Yeah, I know. We win as a team, lose as a team.
That has to be the public sentiment coming out of Saturday, though no Boilermaker coach or player uttered that exact phrase after their 24-10 loss to Iowa.
But Purdue's Big Ten opener was a classic example of a defense setting the Titleist up on the tee for its offense to simply whack. Instead, the offense tilted backward and sent a huge wad of sod flying in the air.
When you look at the success Purdue has had so far offensively this season, it's difficult to look past the amount of support it's gotten from its defense and, to a lesser extent, return game. I still think it's almost remarkable that four games into the season, the Boilermakers were still averaging a mere 42 yards per touchdown drive, or something like that.
That's unbelievably positive news for one side of the ball - a defense that has, amazingly, gone from liability-on-a-team-full-of-them last season to near strength this season. But it was also window-dressing for the offense, productivity that it deserves credit for, but didn't necessarily tell you the whole picture.
To this point, the offense had smacked most of those balls off the tee. Today, it whiffed repeatedly and probably pulled a hamstring in its backswing, it was so bad.
I could come up with a term to describe quarterback Danny Etling's play today but wouldn't be able to come up with anything better than the "very poorly" he offered up. I'd give him credit there for honesty, but any other response would have been an affront to peoples' intelligence.
Granted, the offensive line didn't hold up particularly well against its first Big Ten foe, and the Raheem Mostert-less running game showed only flashes. The entire offense did jack on second down today, often squandering positive first-down gains.
We talk a lot about the importance of first and third downs. Second down is important, too, damn it, and Purdue showed it today, to its detriment.
Etling really, really, really struggled, not even throwing for double the yardage lost on the three sacks he took, on more than one of which he held the ball too long again, an ongoing awareness issue that doesn't compute. As we said last week, you have a player here who tries hard, tries so hard he inundates himself with information, yet this relatively simple thing remains an issue. Yes, this coming from a writer who's never been blitzed by a Big Ten linebacker, but still
Now, look, I'm of the opinion that there's no reason to think right now than Austin Appleby would fare any better. None. But you don't know until he gets a real chance.
He didn't get that chance Saturday as Purdue stuck with Etling for better and well, just worse, through thick and well, just thin.
Hell, maybe Etling could have benefited from being pulled.
Even if Purdue was committed to sticking with him for the balance of the game, perhaps he could have used a series on the sideline, a breather, a moment of zen, whatever.
Pulling a quarterback isn't always about telling them the other guy is better or gives his team a better chance in the moment, but it can also serve to let them to refocus, get their legs back under them, whatever else. You've seen it happen at Purdue before. Nothing wrong with changing something up when something ain't working. Not all changes have to be wholesale or permanent.
QB changes can also tell everyone else on the field, "Hey, we're trying to do something here."
They stuck with it, though, kept hacking at that ball and missing every time, and zero times zero times zero kept equaling zero.
Maybe a QB change - permanent or temporary - might have made some small difference in a game Purdue was never out of until Iowa's last score. You didn't need a great offense today; you needed a passable one.
It didn't even have that, due to some large extent to its struggles at the most important position on the field.
Purdue didn't make a change Saturday until it was too late.
Now, before playing Illinois, it has to take another long, hard look at the position.
Etling made strides between the first two games of the season and the second two, but Saturday was a reversion of grand proportion. When he, under no duress, missed a wide-open Danny Anthrop downfield for what would have been a game-tying touchdown, that encapsulated the whole day for the Boilermaker quarterback, but only slightly more so than did his here-take-it interception later on.
After halftime, Purdue never had a chance, which is too bad, because the defense (and Iowa's inability to catch footballs) gave it a chance.
As sickening as this loss must have felt to everyone involved, you have to walk away feeling pretty good about one thing above all else: The defense might be legit.
When I say legit, I mean legitimately improved, legitimately a group Purdue can win with if it can get the rest of its house in order.
You've not seen a quarter of defense at Purdue like today's first quarter since probably 2003. Kudos to coordinator Greg Hudson and his staff, but especially the players, the Sean Robinsons and Frankie Williams, etc., who've made this happen.
Purdue won as a defense today.
