One week after taking on Navy in Ireland, Notre Dame returns to the States and opens up their home schedule against Big Ten rival Purdue. The Boilermakers have been hounded by injuries the past couple of seasons and have underachieved. This year, however, they appear poised to contend once again and have their sights set on a Big 10 division title. Whether that will happen or not is another question, but this team should play at a much higher level than has been seen the past few years.
LAST YEAR
Purdue never could find strong footing last season limping through to a 6-6 regular season finish. They did beat Western Michigan 37-32 in the Little Caesars' Pizza Bowl to finish with a winning record and give them their only winning streak of the season.
Against Notre Dame and early turnover allowed the Irish to jump out and cruise onto to an easy 38-10 victory.
STRENGTHS
Purdue will have one of the stronger front sevens the Fighting Irish will face this season. Defensive tackles Kawann Short and Bruce Gaston are stout and strong and will put up some big numbers. Last season Short recorded 6.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss from the interior while Gaston collected another three sacks and seven tackles for loss. They will be tough to deal with.
The Boilermakers have their own quarterback controversy brewing with three former starters vying for the job. Sixth-year senior Robert Marve returns as does Caleb TerBush and Rob Henry who missed last season with an injury. Whoever wins will have experience and a track record of at least some success. That is a lot more than ND has at this point.
WEAKNESSES
Danny Hope nearly lost his job last season and might be on his last chance this season. He hasn't exactly inspired any confidence from Purdue fans going just 16-21 in his first three seasons after taking over for Boilermaker legend Joe Tiller. Taking over for Tiller was going to be hard regardless, but losing more than winning the past three years does not make for a happy fan base. Hope may be a fine football coach, but the question is whether he is a good head football coach. Anything less than 8 wins and a bowl victory might spell doom for the Danny Hope era in West Lafayette.
Left tackle Dennis Kelly has moved on to the NFL leaving a big hole on the offensive line. Not only was Kelly a tremendous talent, but he earned Offensive MVP honors the past two seasons. That's quite an accomplishment for a lineman. Kevin Pamphile is likely to win the starting spot there this season, but he's a converted defensive tackle and worked mostly at guard before shifting to tackle this spring. He and the rest of the line will have their work cut out for them and need to improve upon a line that didn't really play all that well to begin with last season.
BIGGEST QUESTION
Can Purdue take steps to return to the elite of the Big Ten? Purdue will not be the best team in the Big Ten Leaders division, but they do have a shot of contending for the division crown. With Penn State and Ohio State ineligible for the title because of sanctions, the Boilermakers really have only Wisconsin to deal with. Illinois and Indiana may be improved, but should not be ready to compete yet. That leaves Purdue with the only realistic shot at taking down the Badgers. It probably won't happen, but with Urban Meyer and Ohio State back full force in 2013, this could be Purdue's last chance for quite some time.
OVERVIEW
The Boilermakers should be better this season. The schedule certainly works in their favor. Other than the Irish, Purdue's other non-conference games feature Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan and Marshall. Five of their first six games are at home including their Big Ten openers with Michigan and Wisconsin. Ohio State and Iowa will be tough road contests, but it's not out of the question that Purdue could have at least six or seven wins by the time they wrap up their season at home against archrival Indiana. Given IU's probable awfulness, the Boilers could be staring at eight wins and a good bowl game once it's done. That could be enough to save Hope's job.
Against Notre Dame, Purdue will not be as talented or as good as the Irish. But given that Notre Dame has to travel all the way back from Ireland just a week prior, you wonder how that might affect ND's play. And with the season still very early, the quarterback and secondary concerns may still be left unanswered. I expect Notre Dame to win, but this one could be much closer than most people think.
No comments:
Post a Comment