SB Nation - Greg Orton

Welcome to the Fold: Tracking Edition week 3

BoilerTMill — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:57:50 -0000

It is a Labor Day edition of this newest feature. We do have sad news on the other end of the spectrum, as cutdown day in the NFL was very hard on former Boilers. Some, like Charles Davis, Greg Orton, and Eugene Bright were longshots to make their respective rosters. Others were surprises. Stu Schweigert and John Standeford were both cut by the Lions. Kory Sheets was shockingly cut from the 49ers after having a fantastic preseason. Anthony Heygood suffered a similar fate as an undrafted free agent with Carolina. The most shocking of all was that Bernard Pollard was cut by the Chiefs. I'll keep an eye out for them, as many of these guys could land elsewhere as the season goes on.

In the mean time, here is what our current high school commits did last week, as a few more finally got their seasons underway.

Sean Robinson - QB - Rochester, IL (Rochester) - Rochester moved to 2-0 behind Robinson with a 57-35 victory over Rantoul. Statistics have not been fully posted for this game yet, but judging from the crude box score Robinson had five touchdown passes on the night. Three of these touchdown passes were 40 yards are more, so it sounds like a very good night for the young quarterback.

Joe Gilliam - LB - Southport, IN (Southport) - Southport began Conference Indiana play against a pretty good Pike team in Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday night. Unfortunately, the Cardinals already find themselves playing catch-up after winning the league undefeated last year. Pike won 33-7. The Indianapolis Star, in their crack coverage, covered two of the four games at Lucas Oil on Saturday, but provided nothing on Pike-Southport. Any in person reports on Gilliam's play would be greatly appreciated.

Charles Torwudzo - WR - Brownsburg, IN (Brownsburg) - Brownsburg suffered its first loss of the season as it traveled to Hamilton Southeastern. The Royals won easily 41-20, and Chuck T was held to just 2 catches for 15 yards. That link also has some video, but it is Hamilton Southeastern-centric.

Jeremy Cornelius - WR - Harrisburg, PA (Bishop McDevitt) - The 4^th ranked Crusaders began the season with an impressive 41-16 win over Harrisburg this past week. Cornelius did not find the end zone, but he had one catch for 15 yards.

De'Ron Flood - TE - O'Fallon, IL (O'Fallon) - O'Fallon got into the win column for the first time this year with a 38-7 win over Mt. Vernon. Flood had four catches for 44 yards and a touchdown, while also adding a two point conversion catch. His performance was the best receiving performance for his team.

Josh Davis - DT - Plain City, OH (Jonathan Alder) - Alder fell to 0-2 on the season with a 49-14 loss at home against Canal Winchester. Once again, stats were hard to come by, but we'll see if Jsoh's dad e-mails me againt his week, so stay tuned.

Mike Lee - LB - Pittsburgh, PA (Woodland Hills) - Woodland Hills began its season with a 13-0 loss to Steubenvill Friday night. I found no stats for Mr. Lee, but this was a defensive struggle for most of the game. I am sure he was prominently involved as a linebacker.

Ryan Isaac - DE - Michigan City, IN (Michigan City) - Michigan City moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2005 with a 31-21 win over Chesterton Friday night. While there have not been any stats posted for this game, Isaac has been impressive in his first two games. I also did find some photos of MC's very nice new home field.

Some new turf and commit Ryan Isaac are helping to turn around Michigan City's historically moribund program.

E.J. Johnson - DB - Cocoa, FL (Cocoa) - Cocoa has a very late start, not getting underway until September 11^th with a home game against American Heritage. Cocoa carries a #1 ranking into the season in Florida's class 2A. That is to be expected though, as they are the defending state champion in that class.

Will Lucas - LB - Lakeland, FL (Lakeland) - Lakeland also does not start until September 11, playing at Winter Haven. Lakeland, last year's state runner-up to mythical National Champion St. Thomas Aquinas, begins the season as the #2 team in Florida's class 5A.

Jess Schmitt - LS - Louisville, KY (Trinity) - After getting upset by Lawrence north in the opener, Trinity rebounded with a 27-0 win over DuPont Manual.

