Sid, I forget are you related to Ryan Baker is some distant manner? The thing I remember about Ryans recruiting was that he was told he'd play defense at ND, but Lemming or somebody convinced him he was the perfect TE for the Purdue offense and could be an All-American. Now that plus supposedly his girlfriend was going to go to Purdue created all the aganst in his delayed signing. If he's happy at Purdue that's all that counts in the end. Terry
Terry, If Ryan Baker had gone to ND, I would have claimed him as a relative. But when he decided to go to Purdue, I disowned him. :lol: Seriously, we are not related.
Undefeated Boilermakers face first test in South BendBy Bruce Hooley Special to ESPN.com They laughed at Joe Tiller when he first came to the Big Ten Conference a decade ago. Now? Well, they're treating him even worse. It's one thing to elicit a few snickers and smiles because you're promising to build a Midwestern football program with something goofy called "basketball on grass." It's quite another to be ignored. That's what Tiller is getting these days. Indifference. Or outright yawns. Sure, his Boilermakers (4-0, 1-0) are one of four unbeatens in the league. Purdue also is the only team among that group that isn't ranked. That seven-game winning streak the team rides into South Bend for Saturday's game against Notre Dame is about as noticeable as Tiller's hair. Which is to say, it isn't noticeable at all. Not even Purdue fans seem to have much faith in the Boilermakers, unless empty seats at Ross-Ade Stadium constitute a sign of support. Only 54,000 showed up this past weekend for Homecoming and a 27-21 win over Minnesota in the conference opener. That's 8,500 shy of capacity, and a shade higher than Purdue has averaged while spending all of September at home. Of course, Indiana State, Miami (Ohio), Ball State and Minnesota have a combined three wins. Ball State lost to a Division I-AA opponent Saturday. So this season's victims pretty much mirror the three opponents Purdue swept to close 2005. None of those teams went to bowl games, nor did Purdue, which -- despite its fast finish -- wound up 5-6 in a season many thought might end with a Jan. 1 bowl bid. Notre Dame, though … Notre Dame is different. The Fighting Irish -- despite their blowout loss to Michigan and a gift courtesy of Michigan State's overactive gag reflex -- afford Purdue the chance to revisit one of its greatest victories of the Tiller era and, perhaps this time, to build on it. Back in 2004, Purdue also rolled into South Bend unbeaten, and it dominated, claiming a 41-16 victory that helped jump the Boilermakers into the top 10. It all came apart a fortnight later when quarterback Kyle Orton needed simply to land on the turf safely with the football for a clock-killing first down in a first-place conference showdown with Wisconsin. Instead, Orton fumbled inches from the ground, Wisconsin returned the fumble for a winning touchdown and Purdue proceeded to lose four times in succession and 10 of its next 14 games. That and seven straight prove-nothing victories bring us to right now, with a team even Tiller can't tell much about before kickoff under the Golden Dome. "I like this game because it's like a laboratory," he said. "It's an opportunity for everybody to improve. … There are no moral victories in going up there and playing close. Our measuring stick will be, 'Did we play better this week than we did last week?' If we play better this week than last, who knows how that game will go?" Tiller can talk about patience because he starts only one senior on defense and two on offense. He's clearly building for 2007, when quarterback Curtis Painter will have far more than his current nine career starts under his belt and every contributing skill position player will return. Then again, being long on experience was supposedly Purdue's strength last season, when its entire defense came back after leading the Big Ten in 2004. The results were disastrous, not only on the field but in the locker room. Tiller admits he let discipline slide because he figured, "Hey, they're seniors, maybe I'm being too hard on them." Age doesn't guarantee maturity, however, so at season's end, Tiller chased defensive end Ray Edwards, safety Bernard Pollard and quarterback Brandon Kirsch to the NFL despite their year of remaining eligibility. As early as spring ball, Tiller acknowledged the difference, saying, "Sometimes, you can have addition by subtraction." Will he still feel that way Sunday? Maybe not, but Painter is completing 64 percent of his passes and has the remainder of this season and next year to get even better. Sure, Painter already has thrown five interceptions, but he also is just getting to know hyperelusive wideout Dorien Bryant and 244-pound tight end Dustin Keller, who rumbled for gains of 55, 60 and 69 yards this season. Defensively, Purdue's secondary held up against a better-than-advertised Minnesota passing game despite starting two juco transfers and two freshmen. Granted, no one confuses the Gophers with the Golden Domers, but anything less than the 440 passing yards and 621 yards total offense Brady Quinn & Co. amassed last year in a 49-28 rout will allow Tiller to sell his team on its progress. Once again, the Big Ten schedule spares the Boilermakers both Ohio State and Michigan, and it brings Penn State and Wisconsin to West Lafayette. That Nov. 25 road trip to Hawaii, therefore, might not need to serve as Purdue's bowl game. Go 5-3 in the league, take care of the Rainbow Warriors and dispatch a second-tier bowl opponent, and all of a sudden, the Boilermakers are sitting on a 10-win season with an experienced team returning in 2007. No one would be laughing at Tiller then. Or ignoring him.
