SB Nation - Colton McKey

What to know about Toledo

BoilerTMill — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:55:46 -0000

As we approach game day, there is not a whole lot more we need to know about the Rockets. The more I read, the more I want to have a solid victory over them by around 4pm Saturday afternoon. Not only is the media predicting a rough season for Purdue, we are the consensus pick to be upset among all 11 Big Ten teams since everyone is favored. It makes sense for the Rocket Digest to predict an upset, but we are getting no respect even in our own conference.

Maize N' Brew thinks we need to watch out for Toledo
ESPN calls our game the most likely to be an upset in week 1 for a Big Ten favorite (negating an experienced Missouri team that is an underdog to Illinois)
CFN gives us our land mine game against Toledo, giving our defense zero credit and saying it will be a shootout
The Rivalry, Esq. predicts Toledo as our only consensus win with two of their three bloggers having us ending the season with a loss to Indiana.

ENOUGH ALREADY!

This is going to sound cocky, but I am tired of having my team dragged through the mud. This was a 3-9 MAC team last team that had most of its wins come about not of their own recognizance. Yes, they are experienced, but that experience hasn't exactly produced a boatload of wins. They feature an offense that struggled to score and will be missing its leading rusher as well as a defense that struggled to stop anyone. That is all going against a defense that should be much improved and an offense that, while inexperienced, has played in a system known for moving the football. How is this not a win for us, especially considering Toledo is our weakest opponent and they will be missing three critical players?

I am not predicting a Big Ten championship. I am predicting that, at least for one week, Purdue can enjoy a relatively easier victory than people are expecting. What is the one thing Purdue has consistently done? Beat the MAC. Last year we took care of possibly the MAC's best team in Central Michigan. Yes, we were awful, but we beat the Chips, and the Chips were certainly a lot better than Toledo.

Here is a more formal preview, mostly taken from the Know thy Opponent feature on Toledo back in June since there has been no game action to change it yet.

2008 Record: 3-9 (2-6 MAC West)

Blog Representation: Midnight Blue and Gold

Series with Purdue: Tied 2-2

Last Purdue win: 9/1/2007 at Toledo 52-24

Last Toledo win: 9/6/1997 at Toledo 36-22

Original Q&A with Midnight Blue & Gold

Come on guys, it was either this or i was going to subject you to the tortures of the Chick Flick "Failure to Launch"

Toledo offense:

Tim Beckman is a defensive-minded coach, having recently served as the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State. The Toledo offense last year did a decent job of taking care of the football, but it often struggled to score points. It also didn't help the defense was borderline awful for most of the year. Many of the same players we saw in our win to start the 2007 season return, specifically senior quarterback Aaron Opelt.

Opelt was good, but not great a year ago. He threw for 2,176 yards while completing 225 of 376 passes. His 13 touchdown passes wasn't great, but he didn't give the ball away very often with only seven interceptions. He had all but five of the passing attempts for this team last season and is the unquestioned starter going into fall camp. He will be asked to run a spread attack that has some talented receivers. Some are even predicting that Toledo is one of the favorites in the MAC, though I tend to disagree since much of the experience they have returning hasn't delivered on the field.

The expected starter in the backfield is senior DeJuane Collins. He was solid, though often injured, last year with 700 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Opelt was a productive runner as well. Sacks limited him to negative yards rushing on the year, but he did manage five rushing touchdowns as the ground attack provided most of the team's offense. Against us in 2007, Collins went for 70 yards and a score, mostly while the game was still close in the first half. Half of those yards came on a 35 yard scoring run that gave Toledo its only lead at 7-0 in the first quarter.

Collins is far from the only talented back, as sophomore Morgan Williams had a 1,010 yard season with six touchdowns a year ago. He had a huge game against Miami (OH), going for 330 yards and three scores. Collins is the bigger back with Williams being more of a speed option. Both have enough talent to help Toledo open up its passing game. This rushing attack will struggle with the loss of Williams, but Collins and Jake Walker should split the carries.

The passing game should be very dangerous as 6'5" senior Stephen Williams will present a matchup problem with our cornerbacks. We have historically struggled against bigger receivers, mostly because Brock Spack never realized it was legal to make in-game adjustments against them. This game should give us a good idea of how new defensive coordinator Donn Landholm handles such a situation. Williams had 71 catches for 781 yards and 8 touchdowns a year ago. Along with the departed Nick Moore (78-779-1), those two accounted for more than two thirds of Toledo's receiving yards.