But lost as a team.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2014. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
That has to be the public sentiment coming out of Saturday, though no Boilermaker coach or player uttered that exact phrase after their 24-10 loss to Iowa.
But Purdue's Big Ten opener was a classic example of a defense setting the Titleist up on the tee for its offense to simply whack. Instead, the offense tilted backward and sent a huge wad of sod flying in the air.
When you look at the success Purdue has had so far offensively this season, it's difficult to look past the amount of support it's gotten from its defense and, to a lesser extent, return game. I still think it's almost remarkable that four games into the season, the Boilermakers were still averaging a mere 42 yards per touchdown drive, or something like that.
That's unbelievably positive news for one side of the ball - a defense that has, amazingly, gone from liability-on-a-team-full-of-them last season to near strength this season. But it was also window-dressing for the offense, productivity that it deserves credit for, but didn't necessarily tell you the whole picture.
To this point, the offense had smacked most of those balls off the tee. Today, it whiffed repeatedly and probably pulled a hamstring in its backswing, it was so bad.
I could come up with a term to describe quarterback Danny Etling's play today but wouldn't be able to come up with anything better than the "very poorly" he offered up. I'd give him credit there for honesty, but any other response would have been an affront to peoples' intelligence.
Granted, the offensive line didn't hold up particularly well against its first Big Ten foe, and the Raheem Mostert-less running game showed only flashes. The entire offense did jack on second down today, often squandering positive first-down gains.
We talk a lot about the importance of first and third downs. Second down is important, too, damn it, and Purdue showed it today, to its detriment.
Etling really, really, really struggled, not even throwing for double the yardage lost on the three sacks he took, on more than one of which he held the ball too long again, an ongoing awareness issue that doesn't compute. As we said last week, you have a player here who tries hard, tries so hard he inundates himself with information, yet this relatively simple thing remains an issue. Yes, this coming from a writer who's never been blitzed by a Big Ten linebacker, but still
Now, look, I'm of the opinion that there's no reason to think right now than Austin Appleby would fare any better. None. But you don't know until he gets a real chance.
He didn't get that chance Saturday as Purdue stuck with Etling for better and well, just worse, through thick and well, just thin.
Hell, maybe Etling could have benefited from being pulled.
Even if Purdue was committed to sticking with him for the balance of the game, perhaps he could have used a series on the sideline, a breather, a moment of zen, whatever.
Pulling a quarterback isn't always about telling them the other guy is better or gives his team a better chance in the moment, but it can also serve to let them to refocus, get their legs back under them, whatever else. You've seen it happen at Purdue before. Nothing wrong with changing something up when something ain't working. Not all changes have to be wholesale or permanent.
QB changes can also tell everyone else on the field, "Hey, we're trying to do something here."
They stuck with it, though, kept hacking at that ball and missing every time, and zero times zero times zero kept equaling zero.
Maybe a QB change - permanent or temporary - might have made some small difference in a game Purdue was never out of until Iowa's last score. You didn't need a great offense today; you needed a passable one.
It didn't even have that, due to some large extent to its struggles at the most important position on the field.
Purdue didn't make a change Saturday until it was too late.
Now, before playing Illinois, it has to take another long, hard look at the position.
Etling made strides between the first two games of the season and the second two, but Saturday was a reversion of grand proportion. When he, under no duress, missed a wide-open Danny Anthrop downfield for what would have been a game-tying touchdown, that encapsulated the whole day for the Boilermaker quarterback, but only slightly more so than did his here-take-it interception later on.
After halftime, Purdue never had a chance, which is too bad, because the defense (and Iowa's inability to catch footballs) gave it a chance.
As sickening as this loss must have felt to everyone involved, you have to walk away feeling pretty good about one thing above all else: The defense might be legit.
When I say legit, I mean legitimately improved, legitimately a group Purdue can win with if it can get the rest of its house in order.
You've not seen a quarter of defense at Purdue like today's first quarter since probably 2003. Kudos to coordinator Greg Hudson and his staff, but especially the players, the Sean Robinsons and Frankie Williams, etc., who've made this happen.
Purdue won as a defense today.
But lost as a team.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2014. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
