana. Allen is not one of them. With an offer list that includes some of the nation's best programs, including Michigan, West Virginia, Clemson, and Ole Miss, Allen is certainly a huge pickup for the Boilermakers. His film shows he has great lateral movement with exceptional speed in and out of breaks. He is a bit undersized, as are most defensive backs when they first get on campus, but makes up for his slight lack of height (5-foot-9) with excellent leaping ability. He would really benefit from a redshirt year to bulk up, but a lack of depth at corner where only Charlton Williams, Josh Johnson, and Chris Quinn return could force him into playing before he is physically ready.
Chevin Davis: Not Yet Rated- I am no recruiting expert (who really is) but I do not see how Davis is not yet rated and ranked. If schools like Ole Miss, Illinois (can't win, but man they recruit well) Cincinnati, Michigan State, and Nebraska all want you, you gotta be pretty good. Nothing else I can really report on him because there is no film of him available(probably why he is not ranked), but you have to be exicted about beating Houston Nutt, Ron Zook, Brian Kelly, Mike Dantonio, and Bo Pelini all out for a recruit, considering their reputations as great recruiters.
A Ghastly Game
In a classic display of the Purdue ineptitude of the past, the Boilermakers faced off against the Badgers and lost by the mind-blowing score of 37-0.
In the first drive of the game, Wisconsin easily drove 80 yards down the field in a drive that did not feature a single pass. Wisconsin's running game was established early and would be used to spectacular effect as the Boilermaker's defense was not able to stop the run during the game, let alone properly tackle.
Not wanting to be left out, Purdue's offense also floundered and had many dropped passes and errant throws on the part of quarterback Joey Elliott. After the first quarter "TerBush Watch '09" was officially on and he was finally on the field late in the third quarter. Elliott finished the day with a 21.7% pass efficiency, while TerBush had 40%...not bad for a freshman being thrown into a game.
It was so bad that in the fourth quarter down by 37, I was thrilled at the prospect of a field goal as a showing of some offensive productivity on the day. The drive, like all others in the day, went nowhere and it looked like Purdue was going to kick. However, on the third down Wisconsin recovered a Jaycen Taylor fumble to close out the game.
As I cried my way back to West Lafayette, I came to realize that this game was just a bad week for the team....a very bad week. Dropped passes have plagued the team all year, but this week was especially bad and was combined with Elliott's errant passing.
Next week, I believe the team will bounce back and be productive offensively. The defense has actually been pretty good against the run this year, especially against mobile QB's so I believe they will get their act together for Michigan as well.
In the first drive of the game, Wisconsin easily drove 80 yards down the field in a drive that did not feature a single pass. Wisconsin's running game was established early and would be used to spectacular effect as the Boilermaker's defense was not able to stop the run during the game, let alone properly tackle.
Not wanting to be left out, Purdue's offense also floundered and had many dropped passes and errant throws on the part of quarterback Joey Elliott. After the first quarter "TerBush Watch '09" was officially on and he was finally on the field late in the third quarter. Elliott finished the day with a 21.7% pass efficiency, while TerBush had 40%...not bad for a freshman being thrown into a game.
It was so bad that in the fourth quarter down by 37, I was thrilled at the prospect of a field goal as a showing of some offensive productivity on the day. The drive, like all others in the day, went nowhere and it looked like Purdue was going to kick. However, on the third down Wisconsin recovered a Jaycen Taylor fumble to close out the game.
As I cried my way back to West Lafayette, I came to realize that this game was just a bad week for the team....a very bad week. Dropped passes have plagued the team all year, but this week was especially bad and was combined with Elliott's errant passing.
Next week, I believe the team will bounce back and be productive offensively. The defense has actually been pretty good against the run this year, especially against mobile QB's so I believe they will get their act together for Michigan as well.
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