6'4" Kenny Stafford and 6'5" Danny Noble are expected to be the other two top targets for Opelt, but neither has a whole lot of in-game experience. Still, their size is reason for concern. Our experienced secondary cannot let them run wild all day.

Toledo's offensive line returns four players with starting experience and has plenty of size. This will allow the Rockets to both run block and give Opelt time to throw to his big receivers. This allows our own offensive line to have a nice tune-up before getting into the rest of the schedule. All five expected starters are around 300 pounds and they do have experience in opening holes for Williams and Collins. If their line is allowed to dominate our experience defensive line we will not only be in trouble for this game, we will struggle for the rest of the season because we will only see better units.

Toledo defense:

As much as Toledo's offense looks promising because of its returning talent, the defense was awful last year. It takes a particular strong brand of suck to lose a game in which your offense scores more than 50 points. I like to call it "Pulling a Colletto" in reference to our 59-56 loss at Minnesota in 1993. That is exactly what Toledo did in a 55-54 loss to Fresno State last year. You can't blame them for going for two early and trying to win the game on one play at the end of the second overtime. They had zero confidence in their defense's ability to stop the Bulldogs.

The Toledo defense gave up over 31 points and 381 yards per game. They were awful against the run, giving up 178 yards per game against teams that weren't exactly Navy or old-school Nebraska and Oklahoma. The pass defense was a little better, but who needs to pass when they can't stop the run. It really is a testament to how awful of a coaching job Rich Rodriguez did last year when his team managed a meager 10 points against them.

Toledo had very little pass rush, which is a good thing for us. This should be a good game for new starter Joey Elliott to get his feet wet behind what should be a much improved offensive line. Toledo managed just 10 sacks as a team all last year. That was actually an improvement, as statistically they had the worst pass rush in the country in 2007. CFN thinks the raw talent is there, but it has yet to produce.

At linebacker, Archie Donald was far and away the team leader in tackles a year ago with 119. Barry Church was second with 93. He is a promising safety prospect that has some decent prop potential. Church is actually moving up from the strong safety position as Toledo looks to go with a three linebacker look instead of two.

A year ago, Toledo's secondary had to make an awful lot of tackles because the run defense was so poor. It should be worse this year as Church moves from safety to linebacker and Tyrell Herbert is gone. Incoming freshman Jermaine Robinson looks to be a promising prospect, but this will be his first game at the division 1 level. He will have to be out of this world to dominate in his first game. The corners didn't do a great job as the team managed just 10 interceptions a year ago. Four of those came from Herbert, who had the 100 yard return against Michigan.

Toledo special teams:

Toledo features a solid kicker in senior Alex Steigerwald. He was 16 of 21 on field goal attempts last year with a long of 48 yards. That 48-yarder ended up being the game winner in the fourth quarter at Michigan, as it actually hit the crossbar before going over. He actually struggled mostly at a closer range, with three of his five misses coming from less than 30 yards.

Bill Claus will return as the punter, but he struggled last year averaging less than 40 yards per kick. His coverage teams did allow one return for a touchdown last year, but Claus was good in short field situations. He had 15 punts downed inside the 20 last season, so that is a positive testament to his coverage teams.

Toledo had very little of a return game to speak of in 2008. On punts Nick Moore averaged just 6.2 yards per return. On kickoffs Greg Harris was the most effective returner, but he averaged just 21.5 yards per return and had a long of only 41 yards. We should have some room in our own return game, as Toledo gave up more than 25 yards per kickoff return a season ago.

Purdue's outlook:

According to coach Hope yesterday, We will be without Colton McKey and Eric Hedstrom. Those are pretty much depth issues at this point, as both have been sidelined for awhile. Gabe Holmes at Tight End appears to be going the Dwayne Beckford route of getting into school, while Al-Terek McBurse will likely miss his freshman opener. The news on ATM is most troubling. He's been nicked up with injuries and hasn't had the development we hoped. Fortunately, Frank Halliburton has greatly improved to take his place.

The other big injury is Antwon Higgs, as we could really use this game to give him some experience at linebacker.

What Purdue needs to do:

•1. Run the Ball - We're a Big Ten team with a solid offensive line and a wealth of running back. Toledo was terrible against the run by MAC standards last season, let alone Big Ten standards. Run it until they stop us. This keeps the defense off the field and wears down the team with less depth.

