Purdue
Boilermakers
Preview 2008
By
Pete Fiutak
-
2008 CFN Purdue Preview |
2008
Purdue Offense
-
2008 Purdue Defense |
2008
Purdue Depth Chart
-
2007 CFN Purdue Preview |
2006 CFN
Purdue Preview
The succession thing worked well at Wisconsin, and now Purdue is
hoping to have similar success.
After this year, the 12-season run of Joe Tiller will be over and
the Danny Hope era will begin. Hope, the offensive line coach and
the assistant head man, got the job over a few other assistants who
were hoping for the bump, so while this will be a year of transition
and torch passing, it also has to be a year of getting all the egos
and any hurt feelings in line, even though no one has been openly
upset about Hope's move into the big chair.
Head coach: Joe Tiller
12h year: 83-54
18th year overall: 122-84-1
Returning Lettermen:
Off. 25, Def. 26, ST 3
Lettermen Lost: 17 |
Ten
Best Purdue Players
1.
QB Curtis
Painter, Sr.
2. LB Anthony Heygood, Sr.
3. RB Kory Sheets, Sr.
4. RB Jaycen Taylor, Sr.
5. LB Jason Werner, Jr.
6. SS Torri Williams, Sr.
7. OT Sean Sester, Sr.
8. PK Chris Summers, Jr.
9. WR Greg Orton, Sr.
10. CB David Pender, Jr. |
|
2008 Schedule
CFN Prediction:
6-6
2008 Record: 0-0
Aug. 30 OPEN DATE
Sept. 6 Northern Colorado
Sept. 13 Oregon
Sept. 20 Central Michigan
Sept. 27 at Notre Dame
Oct. 4 Penn State
Oct. 11 at Ohio State
Oct. 18 at Northwestern
Oct. 25 Minnesota
Nov. 1 Michigan
Nov. 8 at Michigan State
Nov. 15 at Iowa
Nov. 22 Indiana
|
|
2007 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 8-4
2007 Record: 8-5
Sept. 1
at Toledo
W 52-24
Sept. 8
Eastern Illinois
W 52-6
Sept. 15
Central Mich
W 45-22
Sept. 22 at
Minnesota W 45-31
Sept. 29
Notre Dame
W 33-19
Oct.
6
Ohio State
L 23-7
Oct.
13 at
Michigan L 48-21
Oct.
20 Iowa
W 31-6
Oct.
27
Northwestern
W 35-17
Nov.
3 at
Penn State L 26-19
Nov.
10
Michigan State
L 48-31
Nov.
17
at Indiana
L 27-24
Motor City Bowl
Dec. 26 Central Mich W 51-48 |
Even though the
transition will be the focus of the season and the main storyline,
Tiller's departure will give the team something to rally around.
Everyone wants a winner, and while the players will want to win this
season for themselves, sending Tiller out in style would be a nice plus.
The 2008 Boilermakers will have a winning season and will go to a bowl,
but that's been the norm in the slightly above-average Tiller reign. To
do more, and to possible come up with double-digit wins for the first
time since 1979, the team has to figure out how to beat someone with a
pulse.
Purdue has had few problems with the average teams of the Big Ten world,
and has been solid in non-conference play against the yearly who's who
from the MAC, but over the last several years, for the most part, it has
beaten the teams it was supposed to, and lost to the teams it was
supposed to.
Out of the 33 losses over the last six years, only one, against Illinois
in 2002, came against a team that finished with a losing record. It's
not like Purdue is coming out flat against the softies, but on the flip
side, over that same span, eight of the 44 wins came over D-I teams that
finished with a winning record, and two were against Central Michigan
last year and one was against Akron. In other words, Purdue has been
totally down-the-middle of the Big Ten pack.
To bust through and be a player, top NFL prospect Curtis Painter has to
be an elite quarterback who makes the young receiving corps shine. The
star-less defense has to use its overall experience to improve on the
strides made last year, and with one more year to go, Tiller has to
coach his tail off.
