Saturday in Ross-Ade Stadium, during Purdue's cathartic 40-14 shelling of Maryland, two things stood out as distinctly as the grass stains covering David Bell's sparkling-white moon man uniform afterward.
One, the future is bright. Two, the present maybe isn't as bad as it has seemed.
Both points relate to Purdue's predicament, the decimation it's faced at the hand of sheer misfortune, and what's come from it.
I'll start with the latter point, that things maybe aren't as bad as they have seemed, as one key player after another has come and gone and Purdue's been left with one hand tied behind its back. I take that back. That hand is broken. Six to eight weeks.
Still, Purdue showed Saturday it has enough to compete, particularly now if the final three quarters at Penn State did serve as a turning point of sorts for its defense. Sure looked like it Saturday as Purdue kept its opponent to just 14 points, came away with as many turnovers as it allowed scores, and actually scored itself, despite its ranks being ravaged by injury both significant and of the game-to-game annoyance variety.
Purdue won a Big Ten game today by a decided margin basically with two linebackers, part of a game in which roughly a half dozen players debuted — literally or basically — in meaningful roles, in Week 6. Two freshmen not only played their first snaps out of the season, but played when it mattered, including linebacker Khali Saunders, just so that Purdue could have three available linebackers.
And the offense, down its quarterback, down its star and down its center, broke out against Maryland, to the tune of 40 points, an 11-of-18 conversion rate on third down and just one irrelevant turnover.
Purdue has taken body blow after body blow this season at the hand of circumstance, but showed Saturday it has enough, and has enough ingenuity, to compete, to win. When I say ingenuity, I thought this was Purdue's best-coached game of the season, highlighted by an offensive game plan that made the offensive line and running game better than their prior standard, weaponized Maryland's own aggressiveness and exploited the Terrapins' soft underbelly. (OK last turtle analogy, I promise.) I thought Saturday looked like a game in which Jeff Brohm, and Nick Holt, faced with so many questions this season, found answers.
Now, this is very important: Maryland is not Penn State, the team Purdue last played, and Maryland is not Iowa, the team it'll play next. The fools-gold factor in this one is real, but under the circumstances, victories of all kinds matter. They really, really matter, because in no way are the odds in Purdue's favor.
When we say Purdue can compete, time will tell how relative the term is, but at least on Saturday one thing was made known: It's capable of at least scraping a few wins off the Big Ten's lower echelon, and under the circumstances, that would be no small feat.
Purdue has struggled prior to Saturday, and it could struggle some more to come — we'll see — but it may be better in some way in the long run because of it, and there's simply no way around brighter days being ahead. Saturday underscored that point.
The Boilermakers got on the board first courtesy of David Bell. True freshman.
Then King Doerue. True freshman.
Then Milton Wright. True freshman.
Then Cory Trice. Redshirt freshman.
Then, again, Bell. True freshman.
Three touchdowns, along with 420 yards, were thrown by Jack Plummer. Redshirt freshman.
That tells you what you need to know about all of it, about the youth Purdue has been forced onto the shoulders of, but also just how terrific that youth may be, and in some cases, already is.
And how bright Purdue's future is no matter how difficult its present has been.
One, the future is bright. Two, the present maybe isn't as bad as it has seemed.
Both points relate to Purdue's predicament, the decimation it's faced at the hand of sheer misfortune, and what's come from it.
I'll start with the latter point, that things maybe aren't as bad as they have seemed, as one key player after another has come and gone and Purdue's been left with one hand tied behind its back. I take that back. That hand is broken. Six to eight weeks.
Still, Purdue showed Saturday it has enough to compete, particularly now if the final three quarters at Penn State did serve as a turning point of sorts for its defense. Sure looked like it Saturday as Purdue kept its opponent to just 14 points, came away with as many turnovers as it allowed scores, and actually scored itself, despite its ranks being ravaged by injury both significant and of the game-to-game annoyance variety.
Purdue won a Big Ten game today by a decided margin basically with two linebackers, part of a game in which roughly a half dozen players debuted — literally or basically — in meaningful roles, in Week 6. Two freshmen not only played their first snaps out of the season, but played when it mattered, including linebacker Khali Saunders, just so that Purdue could have three available linebackers.
And the offense, down its quarterback, down its star and down its center, broke out against Maryland, to the tune of 40 points, an 11-of-18 conversion rate on third down and just one irrelevant turnover.
Purdue has taken body blow after body blow this season at the hand of circumstance, but showed Saturday it has enough, and has enough ingenuity, to compete, to win. When I say ingenuity, I thought this was Purdue's best-coached game of the season, highlighted by an offensive game plan that made the offensive line and running game better than their prior standard, weaponized Maryland's own aggressiveness and exploited the Terrapins' soft underbelly. (OK last turtle analogy, I promise.) I thought Saturday looked like a game in which Jeff Brohm, and Nick Holt, faced with so many questions this season, found answers.
Now, this is very important: Maryland is not Penn State, the team Purdue last played, and Maryland is not Iowa, the team it'll play next. The fools-gold factor in this one is real, but under the circumstances, victories of all kinds matter. They really, really matter, because in no way are the odds in Purdue's favor.
When we say Purdue can compete, time will tell how relative the term is, but at least on Saturday one thing was made known: It's capable of at least scraping a few wins off the Big Ten's lower echelon, and under the circumstances, that would be no small feat.
Purdue has struggled prior to Saturday, and it could struggle some more to come — we'll see — but it may be better in some way in the long run because of it, and there's simply no way around brighter days being ahead. Saturday underscored that point.
The Boilermakers got on the board first courtesy of David Bell. True freshman.
Then King Doerue. True freshman.
Then Milton Wright. True freshman.
Then Cory Trice. Redshirt freshman.
Then, again, Bell. True freshman.
Three touchdowns, along with 420 yards, were thrown by Jack Plummer. Redshirt freshman.
That tells you what you need to know about all of it, about the youth Purdue has been forced onto the shoulders of, but also just how terrific that youth may be, and in some cases, already is.
And how bright Purdue's future is no matter how difficult its present has been.