•2. Stop the Run - This goes without saying, but our run defense is supposed to be vastly improved. It had better be. If we can't stop a MAC team that is missing its #1 running threat we have no business winning games this season. This is especially true with Oregon coming up the following week.

•3. When throwing, spread it around - The more receivers we can get involved now, the better. I don't think we should throw it nearly as much as in years past, but we need to show that the passing game will be a threat.

•4. Win the turnover battle - The way MAC teams beat Big Ten teams is by creating more turnovers. The biggest play in last year's Toledo-Michigan game was a 100 yard interception return for a touchdown. Donn Landholm makes creating turnovers a priority, so it has to be here. As long as we do that and hold on to the ball ourselves it will be very hard for Toledo to win.

A look at the depth chart

BoilerTMill — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:39:18 -0000

With a little more than a week to go we have a good idea of how the depth chart will be when we kick off against Toledo in nine days. Honestly, there haven't been many surprises. We know some of the freshmen have been doing well, but we will truly have no idea until we take the field against Toledo. In the meantime, this is what the current depth chart looks like:

I have Delusions of grandeur for this team, but those are the best delusions to have. This handy poster also works for Notre Dame's National title hopes.

Quarterbacks:

1. Joey Elliott, Sr. (5)

2. Caleb TerBush, Fr. (RS)

There is no real surprise here, although the rhetoric from coach Hope is that Elliott will now be the primary guy and TerBush will only play mop up duty. This is a change from before camp, when it was thought there might be a platoon system. I like this. I would much rather settle on one guy and go with him rather than constantly rotate guys. I am sure Robert Marve would have something to say about that too. Rob Henry also seems to have emerged as the third string guy if needed. I think he will play only if necessary early in the year, but we may eventually reach a point where he will redshirt if he hasn't played at all. that would leave us with 5th year senior Chris Bennett as the #3 guy. If that is the case, expect a major battle for the starting job next year.

Running backs:

1. Ralph Bolden, So.

2. Jaycen Taylor, Sr. (5)

This position is very interesting, as Bolden seems to be hanging on to the number 1 spot. It may be semantics, as we know that Taylor will play plenty. The big mover seems to have been Frank Halliburton. Halliburton gives us a bigger option back there, and I would not be averse to some two running back sets. Dan Dierking will also see some time. The most interesting question will be Al-Terek McBurse. In Tuesday's practice report McBurse was not mentioned as one of the true freshmen likely to play this year. This may be our deepest position on the field right now. McBurse may be getting squeezed by the number of experienced backs in front of him. I doubt he will redshirt, but you never know.

Wide receivers:

1. Royce Adams, Sr.; Keith Smith, Jr.; Aaron Valentin, Sr.

2. Keith Carlos, Jr.; Gary Bush, Fr.; Antavian Edison, Fr.

This is an interesting dichotomy of experience vs. youth. Smith and Valentin are by far the most experienced players, so it is no surprise they are starters. Adams is a transfer from the defense, but has been here for three years. At least with Adams we have the option of switching him back to defense if depth becomes an issue. Edison has drawn rave reviews since camp opened, so I expect him to see the field a lot. Bush and Carlos were slightly late bloomers, but they have separated themselves from the other freshmen and from others like Waynelle Gravesande that have been here awhile. Everything I hear about Carlos is that he is electric with the ball in his hands, but he has a tendency have the drops at times. I would still prefer to have Smith as an outside receiver since he gives us the most size by far.

Tight ends:

1. Kyle Adams, Jr.

2. Jeff Lindsay, Jr.

I think Adams was missed greatly last year. We did not have a consistent safety valve at tight end like we did with Dustin Keller and our offense suffered for it. Adams and Lindsay should pick up that slack. If they can produce on the level of Tim Stratton, Charles Davis, and Keller I will be very happy. Colton McKey is also expected to contribute once his knee is better. Lindsay may be used as a bit of an H-back and is a great blocker.

Offensive Line:

1. Tackles: Dennis Kelly, So.; Zach Jones, Sr.; Guards: Ken Plue, So.; Zach Reckman, Sr.; Center: Jared Zwilling, Sr.

2. Tackles: Ryan Prater, Jr; Peters Drey, Fr. (RS); Guards: Rick Schmeig, Fr. (RS); Justin Pierce, Jr.; Center: Andrew Brewer, Fr.

