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WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue lost to all four ranked teams on the schedule, running the streak to 0 for the last 13 against such opponents.
It didn’t win a game against an above-.500 team.
Its defense was run through, passed over and generally overpowered much of the season to the tune of 432 yards a game, which ranked 114th out of 119 programs.
Its quarterback threw more interceptions than any other in the nation.
Purdue might have returned to a bowl game in 2006 after missing out the previous year, but is it really a turnaround when all eight victories came against teams that finished a combined 29-67?
Some players don’t think so.
“I don’t think it’s a secret: We haven’t played up to our potential at all,” said receiver Dorien Bryant, who came back for his senior season for that reason. “We want to change that. This senior class, we all came in together, a lot of us have played for the last three years of that time. We’re tired of it. Over the last few years, people have said going into the season, ‘You guys have a chip on your shoulder about anything?’ And we said, ‘No, no, no. We just want to play.’ Well, we do.
“We’ve got something to prove. Everybody wants to go into the season saying you don’t have anything to prove, but we do. Not only to the fans and everybody else, but we owe it to ourselves. We’re way better than we’ve been playing, and it’s about time we show it.”
This season has the elements in place to be special.
Purdue returns 20 starters, including its kicker and punter.
There’s potential to produce a 4-0 start before hitting a four-game stretch that includes Ohio State and Michigan back to back. The Buckeyes and Wolverines weren’t on the schedule the past two seasons.
Victories in three or four of those games, including home dates with Notre Dame and Iowa, could mean a real turnaround.
“If you ever are going to deal with a difficult schedule stretch of games, you want to do it with an experienced team,” said coach Joe Tiller, whose team opens the season Saturday at Toledo. “We are an experienced team. We’ve got a lot of football to play before we get there. That’s really the biggest challenge … to get our players to think about Toledo and the games before that.”
For members of the offense, focusing on each game shouldn’t be a problem.
Despite averaging 415 yards a game (13th best in the country), what sticks in players’ minds is going without a touchdown in a two-game span in the middle of the season. All of the skill players who experienced that drought are back.
Purdue’s most talented receiving corps in Tiller’s 11 seasons includes Bryant, one of the nation’s best, Greg Orton, Selwyn Lymon and tight end Dustin Keller. There’s also a talented tandem in the backfield with Kory Sheets and Jaycen Taylor.
Quarterback Curtis Painter takes some blame for the hiccups last season, knowing his 19 interceptions killed some drives and hopes, but he also threw for a Big Ten record 3,985 yards. He wasn’t satisfied, though, so he spent an offseason studying film. He learned what he should have done in situations – throw to a check-down receiver or to a back out of the backfield – and what he didn’t see while on the field.
“Trying to force too many balls was the biggest issue,” said Painter, entering his second full season as the starter. “Of course you’re going to have balls tipped at the line, but I think the majority of (the interceptions) were just lack of knowledge and lack of recognition about the defense.”
So, as Bryant and Sheets point out, execution is key.
“We’ve got to get to the point where we get cocky about our playing style,” Sheets said. “You can have all the confidence in the world but not play with that confidence. But if you play with that cockiness and that swagger, then you’re going to go out and play how we’re supposed to play, and that’s what we need to do.”
Members of the defense say practicing against that high-caliber offense has them playing better. Minimally, it has to be better than last season.
With few upperclassmen in key roles, especially at defensive tackle and in the secondary, the Boilermakers struggled mightily at times. But now those two units are the team’s deepest, and that should prove beneficial.
“I believe our whole defense is hungry, and we’re looking for big things,” tackle Alex Magee said. “We have high expectations coming up for the season.”
If they can only be realized.
sclardie@jg.net