A way too early look at the 2009 Schedule - Week 6 - Purdue

GopherNation — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:37:11 -0000

After this game, the music dies. No offense to Purdue fans but this is the last game on the schedule before we hit the Big Ten buzzsaw. The Boilermakers at home is a must win before we head to Happy Valley and Columbus, return home for Michigan State and Illinois, get a break with SDSU and then we travel again to Iowa. Because of our brutal schedule and because Purdue is the consensus 10th best team in the Big Ten this is the most overlooked game on our schedule. Well, NOT TODAY my friends. With the help of Travis over at Hammer and Rails we are going to look at the Boilermakers.

With so little buzz coming out of Purdue this year and with all of the "experts" predicting a 10th place finish for the Boilermakers, I started my questioning with Travis on this very subject.

TDG - Nobody is very high on Purdue this year as they seem to be the consensus pick to finish 10th in the conference (thank God for Indiana huh?). I want you to tell me what we are all missing. Why will Purdue actually be the surprise team of the Big Ten? Or what has to go right for the Boilermakers to have a successful season, defying all of the experts?

HnR - Attitude is the key here. No one expects anything, especially the media. I was given press access for the spring game and it was disappointing in the press box, but exciting on the sidelines. The press was openly mocking the team, saying Danny Hope and Bill Lynch could be the worst coaching pair in Big Ten history.

Once I went down to the sidelines though I was encouraged. This team believes in itself a lot more than it did last year. There are no stars, while last year was mostly Painter and Sheets. Everyone is on board with Coach Hope's new philosophy, as Boiled Sports points out, former walk-on Adam Wolf came up with the marketing idea of O.N.E. (Opportunity Now for Everyone). This team is truly a team, and I think we have been missing that for awhile. I firmly believe we will be much better than people think. The defense has a ton of experience, while our running game is deeper than it has ever been. That will give Elliott time to learn the game, but I think as a fifth year senior he will be just fine in the offense. All we need are a few consistent receivers. Personally, I think we can get six wins and get to a bowl.

So maybe Travis is just drinking the kool-aid, or maybe he is seeing something the rest of the pundits do not. Everyone, not intimately familiar with a school's program takes a look at returning starters, star players, key positions, recruiting classes, etc to make their "accurate" predictions. What can be missed are the teams capable of playing above their ceiling because the sum of their parts is truly greater than it's pieces. I don't think anybody is predicting Rose Bowl for the Boilermakers, but they are certainly talented enough to win more games than expected and make a bowl game.

I am no different in that I look first at returning starters, then I see if any of the returners are returning all-conference or pre-season all-conference, then I look at key positions (QB, OL, defense). But I'm not intimate enough with any of our opponents to know them like their fans do. So I ask more from Travis...

TDG- Just 11 returning starters, is the glass half full or half empty?

HnR - Half full. I love our defense. We appear to have real live linebackers for once and our defensive line has become a strength. Our secondary is among the most experienced in the Big Ten, and I think this is the year it finally comes together. It really showed some things last year in a few games, but the offense was awful. I pick the Minnesota game as an example. They basically gave up two big plays and those led to both touchdowns. The rest of the day our defense played fantastic, but the offense gave it zero help.

On offense, we essentially get a starter back that is not listed in running back Jaycen Taylor. Taylor tore his ACL in fall camp last year and had to redshirt. He will give us experience at a position with a lot of depth in Ralph Bolden, Dan Dierking, and true freshman Al-Terek McBurse. Joey Elliott, as a fifth year senior is about what you want as a first-time starter at quarterback. In him, I see some shades of Billy Dicken circa 1997.

Purdue on Offense

When looking at Purdue's offense the obvious place to start is with what is missing. Gone are the Boilermaker's leading passer, rusher and receivers; Curtis Painter, Kory Sheets, Greg Orton and Desmond Tardy respectively.

TDG - Who is going to step in and replace last year's leading passer, rusher and receiver? Are these changes exciting or are the met with fear and trepidation?

HnR - As mentioned, Joey Elliott will be the starter. He has been Painter's caddy for the last three years, but likely would have gotten a lot more time had he not separated his shoulder against Northwestern. I think he will be the perfect caretaker before Caleb TerBush, Rob Henry, or Robert Marve takes over in 2010. He has done well in mop-up action the last three years, but has never started. He does know the system inside and out though.