I think this is where we will see the most improvement this year. If you think about it, we never had any consistency last season along the offensive line. We didn't even have it in spring practice. Injuries prevented that from happening all year. That will pay dividends this year as we have had consistency and plenty of guys have experience. All five starters were starters at some point last season. Prater and Pierce also got some experience, so there is a little bit of depth as well. I like that Drey, Schmeig, and Brewer are freshmen that could be anchors of the line in 2010 or 2011. This is how you improve the team in a hurry. Plue gives us a true road grader to generate tough yards on the ground. By necessity, we will likely run the ball more this year. As long as the line lets us run more I really don't care. I think it will be a benefit in the long run.

I pray our current offensive line does not replicate this picture.

Defensive Ends:

1. Ryan Kerrigan, Jr.; Gerald Gooden, So.

2. Robert Maci, Fr. (RS); Nickaro Golding, So.

I think it is more important for Gooden to have a good year than Kerrigan. Kerrigan is the known commodity. If Gooden can generate a pass rush on his own it will prevent teams from double teaming Kerrigan. Improved play from our defensive tackles is also critical. Among the backups, I am most disappointed in Keyon Brown. He had a fantastic bowl game against Central Michigan, but has done nothing since. As a senior, he got beat out by the redshirt freshman Maci on the two deeps. Golding should be an interesting addition. Kevin Pamphile has shown a ton of promise so far, but since this is just his second year playing football he will probably still redshirt unless he goes completely nuts in practice.

Defensive Tackles:

1. Mike Neal, Sr (5); Kawann Short, Fr. (RS)

2. Adam Brockman, So.; Nick Mondek, So.

Mondek and Short are in a battle for the other tackle spot opposite Neal, but in the end the whole team will win. Both players are going to play this year in a rotation, which will also keep Neal fresh. Neal is supposed to be one of the best tackles in the league, while Short was named to CFN's all-redshirt freshman team this summer. This is not a bad thing, considering how bad our run defense up the middle has been. Right now, we have a total of six guys that we can rotate in and out along the line. I fail to see how this is a bad thing.

Linebackers

1. Jason Werner Sr. (5); Joe Holland, So.; Chris Carlino, So.

2. Antwon Higgs, Fr.; DeVarro Greaves, So.; Dwayne Beckford, Fr.

Depth Depth Depth! We actually have depth at the linebacker position. Beckford and Higgs would have been starting in years past as true freshmen. Instead, they are promising guys that will play, but won't be counted on to be fantastic early with no one behind them. Werner, Holland, and Carlino could all be back next year if Werner applies for a 6^th year of eligibility due to his past injuries. Let's just wrap Werner in bubble wrap now before the opener please. We actually have enough depth to consider some 4-4 sets when facing good running games. This group has to stop the run, especially against teams that can't run like Notre Dame and Indiana. Too often we have been gashed not only by good running teams, but awful ones like Notre Dame's. If this group along with the experienced defensive line cannot stop the run we will not win many games this year. If they do stop the run, our defense alone is good enough to win five or six games.

Defensive Backs

1. Corners: Brandon King, Sr; David Pender, Sr.; Safeties: Torri Williams, Sr. (6); Dwight McLean, Sr.

2. Corners: Josh Johnson, Fr.; Charlton Williams, So.; Safties: Albert Evans, So.; Josh McKinley, Jr.

At first I was very concerned about depth here. All through the summer we heard about how we had our entire secondary back that was the number one pass defense in the conference last year. Then, in camp, we hear about them being gassed all the time and hurt. With no real depth behind them alarms began ringing in my head. Fortunately, some depth has come along. McKinley and Williams have seen the field, just not much last year. Johnson seems to be one of the biggest surprises among the true freshmen. Evans is an interesting commodity that was still recovering from a knee injury much of last year. E.J. Johnson could make an impact next year as a true freshman with McKinley and Evans.

Among the starters, It is fantastic we have so many starts returning with Pender and King. We need those two to produce more interceptions. McLean has the look of a guy that likes to hit people, hard. He is expected to make a big leap after being a littler overmatched last year. He could be the stereotypical guy that makes a big jump from year one to year two out of JuCo. Torri Williams needs to just stay out of trouble off the field. In what I hope is some karmic payback due, he is the last remaining player that played in The Fumble game, so he is due some good news in his career.

