Purdue Blows Lead, Chance for Upset vs Ducks

I went to the game expecting an Oregon rout in a driving thunderstorm. I was extremely surprised it was nice (though a little toasty) all game long. However, it turned into the typical Purdue coaching gem today. The Boilers, after a stunning TD run by Kory Sheets gave us an early 7-0 lead and the Ducks still trying to acclimate to the humidity, we were given gift after gift after gift in the first half. I mean, the only thing we weren't given by Oregon in the first half was a ribbon and bow on the gifts. 5 turnovers and we could only manage 10 points. Ridiculous. Just another example of poor coaching in my opinion.

Coach Tiller and his staff decided to punt instead of going for it on 4th and 1 near midfield. Great call, and with a 20-6 lead it was the prudent call. One problem Joe - your coaching staff should know better than NOT to tell the punter to kick it towards the corner of the endzone to pin them deep. Instead, you punted it directly to a dangerous kick returner and paid the price with a tie ballgame.

Leading 20-13 and trying to sustain a drive, you put Senior QB Curtis Painter out wide left and try to run a trick play with sophomore RB Justin Siller, who promptly loses it trying to flip it out on some ridiculous type of option toss.

FG kicker Chris Summers, kicking into the right to left wind in the South endzone twice earlier, set up on the left hash mark and drilled it through in that steady wind both times. So what do you do to set him up for the game-winning shot with seconds left, kicking into that same endzone and steady wind ? You run it to the right hash. Unbelievably horribe coaching ALL game long for Purdue.

Summers kick went up and then veered sharply to his left. Never had a chance, and the game moved to overtime.

The defensive coaching staff for Purdue didn't catch on -EVER - to the counter trap up the middle. Over and over and over the Ducks ran it with no one at the nose position or Mike to be waiting on it. Incredible. Give tons of props to the guys on the Purdue defense out there playing, coming up with big stop after big stop, only to watch the offense do nothing with it.
Speaking of the offense, huge congrats to Kory Sheets for an absolutely outstanding performance. Yeoman's work as what seemed like the ONLY back Purdue used all day.

However, that was off-set by the usually poor showing by Curtis Painter when it comes to tough competition. Pass after pass thrown low or off the mark, and to be fair, lots of good passes dropped. But for a senior QB who is supposed to be a Heisman candidate, this was an abysmal showing. It is why I laughed at the pre-season mention of him as a Heisman candidate.

You have to have done something, in my opinion, other than throw for 350+ yards against St. Lawerence of East Tupperware State College. I actually thought Painter was going to come of age the way he was running the ball when his wideouts were being covered. Why he decided not to do the same thing on many other opportunities (where there was lots of yardage available) is beyond me.

Again, Painter had some excellent throws dropped by his receiving corps. But many other times he was trying to force it into coverage and was picked twice. Other times, forcing it in, it was tipped or knocked away. It was vintage Painter in a game with a nationally ranked opponent, and when the opportunity came to put away the Ducks late in the 2nd he threw a pick. Again in the 2nd half, with a chance to extend the Purdue lead, he threw a pick.

In summary, the Purdue coaching staff blew an exceptionally great defensive effort, a big lead and a stellar day by their lone running back. I'm thinking the Motor City Bowl MIGHT be a possibility with some luck.