Taking over for running back Kory Sheets will be a tandem of Taylor, McBurse, Bolden, and Dierking. Bolden had a great spring while Taylor was still limited. McBurse enrolled early to go through spring practice, but ended up not taking part because the NCAA didn't officially clear him until late April. Personally, I think we will rely a lot more on the running game than we have in the past because it should be a major strength. As for receivers, your guess is as good as mine. Aaron Valentin and Keith Smith are the top two returning players there, but every spot is wide open. JuCo transfer Keith Carlos will likely see some time, as well as a number of our Florida Freshmen.

Our biggest problem last season was that we never had a consistent offensive line. Seemingly everyone was hurt and missed spring football in 2008, but we were finally healthy here this past spring. It should help immensely.

For what was a promising and experienced offense, 2008 was rather disappointing in West Lafayette. The Boilermaker offense was 4th in total offense (2nd in passing, 10th in rushing) and 7th in points scored. Contributing to the disappointing 2-6 Big Ten record.

As Travis noted above, there is no star power on this offense. A year after Sheets and Painter have moved on, maybe this offense will be able to gel and play together as a unit. Passing the ball has never been a problem at Purdue and I would expect Joey Elliot will be just fine throwing the ball around. Much like our Gophers, the real question will be can they improve on what was one of the worst rushing games in the conference? Also like the Gophers there are a few guys willing, able and eager to carry the ball. But will the offensive line improve and will one of their backs step up and be the reliable back who gets the bulk of the carries?

Purdue on Defense

The Boilermaker defense was equally as unbalanced as the offense. Very good against the pass and terrible at stopping the run.

TDG - Tell me about the defense. Last year they lead the B10 in pass defense, but were last against the run. Can we expect more of the same this year or are changes being made to bring this to a happy medium?

HnR - The pass defense was so good because the run defense was so bad. Who needs to pass when we can't stop the run? It was especially embarrassing at Notre Dame when we gave up 200 yards to a team that had no running game for 15 straight games before that. It got better though as the season went on. The numbers were high because we played Oregon, who can hang 400 rushing yards on anyone. At Ohio State we did a great job of keeping Beanie Wells and Terrelle Prior in check. Ohio State didn't have an offensive touchdown all day, but unfortunately our offense didn't make the trip. We got our only three points on a school-record 53 yard field goal. The run defense should be better, especially if the offense can stay on the field by utilizing the running game more.

That seemed pretty obvious, why would teams bother to pass the ball when there was very little resistance on the ground. Unfortunately our ground game managed to accumulate the fewest yards against the Purdue defense. 109 yards rushing against the league's worst rush defense is pretty embarrassing and it just points out badly we needed to see a change in philosophy. This game will be a very good judge of how effective our new ground game really is. I expect the Purdue defense will be more focused on stopping the run but I have higher expectations for our ground game and bigger strides should be made there.

Let's get to know the Boilermaker defense a little bit...

TDG - Can I get a paragraph summarizing each positional group (DL, LB, DB).

HnR - Our defensive line is led by end Ryan Kerrigan. He looks to be the next in a long line of defensive ends that we consistently send to the NFL. I also like tackle Mike Neal a lot because he plays with a ton of intensity. Redshirt freshman Kawann Short could have a breakout season, as there are some seriously high expectations for him. Gerald Gooden has also shown some good things at the other end position.

At linebacker we should have our best group in years if Jason Werner is finally healthy. We've been waiting for Werner to get over some back issues for three years, but each time he is healthy in practices coaches have said he is our best linebacker. Unfortunately, he was "a few weeks away" for every game last season and didn't play at all despite being supposedly healthy when camp started. Joe Holland and Chris Carlino are both sophomores, but they learned by fire last year as freshmen. Carlino was especially impressive by doing very well as a true freshman in the middle. Incoming freshmen Dwayne Beckford and Antwon Higgs are both very promising and each was able to enroll early and go through spring football. They give us depth at a position that is young and will only get better.

The secondary is by far the best unit on the defense. Safety Torri Williams has battled injuries and legal troubles his entire career, but he was granted a 6th year of eligibility by the NCAA after missing all of 2005 with a broken leg, all but he first half of the first game of 2006 with a shredded knee, and half of 2007 with a torn Achilles. As long as he doesn't steal anymore condoms, drive drunk, or help buddies in bar fights he should be fine. Brandon King and David Pender are two very good senior corners, while Dwight McLean should make a big leap in his second year out of JuCo.