Specialists:

1. Kicker: Carson Wiggs, So.; Holder: Joey Elliott, Sr; Punter: Chris Summers, Sr.; Long Snapper: John Finch, Jr.

2. Kicker: Chris Summers, Sr; Holder: Kris Staats, Jr.; Punter: Carson Wiggs, So.; Long Snapper: Andy Huffman, Sr.

I think we were all impressed with Wiggs last year. He set a school record with a 53-yard field goal at Ohio State, so distance is not a problem. If he struggles, we do have an experience (if somewhat streaky) kicker in Summers to back him up. I think Summers will also benefit greatly this year from concentrating solely on punting. It may have been a bit much to ask him to do everything last season. Summers may continue to kick off as well. I am kind of surprised that Elliott is the holder, as Staats did a good job last season when Painter was hurt. I think Painter may have been part of the kicking issues as well, since many of the problems we had on placements went away once Staats took over. Finch may be the starter by default for now. He finished the season there last year, but Huffman was hurt and continues to be bothered by an elbow injury. Huffman just went on scholarship and had started over 30 straight games at long snapper before his injury

Returners:

1. Kickoffs: Aaron Valentin, Sr; Royce Adams, Sr. Punts: Aaron Valentin, Sr.

2. Kickoffs: Punts: Royce Adams, Sr.

Kickoff returns have been a major strength in each of the last two seasons. In 2007 we had three returns for scores. Punt returns have been an afterthought since Anthony Chambers graduated. We have to get more from this area. The same is true when it comes to coverage. We are good on kickoff coverage, but punt return coverage was terrible last year. We gave up returns for scores to Oregon and Michigan, so we have to improve there. Don't forget the blocked punt we had at Ohio State that became a touchdown as well.

We have plenty of speedy freshmen that could emerge here later on. McBurse, Ishmael Aristide, and other have been mentioned as potential returners. Eric Williams, a freshman wide receiver with speed, may find a niche here too.

Two weeks to go

BoilerTMill — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:08:54 -0000

In two weeks, we will know what we are dealing with. Toledo is a team that, in my opinion, we should beat easily. They are the weakest team on the schedule. If we struggle with them or even lose, we should expect a down year. A comfortable win allows us to breathe a sigh of relief and think that maybe, just maybe, a win is possible at Oregon. I still think a win over the Ducks is quite possible, but for now we must concern ourselves with Toledo.

I haven't had many comments about practice so far because most of you read GBI. They have kept us up to date on what is going on, so I don't want to be a source of regurgitating their information. If the Indianapolis Star bothered to recognize there are two major universities in this state rather than one we might have more coverage, but apparently they don't realize it is the same distance to Bloomington as it is to West Lafayette. In this case, I miss Michael Pointer.

Still, what news from practice we have heard has been very encouraging. Some of this is mere inference based on what we have heard (or have not heard) but I think things are shaping up.

Look! A receiver wearing #1 that isn't catching a knife in the chest or a pellet in the eye!

Multiple receivers are developing - To be honest, I was a little concerned when only Antavian Edison was being mentioned as a positive among all our new receivers. Over time, however, it is good to see names like Gary bush, Cortez Smith, and Keith Carlos reach the land of glowing positives. With each name that makes the list our offense will grow more and more potent. The drawback right now is that we have virtually no size. Xavier Reese at 6'3" is the tallest while Keith Smith at 226 pounds has the most bulk. Because of his bulk, I wouldn't mind moving Keith Smith outside and putting one of the speedier guys in the slot.

The tight ends also seem to be getting involved more and more in the offense. Think about this for a moment: What has made our last three NFL quarterbacks even better? A good tight end. Drew Brees had Tim Stratton. Kyle Orton had Charles Davis. Curtis Painter had Dustin Keller. These guys open up our offense underneath, and that element was missing last year. I don't think we'll have Kyle Adams, Colton McKey, Jeff Lindsey, or Jeff Panfil make us forget Keller in week one, but this position should be a huge upgrade over last season. We also still have Jordan Brewer coming next year and Gabe Holmes if he can get eligible.

On Holmes, I would like to see him get officially cleared just so he can stay and practice on campus. He is probably going to redshirt anyway at this point. If he doesn't get cleared he has some options and can still play four years as long as he is 80% of the way to his degree at the end of his third season (fourth academically).

The silence of Caleb TerBush - Coach Hope spoke before camp that TerBush would see plenty of playing time this year along with Elliott. This concerned me greatly, as I am not a fan of quarterback platoons. Look what happened in 2002 when we played musical quarterbacks between Kirsch and Orton. I want TerBush to be ready to play if we need him, but I would feel much better if we had Elliott designated as "the Man" from game one. I think we are starting to see that too.

