Analysis: Purdue from 2000 to 2010, Part One

Why Not?

Part One: Purdue vs. Indiana, IOWA (their new most hated rival), Illinois, and Ohio State
Part Two: Purdue vs. Michigan State, Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Michigan
Part Three: Purdue vs. Minnesota, Penn State, and Notre Dame
Part Four: Purdue vs. nonconference opponents other than Notre Dame

Brief Overview of Purdue from 2000 to 2010

Purdue Coaches: Joe Tiller from 1997 to 2008, Danny Hope from 2009 to present

2000: 8-4, 6-2 Big Ten, Lost Rose Bowl to Washington
2001: 6-6, 4-4 Big Ten, Lost Sun Bowl to Washington State
2002: 7-6, 4-4 Big Ten, Won Sun Bowl over Washington
2003: 9-4, 6-2 Big Ten, Lost Capital One Bowl to Georgia
2004: 7-5, 4-4 Big Ten, Lost Sun Bowl to Arizona State
2005: 5-6, 3-5 Big Ten
2006: 8-6, 5-3 Big Ten, Lost Champs Sports Bowl to Maryland
2007: 8-5, 3-5 Big Ten, Won Motor City Bowl over Central Michigan
2008: 4-8, 2-6 Big Ten
2009: 5-7, 4-4 Big Ten
2010: 4-8, 2-6 Big Ten

vs. Indiana, 8-3, 1-1 against Cam Cameron, 3-0 against Gerry DiNardo, 2-0 against Terry Hoeppner, 2-2 against Bill Lynch

2000: W 41-13
2001: L 13-7 (Cam Cameron's final Big Ten game)
2002: W 34-10
2003: W 24-16
2004: W 63-24 (Highest scoring game in series history)
2005: W 41-14
2006: W 28-19
2007: L 27-24 (Sent Indiana to the postseason for the first time in over a decade)
2008: W 62-10
2009: W 38-21
2010: L 34-31 (OT)

Purdue has a stranglehold on this series. But when the Hoosiers bite back, bad things happen. Austin Starr's kick in 2007 sent Indiana to the postseason. Purdue, in revenge, handed Indiana easily their worst loss of the series the next year.

vs. IOWA, 3-5

1999-2000 Hiatus
2001 W 23-14
2002 L 31-28
2003 W 27-14
2004 L 23-21
2005 L 34-17
2006 L 47-17 (WTF?)
2007 W 31-6
2008 L 22-17
2009-2010 Hiatus

This series has not been kind to the Boilermakers at all. I can imagine that if the 1999 and 2000 Drew Brees-led Boilermakers had gotten a shot at those years' Hawkeyes that things would NOT have ended well for Kirk Ferentz. But clearly, Purdue is Iowa's most hated rival.

vs. Illinois, 5-3, 2-2 against Ron Turner, 3-1 against Ron Zook

1999-2000 Hiatus
2001 L 38-13
2002 L 38-31
2003 W 43-10
2004 W 38-30
2005 W 37-3
2006 W 42-31
2007-2008 Hiatus
2009 W 24-14
2010 L 44-10

2002 and 2004 aside, these were usually multiple possession blowouts by the winning team. Purdue got its shots at Zook's early teams and made the most of them. There's a part of me that wishes Juice Williams and Curtis Painter had faced each other in 2007 and 2008, but maybe the Big Ten was trying to spare Illinois from getting pwned in the postseason in the latter year (the 2008 Illini were NOT world-beaters by any means whatsoever)...

vs. Ohio State, 3-6, 1-0 against John Cooper, 2-6 against Jim Tressel

2000 W 31-27 (Holy Toledo)
2001 L 35-9
2002 L 10-6
2003 L 16-13 (OT)
2004 W 24-17
2005-2006 Hiatus
2007 L 23-7
2008 L 16-3
2009 W 26-18
2010 L 49-0

The script: Purdue enters game with Ohio State, gives the Buckeyes their all, but can't seal the deal against the great Buckeye teams (2002 and 2007). And then there's the utter pwnage the Buckeyes unleash on the Boilers (2001, 2010). For everything else, there's UPSET (2009). And occasionally a 2004 (that loss snapped Purdue's 4 game losing streak and made it utterly impossible for the 2004 Buckeyes to finish with a winning conference record).

Purdue Harbor in 2009 was WTF-worthy. Purdue was 1-5 and on a 5 game losing streak that included losses to Oregon (in double overtime), a bad Notre Dame team (WTF was with that game, anyhow?) and Central Michigan (at home, no less). By contrast, Ohio State was still in the mix for an 8-0 run through conference play. And then Terrelle Pryor served up one of the worst games of his career. With good games from Keith Smith, Joey Elliott, and Aaron Valentin, the Boilermakers upended 7th ranked Ohio State for their first conference win of the year.

The next year, with Purdue's offense stuck in reverse due to a billion torn ACLs, Jim Tressel demonstrated, in no uncertain terms, just how much his team had improved since the year before. Ohio State 49, Purdue 0. Ouch.