Sounds like Travis is excited about his team improving on last year's 2-6 conference season. The DL is young but could be on the verge of a breakout season, the LBs are the best they've seen in years and the secondary is their best unit. I'll grant him that the secondary is experienced and they were successful a year ago. But the rest of the defense is either young or has injuries keeping him from taking big strides. This defense is lacking depth and experience. But this defense can improve and most of that improvement will come from an improved offense. Last year's offense was brutal and much like the 2007 version of the Gophers the offense put the defense in a number of brutal situations. Will the defense be better? At this time of year everyone believes their team will be better for whatever reason. It's possible but my money is on a lower half caliber defense coming out of Purdue this season.

What to Expect

This is one of those classic games where both teams and fan bases believe this is at minimum winable and most likely a win because the other team is mediocre at best. I don't know if this game is a lock, but this is another must-win for the Gophers. A team we beat a year ago, a team that is not returning a ton of starters and a team that we are playing at home before we head to Happy Valley and Columbus. This schedule is going to get ugly and the success of the season hinges on games like this. I know I harped on this in the Wisconsin preview, but this is really a must win.

I expect that the Gophers will desperately try to establish the run. That is going to be a key in all games this year but this one in particular will showcase that this team is not just capable of running the ball but dominating a game by controlling the ball and running until the other team stops you. Purdue was terrible against the run in 2008 and we barely notched 100 yards on the ground. If this team is more than just committed to running the ball, but actually are capable of it, then expect that to change.

After reading Travis's thoughts on what he sees as the cohesiveness and the unity of the 2009 Boilermakers, I am more nervous about this game than I was prior, but we still win this game.

Minnesota - 31
Purdue - 10

what say you?...

Poll

Results of the Purdue Game?

Gophers win big

36 votes

Gophers win a tight one

23 votes

Gophers lose

21 votes

80 votes | Poll has closed

Pam Ward & Syracuse Football, Together Again

Sean Keeley — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:42:37 -0000

View full size photo »

ESPN released their college football announcing schedule for the upcoming season. As you probably guessed, given that Syracuse will be seeing a lot of action around the noon hour, you're also going to be hearing Pam Ward describing things incorrectly to you. Goodie.

The Minnesota - Syracuse game will be televised on ESPN2 at noon and, well, that's Pammie's timeslot. She and Ray Bentley will almost definitely be calling that game. And now that I think about it...ESPN2...Noon...a Big Ten team is involved...I'm pretty sure Pam Ward is contractually obligated to call this game.

Pam is the two-time defending champion of Awful Announcing's Pammy Awards, which recognize terrible-ness in sports broadcasting. They also just to happen to be named after her as well. In case you need a refresher on some of Pam's greatest hits, have at it:

"Greg Orton came over and they slapped each other... on the palms."

"That was the last four drives, Minnesota had five straight five-and-outs."

"Northwestern players...looking over to the sidelines...they want to go for it." (On a 3rd and 9)

"They've gotta spike the ball here!" (On a 4th down play)

"We are coming to you from Heinz Stadium in Pittsburgh..."

"We see a bunch of wet stuff coming up from the ground." (Or rain)

"Great tackle, er, broken tackle by Charles. Gordon finally gets him in the backfield. Gain of 5 for Charles."

The good news is that there doesn't seem to be another game on the schedule (yet) that fits the bill. The Penn State game will be on the Big Ten Network and the Northwestern game doesn't have a TV home yet...though if it eventually does find its way to a national audience, you can bet that it too will end up on ESPN2 at noon with Pam Ward's dulcet tones in your ear cavity.

Oh and as for the Big East Games of the Week (USF, L'ville & UConn), you'll be hearing from Mike Gleason and John Congemi with Quint Kessenich on the sidelines.

Bengals announce undrafted free agent signings

Kirkendall — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:48:45 -0000

The Cincinnati Bengals finally announced their undrafted free agent signings. The number of players totals nine, which included those we knew about already, with Quan Crosby scheduled to arrive in Cincinnati on Friday. One of the signings is fullback Chris Pressley.