I think Elliott will be ready. The press has some doubts, but we doubted Billy Dicken back in 1997. With the running game we have I don't think we need Elliott to throw for 400 yards per game. We just need a guy that will be a leader in the huddle and one that doesn't make mistakes. Elliott wants to go into coaching once his career is over. He views this season as kind of an audition for that role, and I like that a lot. I have talked often how we have missed a certain leadership quality since the departure of Drew Brees. Curtis Painter and Kyle Orton were great players of course, but I always felt they missed that extra leadership element that set Brees apart. I think Elliott has some of that, while Rob Henry behind him has it a whole lot more.

If I were Joey Elliott or one of our running backs I would be very happy to see this large gentleman protecting me.

Defensive developments - This is the area that I think is going to make a major difference this year. All three areas of the defense have improved and we're actually developing a little depth at all three as well. Everyone just assumes we will struggle as we have the past several years, but I beg to differ. Mike Neal seems to be a difference maker at defensive tackle. Even the press is raving about him, while Kawann Short next to him gives us two very good interior defensive linemen. Ryan Kerrigan, Nickaro Golding, Nick Mondek, and even a very raw Kevin Pamphile have been mentioned as contributors along the line. Again, this is an issue of multiple names being mentioned, much like at wide receiver. If we can play seven guys on the D-line that will make everybody fresher late in games. The most exciting thing is that among all the defensive linemen in practice, only two (Keyon Brown and Neal) are seniors. All that depth is going to be here for awhile. 11 defensive linemen are either true or redshirt freshmen too.

At linebacker, I honestly don't know what it is like to have five solid linebackers at once. All five could be back next year as well if Jason Werner pursues a sixth year of eligibility because of his injuries. Dwayne Beckford and Antwon Higgs continue to get mentioned as valuable pieces. They also get to learn slowly since Joe Holland, Werner, and Chris Carlino are entrenched as starters. I really like Carlino late last season. Starting at middle linebacker as a true freshman in the Big Ten takes some talent. Establishing all five of these guys this year will only help next season when we get guys like Gilliam, Lee, and Lucas.

Finally, we knew the defensive backs were going to be a strength, but I think some of their minor injury issues have been a blessing. It is great to have four seniors back there, but with virtually no proven experience behind them we are only a couple of injuries away from being back in 2006. Josh Johnson's development here has been huge. Getting more from Charlton Williams and Josh McKinley, who each played a bit in 2007, will help provide depth this year and ease the transition into next year.

As good as the defense is going to be this season, it has the potential to be fantastic in 2010 and 2011. For the first time since probably 2003 we have a defense that I feel can get a critical stop and win a game or two for us that we have no business winning when the offense struggles. They have depth we have been missing, and it comes at all three levels.That game or two could mean the difference this year between a bowl game and no bowl game.

Let's talk injuries and the schedule

Naturally, you are going to have some injuries in fall practice. Fortunately, we haven't lost anybody to anything major yet. The most significant injury is to Colton McKey, who will probably miss a few games at the start of the season. Eric Hedstrom is also battling a shoulder problem, but we knew that already. Look everywhere else in college football. Virginia Tech suffered a huge blow when it lost Darren Evans to a torn ACL. Wisconsin, a huge swing game on our schedule, is battling injuries and can't settle on a quarterback, either. Other teams in our own conference are having similar issues.

This is the time of year when it is better to have a team coming together and answering questions rather than answering new ones. That is what I think we are doing. Because of that, I think we are going to shock someone, be it Oregon or Notre Dame, in the non-conference season. I love this team's attitude so far. Danny Hope has them believing they can beat anyone, anywhere. If they are keeping score you might as well go out and win the damn thing.

Are we going to win the Big Ten this year? Highly unlikely. I do like that we trade off two proven, solid teams (Iowa and Penn State) for two teams that are talented, but very shaky (Illinois and Wisconsin). That is a plus in my book. I also like the challenging non-conference schedule and how it will prepare us for those games. I want people to underestimate us. We'll let them know, beginning in two weeks, how wrong they are.

Missing Media Day

BoilerTMill — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:15:50 -0000

It has been pretty quiet around here since practice started. I haven't done many updates because I know many of you readers also frequent my friends over at Boiled Sports. Boilerdowd has been on it with updates from the first few days of practice, so there is little need to repeat what he has said along with the few updates GBI gives us. Today is media day, however, and it shows that I am an idiot.

