For about 45 minutes of football, Purdue looked different, looking like a team capable of playing above the sum of its parts due to some emotion and some confidence and some belief, things that seemed to be injected overnight by interim coach Gerad Parker.
But if that bird spent two quarters at Nebraska and another against Penn State today building up speed, the third quarter arrived like an extra-thick pane of glass.
At the end of the second quarter, J.D. Dellinger missed a field goal that would have given Purdue a halftime lead after a solid first half; to start the third, David Blough threw an interception, the first rip in what would turn out to be an unraveling of awesome proportion.
Purdue was outscored 45-7 from there. You've heard the saying before: When the going gets tough, the tough get blown out.
The things you saw in this team last week, the actual upgrades you saw in the move from buttoned-up Darrell Hazell to heart-on-his-sleeve Parker, you did have to wonder if they were sustainable. Such things are often fleeting.
Now, the question is whether they're recoverable after Purdue came apart at the seams at the first sign of trouble Saturday.
There's this thing going on at Purdue right now with Mike Bobinski taking over the athletic department. People are being encouraged to believe that good things will happen and that Purdue can and will be successful, that sort of thing.
That's been the new A.D.'s message to coaches, athletes and whoever else.
Purdue football kind of put a face on it today.
When bad stuff happened, worse stuff happened, same as it's been for three-and-a-half years, only in this case worse. I mean, 45 points.
This isn't Parker's fault. This is what fell into his lap.
I don't know if Parker can fix it, not with a team that's still going to play out this season with one arm tied behind its back given the realities of its situation, with mounting injuries now thrown in, too.
But maybe he can be part of the long-term solution.
He talked after the game of giving every ounce of his being to helping these players believe they can expect better, that he wants to contribute in that way to the future of Purdue's program before he "(rides) off into the sunset," as he said.
That's been a familiar message from Parker since his shotgun promotion.
Purdue can only hope it's not one it hears again and again and again and again each of the next four Saturdays.
But if that bird spent two quarters at Nebraska and another against Penn State today building up speed, the third quarter arrived like an extra-thick pane of glass.
At the end of the second quarter, J.D. Dellinger missed a field goal that would have given Purdue a halftime lead after a solid first half; to start the third, David Blough threw an interception, the first rip in what would turn out to be an unraveling of awesome proportion.
Purdue was outscored 45-7 from there. You've heard the saying before: When the going gets tough, the tough get blown out.
The things you saw in this team last week, the actual upgrades you saw in the move from buttoned-up Darrell Hazell to heart-on-his-sleeve Parker, you did have to wonder if they were sustainable. Such things are often fleeting.
Now, the question is whether they're recoverable after Purdue came apart at the seams at the first sign of trouble Saturday.
There's this thing going on at Purdue right now with Mike Bobinski taking over the athletic department. People are being encouraged to believe that good things will happen and that Purdue can and will be successful, that sort of thing.
That's been the new A.D.'s message to coaches, athletes and whoever else.
Purdue football kind of put a face on it today.
When bad stuff happened, worse stuff happened, same as it's been for three-and-a-half years, only in this case worse. I mean, 45 points.
This isn't Parker's fault. This is what fell into his lap.
I don't know if Parker can fix it, not with a team that's still going to play out this season with one arm tied behind its back given the realities of its situation, with mounting injuries now thrown in, too.
But maybe he can be part of the long-term solution.
He talked after the game of giving every ounce of his being to helping these players believe they can expect better, that he wants to contribute in that way to the future of Purdue's program before he "(rides) off into the sunset," as he said.
That's been a familiar message from Parker since his shotgun promotion.
Purdue can only hope it's not one it hears again and again and again and again each of the next four Saturdays.