Year	GP	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	TD
2004	5	11	36	3.3	0	0	0	0
2005	12	3	5	1.7	0	0	0	0
2006	RS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2007	13	8	56	7.0	1	2	8	1
2008	12	3	6	2.0	0	0	0	0
Totals	42	25	103	4.1	1	2	8	1

Sports Illustrated examines Pressley:

BIOGRAPHY: Part-time starter who lined up with the first team when Wisconsin used a lead blocker to begin the game. Senior rushing totals included 3/6 after 8/56/1 as a junior.

POSITIVES: Traditional lead-blocking fullback who opens big holes for the running game. Aggressive, squares into defenders, and easily controls opponents at the point of attack. Displays good blocking vision, and recognizes blitzes thrown by the defense.

NEGATIVES: Marginal athlete with limited ability in space. Lacks the speed to get out in front of ball carriers.

ANALYSIS: Pressley is a throwback at the fullback position, but he lacks the speed to have any impact in the NFL. He could catch on as a pure lead blocker if he produces on special teams this summer.

From Bengals.com

A list of the college free agents that had signed deals as of Thursday night:

Colin Dow, G, 6-5, 310; Montana, Billings, Mont.
Billy Farris, QB, 6-3, 234; Colorado State; Baton Rouge, La.
Marlon Lucky, HB, 5-11, 216; Nebraska; North Hollywood, Calif.
Rico Murray, CB, 5-11, 191; Kent State; Cincinnati, Ohio
Tom Nelson, S, 5-11, 200; Illinois State; Arlington Heights, Ill.
Greg Orton, WR, 6-3, 207; Purdue; Dayton, Ohio
Chris Pressley, FB, 5-11, 257; Wisconsin; Woodbury, N.J.
David Richmond, WR, 6-2, 197; San Jose State; Anaheim, Calif.
Dan Skuta, LB, 6-2, 251; Grand Valley State; Flint, Mich.

Greg Orton is a 6'3" wide receiver from Purdue (as if you couldn't read that above). From NFL.com

Overview

Receivers in a spread offense aren't typically 6-feet-3 and 210 pounds, but Orton's an exception to the rule. He moved the chains consistently throughout his career, averaging 65 receptions for 754 yards and four touchdowns over his three seasons as a starter.

The strength he gained through hard work during his days in West Lafayette certainly paid dividends against smaller defensive backs in college, although his lack of elite speed may make the transition to the NFL a difficult one. Had an arm span of 33 3/8 inches and a hand span of 9 1/4 inches at the combine.

High School

Ranked as No. 19 wide receiver in nation by SuperPrep ... No. 53 wide receiver in nation and No. 21 player in Ohio by Rivals.com ... first-team all-state selection as senior ... caught 65 passes for 1,058 yards (16.3 average) and nine touchdowns ... named to CBS SportsLine All-Regional team ... had 59 receptions for 782 yards (13.3 average) and 11 touchdowns his junior season ... two-time all-area and all-conference honoree ... coach was Jay Minton ... also participated in basketball and track and field.

NFL Draft Bible says that the Bengals worked out guard Colin Dow in late March. Sports Illustrated says of Dow.

BIOGRAPHY: Three-year starter awarded all-Conference honors since his sophomore campaign. Played at both center and guard with the first team.

POSITIVES: Explosive, hard-working lineman who plays with a nasty streak. Bends his knees, sets with a wide base, and quickly gets into blocks. Strong at the point, and easily controls opponents once engaged in a block. Anchors in pass protection, rides defenders from the action with good hand punch, or seals them from the play with body positioning. Keeps his head on a swivel, and works well with teammates.

NEGATIVES: Marginal skill in motion and better in a small area. Struggles to adjust and exploited by nimble defenders.

ANALYSIS: Dow is an adequately sized lineman with growth potential. He's been productive at several positions in college, and he has enough skill to make an NFL roster as a back-up lineman. Dow is a solid developmental prospect who should get better as he physically matures and fills out his frame.

Linebacker Dan Skuta could be very promising. From SI.

BIOGRAPHY: Four-year starter awarded all-Conference honors since his sophomore campaign and named GLIAC co-Defensive Lineman of the Year as a senior. Totals last season included 40/14/1 when he also intercepted one pass and broke up four more. Junior numbers included 77/17.5/11.5.

POSITIVES: Undersized college defensive lineman who projects to outside linebacker at the next level. Quick off the snap out of a three-point stance and shows speed up the field. Plays with good pad level, gets leverage on opponents and tough to handle. Works his hands throughout the action.