See, I had an opportunity to be there today as a card-carrying member of the media thanks to all you readers making this blog a serious force covering Purdue. Unfortunately, e-mail and time have conspired to prevent my attendance. My main e-mail account for the blog is through excite, and I have only been able to successfully access that account twice in the last two days. This is also preventing me from accessing a Q&A with the Michigan State blog The Only Colors. I also completely lost track of time and didn't realize media day was today until, well, yesterday at around 9pm.

Woops. So much for taking advantage of that.

Proof that the calendar feature on Outlook is a very good thing. You won't be seeing such pictures from today's Media Day, and I am an idiot for it.

So I offer my apologies to you, the reader, for my largesse. I will not make the same mistake when it comes to Basketball media day.

Many of you have e-mailed me about buying basketball tickets off of me and I thank you for that. Being basically self-employed means operating on tight budgets. The fact many of you are interested in buying some of my season basketball tickets off of me means you get great seats without paying an inflated price on Stubhub and I still get to go to a few games.

Speaking of tight budgets, it is looking like the long-awaited Oregon game trip is not going to happen. The only way I was going to be able to do it with Mrs. T-Mill is that I have a free companion ticket through Delta Airlines that I must use by March 31. Since I must book 30 days in advance, today is basically the deadline for that. Delta, however, is not cooperating with good prices or flight times. The only options I have are to fly into Portland for about $350 or fly into Seattle and drive down for $250. The Mrs. and I have done some planning we see that for the same amount of time we can rent a car for half as much and fly into Miami for just $200 and see her ‘Canes play Oklahoma on October 3^rd. Hotels, surprisingly, are incredibly cheap for that weekend in Miami as well. Plus, we might be able to stay with a friend anyway. Even if we have to get a hotel, the savings of at least $200 is pretty nice right now for the same length of trip. It means I have to give up Purdue-Oregon as well as our homecoming game, but when Miami is your backup plan you can never go wrong.

So getting back to fall practice for a moment. Here is what I like:

Antavian Edison - We knew we needed at least one of the Florida Freshmen to become a force on offense, and it looks like Edison is in the lead there. He doesn't have much size as a receiver, but we don't have much size at receiver period. We don't have a single receiver over 6'2". Keith Smith, Cortez Smith, and Tommie Thomas are the only players even that tall. We're going to have to get by on cunning and guile instead of simple physical dominance at this position.

Jeff Panfil - Two years ago I thought Panfil would compete for this year's starting quarterback job. He has since moved to tight end, and apparently he is making some noise with Colton McKey being out. We do have plenty of size at tight end, so maybe Panfil, Jeff Lindsey, and Kyle Adams can be our big receivers. If we're going to run more anyway it is nice to have their size on the field. Could Purdue be head toward some two tight end sets?

A focus on running - I am really encouraged by this. Something that has been very bothersome is our tendency in big games to completely abandon the running game. This year we don't have a choice. In my opinion, five of our best "skill" players are all at running back with Jaycen Taylor, Al-Terek McBurse, Dan Dierking, Frank Halliburton, and Ralph Bolden. There is depth and talent here to spare, while the passing game, our hallmark of the past 12 years, appears to be lacking. Let's run it then. Coach Hope talked about using Halliburton more, so why not. We have to learn that "I-Formation" and "two tight end sets" are not bad words. If we can run better out of the shotgun, so be it. The offensive change to take advantage of Kirsch in 2005 would have worked very well had the defense not been absolutely terrible during the six game losing streak. Instead, we abandoned it.

Was it the offense's fault the defense couldn't get one stop against Minnesota? How about slowing down Notre Dame that year? I always feel Kirsch got an unfair shake that season when the defense was putrid and more of a reason we lost six straight games. Personally, I think we would benefit greatly this year with a return to that style of offense. Line up Bolden and Taylor in the backfield with Elliott in the shotgun. What do we really have to lose? It's not like we're expected to be a dark horse national title contender like in 2005. This year's defense could actually be good unlike that team.

Names on the jersies? - This is a bit of a surprise coming out of media day. What coach Hope wants, coach Hope gets, I guess. I've grown used to not having the names there, and I follow the team so closely I essentially memorize the roster anyway.