5-3 in league? Let's see Illinois, Inidiana, Minnetonka, Northworstern...where are they getting that other win? BTW: It's being reported that Darius Walker and Mike Haywood the RB coach got into a shouting match yesterday at practice. You can tell it's Purdue week when the team is tense and tight and they get at each others throats!! Terry
My only thought when I read that idiotic rant was the old adage, Better to have people think you are stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
ND/PU <r>After reading the rant above I feel I no longer have to explaint WHY I dislike purdue so much and that is why I ALWAYS enjoy a win over them. I know that everytime ND beats PU another crazy PU fan like that one is so pissed he can't stand it! As a matter of fact I'm sure he will look like this after the game sat.:<br/> <br/> Purdue fan:<br/> <br/> <IMG src="http://homepage.mac.com/djjord/iblog/C2101737478/E20051016160906/Media/sixgun.jpg"><s></e></IMG></r>
ND/PU <r>Terry,<br/> <br/> Yeah, you're probably right. I need to lighten up some on PU. All that aside though, this is a team the Irish should handle year in and year out and that was my biggest complaint about the Davie/TY eras. We kept losing to teams that you knew were less talented than ND. As far as I'm concerned, we need to lose to a PU, Stanford, or Mich St. once every 10 years maybe and that would be in games where the Irish just had a bad day, lots of turnovers etc. <br/> <br/> So far with CW, things seems to be turning that way. Our only losses to teams that I would consider to have less talent would be Mich St. last year. Other than that we have lost to Mich(and beat them once) USC and Ohio St. <E>8)</E></r>
Tim, Craig James on ABC would disagree with you. Did you hear him rant at halftime about the athletic superiority of MSU over ND? It's too bad he wasn't around after the game to eat his words.
ND/PU <r>Sid,<br/> <br/> Craig James, <E>:lol:</E> As long as he is disagreeing with me I KNOW I'm right!</r>
Well, trust Terry to rock the 'ol boat. You guys got so riled up over the Purdue guys rant... All I'm gonna say is that it was a hellova lot cleverer than the Domer's rant...what was that all about?.. "I hate Purdue 'cause they don't sing the fight song loud enough and have too much corn growing around W. Lafayette and hafta resort to too many girl cheerleaders." Oh, yeah...funny stuff.
heh,heh...me stir things up? :twisted: But I would agree that the Purdue guys rant was much better than the ND chicks rant...but then maybe it's a gender thing. Chicks don't rant on football stuff as good as guys! :twisted: Shopping maybe, but not football.
Ah, memories...if you listen to these (try the 5th one down...the mp3 of the Morales catch against Ohio State), you can even, uh, hear the crowd make a little noise and the school fight song that your little Notre Dame chick couldn't hear. Or wait...Sid, my friend...get yourself truly into your fired up "I hate Purdue" mode...watch the ND highlights! Spoilermaker Highlights Truly brings chills down my spine. :lol:
BTW...though we have been painted as overconfident and cocky because of our last 7 games...(all huge blowout wins over top notch opponents)... On my Purdue Sports List weekly "Pick the Score" contest only 5 out of 38 have predicted a Purdue victory. Not me...this isn't our year...but I think we may be building to a pretty good team for next year.