NEGATIVES: Easily pushed from his angle of attack by a single blocker and struggles getting off blocks once engaged by opponents. Rarely asked to make plays moving in reverse.

ANALYSIS: Skuta has been very productive rushing the passer on the Division II level. He possesses the size and speed necessary to make a move to linebacker yet must show the ability to make plays in space.

Honestly, there's nothing wrong with a linebacker that digs playing Halo and Call of Duty. Here's another feature on Skuta.

Resetting the weekend; draft picks and undrafted free agents

Kirkendall — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:34:05 -0000

I know there's a lot of new stuff that's happened this weekend that will take some time to process -- and I'll do my best to present it easily rather than a bunch of posts detailing the acquisitions. For the time being, here's a run down of players that the Bengals selected in the draft and reportedly after the draft.

In the NFL Draft

Round	Overall	Selection
1	6	OT Andre Smith, Alabama
2	38	LB Rey Maualuga, USC
3	70	DE Michael Johnson, Georgia Tech
3	98	TE Chase Coffman, Missouri
4	106	C Jonathan Luigs, Arkansas
5	142	Punter Kevin Huber, UC
6	179	CB Morgan Trent, Michigan
6	209	RB Bernard Scott, Abilene Christian
7	215	RB Fui Vakapuna, BYU
7	249	DT Clinton McDonald, Memphis
7	252	WR Freddie Brown, Utah

After the Draft, undrafted free agents (reported by Joe Reedy)

Player	Position	School
Quan Cosby	WR	Texas
Marlon Lucky	RB	Nebraska
Billy Farris	QB	Colorado State
Ty Steinkuhler	DE	Nebraska
Colin Dow	C	Montana

H/T to "the1austin" for finding another list that included all of the above, save for quarterback Billy Farris.

Player	Position	School
Dan Skuta	DL	Grand Valley St
Chris Pressley	FB	Wisconsin
Tom Nelson	S	Illinois State
Greg Orton	TE	Purdue

That's reportedly nine undrafted free agents, 11 drafted players, giving you a total of 20 new prospects on the team.

Boilermakings says hello, goodbye

BoilerTMill — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:01:59 -0000

One of the busiest weekends of the spring sports schedule has come and gone, so with it we get a Super-sized Boilermakings. This one involves two new basketball players coming in, while two Purdue football players move on to the NFL.

Basketball gets Sandi Marcius, Dru Anthrop - In perhaps the biggest news of the weekend Purdue found some much needed help for JaJuan Johnson in 6'9" 240lb forward Sandi Marcius. The Croatian Sensation, as I will now call him, spent this past year playing at La Lumiere in LaPorte, IN. It is a relatively new prep school in northwest Indiana. They play a mostly IHSAA schedule, but they are not eligible for tournament play. Marcius averaged 15 points and 15 rebounds as the Lakers went 14-5. He was coached by former Mr. Basketball DelRay Brooks, who was also a member of Providence's 1987 Final four Team under Rick Pitino. The Lakers played some tough games against East Chicago and Bowman Academy, but his level of competition will jump dramatically at Purdue.

Lafayette Central Catholic guard Dru Anthrop also agreed to come to Purdue as a preferred walk-on. The parallels between him and Bobby Buckets are similar, but Anthrop may be a better overall player. He averaged 23 points, 7 rebounds and four assists this past season. He acquitted himself very well the time I saw him this past season. He had 18 points as the Knights upset Patrick Bade and Franklin Central in the morning game of the Zionsville tournament. At 6'1" he has more size than Buckets, and easily could step into the same role. The article also mentions the possibility that Frankfort's Stevie Loveless could be coming as well. It's been awhile since I have seen him, but he is another guy that could be a key practice player. I don't think he has the size to play every night in the Big Ten, but he is someone that can push our guys in practice and make everyone better.

D.J. Byrd was also named the Lafayette area player of the year by the Journal and Courier. Byrd and Bade will be playing together this summer with the Indiana All-Stars against Kentucky. Byrd also saw plenty of time against Loveless and anthrop throughout their high school careers. I like bringing in guys that have that familiarity because it gives the team an instant chemistry. It helped us immensely when Hummel, Moore, and Johnson came in, so this will only help. There has been no further word on Jeff Robinson, but I question how much he is going to contribute anyway. There were games where he couldn't even get off the bench for Lawrence North.