Offensive line play - To me, this is the most critical area of our success. If you have a good offensive line in college football it can win six games by default. Just look at Ken Dorsey's career. The dude is a stick and has struggled in the NFL (because of poor offensive lines) but at Miami he lost only twice as a starter. The biggest reason: He had an offensive line that made sure no one came within five yards of touching him. If we had a great offensive line I could stand in the backfield and chuck the ball around. The coaches are raving about Ken Plue's improvement, but from a sheer stability standpoint we should be better. Remember, we didn't have a healthy line even in spring practice before the 2008 season. We used 7 different starting combos. Health has not been much of a factor this year, including in the spring. This group got to gel together in the spring, and will make us a much better football team in three and a half weeks.

Rob Henry - I am thrilled with the news he may not redshirt. He was there all summer, and I would not be shocked at all if played at least a little this year. Right now he is my favorite to be the starter next year. Yes, I am man-crushing for reasons other than the fact he wearing #15.

Areas for concern:

Guys getting praised for effort and work ethic - This comes from years of being undersized in sports I play. I am the only person I know that has had a church basketball league scouting report read: "No one works harder than Travis..." That's the polite way to say I suck, but I try really hard out there. So far we have had a number of guys praised for their work ethic, which is really a good thing. Unfortunately, we need results to come from that work ethic.

Wide receiver - As much as I am excited about the running game, we are Purdue. We make our offense run via the pass. I was fully expecting a couple of guys to come in and wow people on the first few days of practice, but so far Edison is the only one. We knew this was going to be a concern though. As long as we can balance the offense and have enough of a passing game from Valentin, Smith, Edison, and the tight ends we cans till be successful. I have no problems with controlling the clock on the ground, playing solid defense, and winning games 17-14. To me, that is our most successful formula this year. The days of throwing down 50 without breaking a sweat are over. As long as we win the game I don't care if we score 5 or 50. All that matters is having more points than the other team at the end of the day.

Facebook - Finally, we have a great shame. Yes, I have joined facebook. And yes, I became in addict in just two days.

Boilermakings opens fall camp

BoilerTMill — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:51:04 -0000

The biggest news of the weekend was that fall practice is finally underway for the season. My season tickets finally came in the mail and are happily placed on the shelf for use in less than four weeks. If I can only get Delta Airlines and their asinine ticketing policy to work I might even be able to book this elusive Oregon trip. If not, plan B is the Oklahoma-Miami game on October 3^rd to appeal to Mrs. T-Mill's tastes.

Have I mentioned how wonderful it is to have a wife that loves college football?

Practice underway, Gabe Holmes not there - Boilerdowd had the best wrap up this morning of the first two days of practice. The biggest issue so far is that our depth at tight end is all but evaporated. Colton McKey is out because of a knee injury and incoming freshman Gabe Holmes has not been cleared by the NCAA yet. That leaves Kyle Adams (who was hurt all of last year), Jeff Lindsey, and Jeff Panfil (converted quarterback) as the safety valve options. These guys don't exactly inspire the second coming of Dustin Keller, but they should be good options for Elliott if protection breaks down.

Drew Brees loses his mother - I know our favorite quarterback hasn't had the best relationship with his mother for several years, but she unexpectedly passed away over the weekend, prompting Brees to leave Saints camp. My thoughts and prayers are with the Brees family over this, as it sounds like a very delicate situation.

Rod Woodson joins the Hall of Fame - I think we forget just how good Rod Woodson was as a player. Saturday he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, just Purdue's fourth player to be honored so. Rod was our last non-Special Teams player to be a consensus First Team All-American. He still holds the NFL record for interception return yards and touchdowns. He was Ed Reed before Ed Reed even thought of playing football.

Boy do we know how to party - Apparently campus life is defined by more than just the party atmosphere on campus. We all know that Penn State owns us in that category. I haven't heard word from my two friends that did their undergrad at Purdue and then grad work at Penn State, but it must be true. Still, the same Princeton review recently rated Purdue very high in overall campus life. As for intramurals, tell that to my friend Ross who tore his ACL on the awful IM fields our senior year during a football game.

Painter to play Friday night - Jim Sorgi recently went down with a strained hammy, so that means our own Curtis Painter should see quite a bit of action Friday night when the Colts open the preseason at home again Minnesota.

Anyone interested in basketball tickets? - I got my renewal form in the mail last week and I wanted to see if anyone is interested in purchasing a few games from me for face value. The plan is the same as last year: I'll go to a few games and try to sell the rest if I decide to get tickets, but the hefty up front investment has me investigating whether it is worth it not. E-mail me if you're interested.