For Boilermakers, The Whole Still Isn't Greater Than The Sum of the Parts
by Jonathan Franz on Sep 14, 2010 9:56 AM CDT
in Purdue
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It wasn't all roses, but there was no shortage of optimism in West Lafayette heading into the 2010 season. As early as February I predicted that the Boilermakers would open the season with a win in South Bend. I wasn't the only one.
Being bullish about the Boilers wasn't too difficult. In Danny Hope's first year they lost by the skin of their teeth to Pac 10 Champion Oregon on the road, and knocked off No. 7 Ohio State. Hope delivered a fast, physical effort and a team that might have been the best 5-7 squad in the history of the sport. They weren't a finished product (a certain 37-0 loss to Wisconsin comes to mind), but it felt like they were headed in the right direction. The return of phantom defensive end Ryan Kerrigan, wide receiver Keith Smith, and addition of a former 5-star recruit (transfer quarterback Robert Marve), met that Purdue would have more household names than 2-3rds of the teams in the Big Ten.
So why is it that two weeks into the season fan confidence is down on the Boilers? I think it has to do with a lack of cohesiveness. It's not that Danny Hope's guys are playing inconsistent, although they did look like completely different teams in the first and second halves of a 12-23 loss to Notre Dame, and a 31-21 win over Western Illinois. It's that this is a team that hasn't yet figured out how to play together.
The playmakers are there, but so are the problems.
Marve completed 31 of 42 passes against Notre Dame for 220 yards. Keith Smith had 12 catches for 80 yards against the Irish. Ryan Kerrigan and Charlton Williams came up with a safety. Will Lucas forced a fumble. Dan Dierking rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns against Western Illinois.
But the Irish sacked Marve four times and intercepted him twice. And the Leathernecks rolled up 406 total yards of offense on the Boilers. The receiving corps took a serious hit when Keith Smith went down with a knee injury Saturday. (His status remains unknown.) Plus the offensive line is playing soft, and the linebackers are errant.
It remains to be seen whether the Boilers' overall effort can eclipse the sum of its parts. The good news is games against Ball State (1-1) and Toledo (1-1) give Purdue time to find its identity before beginning Big Ten play against Northwestern.
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Excellent point
I think the offense will be fine, but the offensive line needs to get a lot better.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
the linebackers
Are not big enough and not as effective as an experienced unit should be…
I love Marve though. He brings a lot of physicality to the position and I like his scrambling.
Off Tackle Empire
The quintessential Big Ten smoking room.
by Graham Filler on Sep 14, 2010 10:44 AM CDT up reply actions
Matt Cassel, collegiate version?
I mean, Cassel was a total unknown at USC. He never saw much playing time.
Keller is currently re-learning how to speak in complete sentences... 808NaNz808 on Arrowhead Pride
"Because one of the great minds of the 21st century is raising glow-in-the-dark fish and weaving serapes..." -Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang Theory
For all the crap we give Wil Wheaton, he can still tackle better than Asante Samuel...
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 14, 2010 1:17 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm really not seeing what it is about Marve that excites so many people.
I watched a good bit of the PU/WIU game, and there’s no way that you’d know that Marve was a five-star QB prospect coming out of high school if the announcers didn’t keep reminding you of it. He does scramble pretty well, but the main job of a Purdue quarterback is to throw, and he’s not even close to being where Joey Elliot was last year.
Of course, karma now dictates that Marve will throw for 500 yards and 10 touchdowns when Purdue visits Columbus, but if I were a Purdue fan I would be very, very concerned about the upcoming year. They’ve managed a semi-competitive loss against a Notre Dame team that will probably wind up around 7-5, and posted a ho-hum win over a 1-AA team that won ONE game last year.
by Findlay Buckeye on Sep 14, 2010 11:35 AM CDT up reply actions
Robert Marve
= Matt Lovecchio. At least we hope so.
by hoosierdaddynow on Sep 14, 2010 12:04 PM CDT up reply actions
TEAM.
We still need an identity as a team. We can either become really good or falter and not execute. There are things that are improved on this team (special teams, ball security) and other items that need to be sorted out (offensive execution, LB play).
Hopefully over the next 3 weeks (2 OOC and 1 Bye) we can establish some consistency on this team and be competitive in conference play.
Boiler UP.
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