Alex Magee and Curtis Painter head to the NFL - It was a slightly disappointing weekend at the NFL draft for Purdue. Only Magee and Painter were drafted, while Kory Sheets, Greg Orton, Sean Sester, and Anthony Heygood will have to go the free agent route.

The dude is a badass if he eats gold. Imagine what he will do to linemen.

Magee was one of the first picks on day 2, going in the third round to Kansas City. The Chiefs are hoping to use him all over the defensive line, as he is one of our rare defensive linemen that is big enough to stay there in the NFL. Players like Shaun Phillips, Akin Ayodele, and Anthony Spencer have often played a hybrid of linebacker and end because of their size and quickness. The Chiefs were awful last season, so Magee should have every chance to play.

Painter cannot say the same about his NFL chances. Curtis went 201^st overall to the Colts. It is safe to say he isn't exactly going to challenge for the starting job. It's a high-risk, high reward opportunity for Curtis. If he can make the roster (and beat out long-time backup Jim Sorgi) there are few better quarterbacks in the league to learn from. Unfortunately, the odds are against him even making the regular roster. Sorgi is fairly entrenched as Manning's caddy, and the Colts rarely have three quarterbacks on the active roster because Manning is so durable. Painter may find himself on the practice squad for a year or two, which is still a very good place to learn from Manning. I would honestly be shocked if he played a down in the NFL this regular season.

As for Heygood, Sheets, Orton, and Sester, I would be surprised if they didn't at least get a free agent look. I thought for sure Sheets was going to go somewhere and for much of the final round he was listed as one of the best backs available. Making a team as a free agent isn't unheard of, but it makes the task that much more difficult when you don't have a draft pick next to your name. Of these four I can see Heygood and Sheets having the best chances.

Perhaps the best news of the draft came from Denver, where they did not draft a highly touted quarterback to compete with Kyle Orton. They did draft Tom Brandstater as a quarterback from Fresno State, but all signs are pointing to Kyle being the man when training camp starts. I am definitely in the camp of hoping Kyle has an FU season to shut up all his critics, much the same way Drew Brees had in is second to last year in San Diego. At least he won't piss and moan like his predecessor in Denver.

UPDATE: Kory Sheets has signed with San Francisco as a free agent. Anthony Heygood also got on with Carolina and Ryan Baker with Miami. No word yet on Orton or Sester.

2nd UPDATE: Greg Orton gets a deal with Cincinnati.

Ladies golf wins Big Ten Championship - If you look at performance on a national stage for the past few season, the women's golf team has had more success than any other sport on campus. They have finished in the top four of each of the last two NCAA championships with a runner-up finish in 2007. Sunday afternoon they won their second consecutive Big Ten championship at home on the Kampen Course in West Lafayette.

Senior Maria Hernandez and sophomore Maude-Aimee LeBlanc tied for the individual title, while Purdue won the team title over Michigan State by 37 strokes. They will now compete in one of three NCAA Regionals on May 7-9 at either Ohio State, Arizona State, or Florida. Georgetown is hosting the NCAA championships, and the Boilers are heavily favored to return for the 10^th consecutive year.

Women's softball takes a big step forward in Big Ten play - Those fortunate enough to have the Big Ten Network might have caught a glimpse of the women's softball team over the weekend. Purdue slit a doubleheader at #14 Ohio State last Wednesday before sweeping Penn State this weekend in Happy Valley. Both Penn State games were televised by the Big Ten Network, and Purdue won each 2-0 and 3-2. Liane Horiuchi entered the Purdue record books for most steals in a season by swiping her 36^th and 37^th bases in the first game against the Nittany Lions. To top the day off she wont he second game with a seventh inning home run. Purdue sits at 26-17, 9-7 Big Ten as it goes into its final two home games of the season Wednesday against Illinois.

Baseball swept again - Purdue's postseason hopes in baseball took a severe blow this weekend as Minnesota swept the Boilers 4-3, 3-1, and 5-2 in Minneapolis. I caught the tail end of Friday night's game on Big Ten Network and it was an ugly one. Matt Bischoff once again had a solid Friday night effort as Purdue held a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, but it was all for naught. Bischoff gave up a single, a walk, and a double that tied the game as he came up just short in his bid for a third straight complete game. Kevin Cahill then loaded the bases and Justin Gominsky drove in the winning run on a sacrifice fly. The rest of the weekend was a struggle as Purdue netted next to nothing offensively.

