2010 NCAA football preview: Purdue
For anyone that wonders what sort of football players can be created in a basketball state like Indiana, look no further than former Purdue University standout Drew Brees. While there has yet to be a player of his caliber come through since, the tradition of solid play has continued for the Boilermakers.
The days have not been as good since Brees led the Boilermakers to the Big Ten championship back in 2000. While they have not been in the running for the conference championship, the Boilermakers have been a regular fixture in post-season play appearing in bowl games; from 1997 to 2007 they went to bowl games in 10 of 11 seasons.
In Joe Tiller’s final season though, the team fell on hard times and dropped to 4-8, the worst season of Tiller’s head coaching career. Tiller stepped down following the end of the season. Rather than go after a big name coach to replace him, the school ended up calling on a rising talent from an FCS school (formerly I-AA), the Eastern Kentucky Colonels' head coach, Danny Hope.
Hope is exactly what he brought to the program. After an impressive win over Toledo in the first game of the season the team did go on a bit of a losing streak, but then they rebounded to finish 5-7, defeating Ohio State and Michigan along the way.
In 2010 the team will likely have their sights set on going to a bowl game once again.
Offense
The Boilermaker offense got a huge boost when former Miami Hurricane quarterback Robert Marve transferred to Purdue. At Miami he split time with Jacory Harris; when it became clear that the team was going to go forward with Harris he decided to leave. He did not get to play enough at Miami to show what he could do, but in his senior year in high school he threw for 4380 yards, 48 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions while also running for 832 yards and another eight touchdowns.
Marve will have a lot of talented targets to throw the ball around to. Last season’s Big Ten reception leader, Keith Smith, returns and he should be able to do even better than the 91 receptions he had in 2009 with Marve throwing him the ball. Redshirt freshman Gary Bush is a Miami native like Marve and could be an early favorite target. Justin Siller is a former quarterback that returns after a year off; his athleticism should make it easy for him to transition to wide receiver.
To make the passing game even more effective it could help if they could establish a running game. With Ralph Bolden going down with an ACL injury in the spring the running duties are going to fall to Al-Terek McBurse or wide receiver convert Keith Carlos.
Defense
If the team is going to compete in the Big Ten the defense is going to have to stop a few people; that was not something they were real good at in 2009. While the passing numbers did not look to bad, it was because teams were too busy running through them.
Ryan Kerrigan returns to lead the front four after having a banner year in 2009 with 66 tackles and 13 sacks. He will need to get some help from end Gerald Gooden and tackles Kawann Short and Kevin Pamphile. Gooden contributed 35 tackles and four sacks in limited time last season; Short added another 47 tackles and two interceptions in his first year.
The team has little returning in the secondary or at linebacker. All four starters in the secondary are gone; there would be no experience coming back at linebacker either if Jason Werner had not been given a sixth year of eligibility. Werner looks to be the only senior in the group which means that the defense will at least gain a lot of experience during the 2010 season.
Offensively, Purdue is going to be in great shape; but there are still major question marks on defense. If the defense can come together quick enough though, there is no reason that Purdue should not make a bowl game in 2010.
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