There might be a change about to happen, but this is still Tiller's
team. He might not have the weapons and horses like Ohio State, Penn
State or Wisconsin, but he has enough to go out with a big bang.
What to watch for on offense: The health of the line. There's
good experience up front to protect Painter
and pave the way for the solid running duo of Jaycen Taylor and Kory
Sheets, but the isn't a lot of depth and no one appears to be healthy.
All the main blocks the offense is counting on, Sean Sester, Zach Jones
and Zach Reckman, among others, were hurting this off-season. Those
three have to be full-season rocks.
What to watch for on defense: The outside linebackers. Anthony
Heygood is a given on the strongside after a big year finishing as the
team's second-leading tackler, but the excitement this off-season was
around Jason Werner, a former safety who spent last year as a reserve as
he continued to try to get over the back surgery that cost him all of
2006. Werner wasn't just good in spring ball; he appeared to be the
team's best linebacker at times. These two need to wreak havoc on the
outside.
The team will be far better if … it beats the big names in
the Big Ten. As alluded to before, the Boilermakers haven't been great
against the top teams over the past few seasons. They have to play Ohio
State in Columbus, where they haven't won since 1988, they haven't won
at Iowa since 1992, they've lost three in a row to Penn State and
haven't beaten Michigan since 2000. Since they miss Illinois and
Wisconsin, if they can win two of those four big games, they should have
a great shot at finishing in the top three of the Big Ten
The Schedule:
The bad break is getting the off-week to start the season. With the way
the Big Ten likes to wrap things up, it's 12 games in 12 weeks. The worse
break is the first half of the slate facing Oregon and high-powered MAC
champion Central Michigan before a stretch of three road trips in four
games going to Notre Dame, Ohio State and Northwestern wrapped around a
home date with Penn State. Things ease up starting with the trip to
Evanston and getting Minnesota and Michigan at home before going back on
the road to deal with Michigan State and Iowa. Closing with the rivalry
game against Indiana at home will help, but missing Illinois and
Wisconsin is the mega-break.
Best Offensive Player: Senior QB Curtis Painter. It might be an awful year for
senior pro prospect quarterbacks, but Painter really is a decent
prospect. He's not Drew Brees, but he's better than Kyle Orton, and he's
the type of big-armed, mobile veteran who could make an average team
great on his own. If he's able to become the type of player worthy of a
first round pick, Purdue could be like Boston College last year with
Matt Ryan at the helm.
Best Defensive Player: Senior LB Anthony Heygood. But this could
quickly change if Jason Werner becomes the real deal on the weakside. As
always, there are excellent athletes up and down the Boilermaker
defense, but they need a big-hitting tone-setter to revolve around.
Heygood is it. It's a good year for Big Ten linebackers, but he should
still be in the mix for first-team honors.
Key player to a successful season: Senior WR Greg Orton. All the
top receivers are gone, including Dorien Bryant and Dustin Keller, so
it's up to Orton, the third leading receiver last year make the leap
from Robin to Batman. He had an injured groin this spring, and he has to
be healthy and Painter's No. 1 target until the rest of the receivers
get their feet wet.
The season will be a
success if
... Purdue wins nine games. It'll be a stretch for a decent team with no
major strengths (or weaknesses), but the schedule isn't all that bad and
the coaching staff and program should be more focused in Tiller's final
season. Purdue won nine games in 2003, and after a few mediocre years,
pulling that off again would leave a nice legacy.
Key game: Oct. 4 vs. Penn State. Typically, this is the type of game
Purdue loses on a regular basis. The Nittany Lions are good enough to
win the Big Ten title, but if the Boilermaker line can hold up against
the fearsome pass rush, the big plays in the passing game will be there.
Considering Purdue will be coming off a road trip to Notre Dame, and
will have to go to Ohio State and Northwestern to follow Penn State, the
Big Ten opener might be a must win.
2007 Fun Stats:
- Kickoff return average: Purdue 23.9 – Opponents 16.9
- First quarter scoring: Purdue 141 – Opponents 70
- Penalties: Opponents 77 for 642 yards – Purdue 77 for 628 yards