This is Purdue's second straight weekend in which it has been swept in Big Ten play. The Boilers (17-21, 5-9) now find themselves on the outside looking in at the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana comes to town this coming weekend for a series that Purdue absolutely has to win if it is going to make the Big Ten Tournament.

Travis Iles wins Purdue Grand Prix - If you've ever been to Purdue you know that Grand Prix weekend is one of the greatest weekends of the year. This year the Grand Marshall was none other than Dustin Keller, showing how much the race means to alumni of the university. Sure, most use it as an excuse to drink and party, but the race itself is pretty cool. I was even lucky enough to serve as track announcer for the 2002 and 2004 races. This year the race was moved to the Northwester Athletic Complex since the old track is now going to be a practice field for the football team. Sigma Chi's Travis Iles won the event pretty convincingly, lapping all but one competitor. It was his first win in four tries. Sean Noonan finished second in a hotly contested final few laps.

Wha Happened? Week Ten

Hawkeye State — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:24:56 -0000

Let's start right out: Hey, wha happened?

Michigan State 25 - Wisconsin 24

In a day of crazy finishes in the conference, a last-second go-ahead field goal was one of the least insane. A 32-yard John Clay run gave Wisconsin an 11-point lead with 9:20 to play. A touchdown and two field goals later - the last coming with 7 seconds left to play - and Michigan State escaped with a win. It was a meltdown of epic proportions by Wisconsin, who completely dominated the first 50 minutes of this game.

Wisconsin also dominated the stat line. They outgained Sparty by 118 yards. They noutrushed Michigan State 281-25. Ringer was held to 54 yards on 21 carries, Hoyer threw for 252 despite a sub-50% completion percentage. Wisconsin only turned it over once. It was exactly the kind of stat line Wisconsin wanted from this game. At some point, you have to conclude that, no matter how many times they grab inexplicable victories against opponents who thoroughly outplay them, the tide is never going to turn against Michigan State. Might as well ride the wave.

Northwestern 24 - Minnesota 17

On the other hand, you have Minnesota. The Gophers have lived by the turnover through eight weeks. They died by the turnover Saturday in most glorious fashion. Adam Weber threw a pass over the middle, which bounced off his receiver and into the hands of Northwestern defensive back Brendan Smith, who housed it with 12 seconds remaining to seal the win.

Northwestern backup quarterback Franz Mike Kafka was comically inept in C.J. Bacher's stead against Indiana. He was a one-man wrecking crew against Minnesota, throwing for 143 wards on 12-for-16 passing and running for 217 YARDS. Yeah, holy crap indeed. Despite all the yards, however, Northwestern repeatedly stalled in Minnesota territory. The kid has some things to learn, but if destroying Minnesota means something (and, this year, it kinda does), he's going to be one hell of a weapon for the 'Cats.

Purdue 48 - Michigan 42

Purdue was playing its third string quarterback, a freshman who was playing halfback three weeks ago. Michigan had its best offensive performance of the year so far (though Steven Threet had another day of fail, 9-for-21 for 123). Brandon Minor runs for 155 and three scores, and is dangerously close to solidifying himself as the Michigan feature back in Sam McGuffie's absence. So how does Michigan lose to arguably the worst team in the conference?

Did someone say hook and lateral?

Siller completed a pass to Greg Orton, who lateraled to Desmond Tardy and watched his teammate outrun Donovan Warren and, with 26 seconds, add to the LOLverines' trail of tears. Siller finished with 266 yards on 21-for-34 passing with three touchdowns; either he's one hell of a quick study or Michigan's defense thoroughly sucks.

Central Michigan 37 - Indiana 34

Sure, Central Michigan is pretty good and has arguably the best non-BCS quarterback in the country (hell, maybe the best quarterback, period). Nevertheless, Indiana is a hot mess. The battle for the Old Oaken Bucket might create that Earth-swallowing black hole the Hadron Supercollider failed to produce. As for this game, I think it's safe to say nobody cares.

(All photos courtest of AP)