1. DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: OREGON 32, PURDUE 26 (2-OT)
Every week, I select (with your help) a game outside the national spotlight to watch, analyze, and report on. This week’s Diamond in the Rough was the Purdue/Oregon game I attended in West Lafayette, Ind.
Being a Purdue fan is a lot like cheering for the Chicago Cubs. I believe the correct word is “fatalistic” (if that’s even a word). No matter how well your team is playing, in the back of your mind, you’re just waiting to see what will go wrong.
Despite sending dozens of players to the NFL in Coach Joe Tiller’s 12-year tenure, the Boilermakers are known for not being able to win big games. Purdue hasn’t defeated a ranked team since 2003, and many of the Boilers’ fans are every bit as rattled by the curse of “The Fumble” as Cubbie diehards are when you mention that Bartman guy.
For those of you who aren’t up-to-date on Boilermaker lore: when current Chicago Bears starting quarterback Kyle Orton was a senior (2004), Purdue started the year 5-0 and hosted Wisconsin in a battle of top-ten undefeated teams.
College GameDay came to West Lafayette, a special season was in the making...and Purdue had a 10-point lead late. Still up three, Orton ran a naked bootleg on third-and-short to try and get the final first down that would seal the deal and run out the clock...got upended as he reached for the stick...lost the football...and Wisconsin returned it for the go-ahead touchdown.
Purdue had one final chance, but missed a field goal on the last play of regulation. The Boilers went on to lose four straight excruciatingly close games, and the program has been mired in mediocrity ever since.
Now, don’t get me wrong: mediocrity isn’t so bad. After all, Purdue didn’t have a winning season in the 12 years before Joe Tiller, so 10 bowls in 11 years isn’t anything to sneeze at. But this whole story encapsulates what it means to watch a football game as a Purdue fan...and yesterday’s showdown against Oregon was just one more chapter in Purdue’s oh-so-close recent history.
Oregon came into the game with superior players (Tiller referred to their defensive backfield as half All-American and half All-World), superior speed (in Tiller’s words: “fast, faster, and fastest”), superior uniforms (thanks to “Mr. Nike” Phil Knight), and a superior ranking (14th or 16th in the country, depending on which poll you follow).
Throw in five straight years of only beating bad teams, and Purdue fans weren’t necessarily expecting the home team to compete for long.
Of course, when tailback Kory Sheets ran for 80 yards on the second play from scrimmage, it started to look like this might be Purdue’s day after all. Fifteen minutes in, the Ducks were in a 20-3 hole and relatively shell-shocked. That means, as a Purdue fan, my mind was starting to play “how can we blow this lead?”
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2 months ago
Excellent work Tim! The summary of the Purdue-Oregon game was great...sprinkled with humor! Hope you cover my Dawgs in the desert for your next article. It should be a good one.
from 2 months ago
Thanks Gray! And yeah, maybe you can entice me to change "Diamond in the Rough" games for next week....we shall see :)
2 months ago
Tim, Nice column...
The obvious question in my mind is why not Oregon in your poll? You won't give them anything, even to the point of forfeiting your 18th- through 25th-place votes? That's harsh...
You can say that their win was ugly, etc., but they're 3-0, and if ugly is part of your criteria Auburn should be gone too, no?
JJ
from 2 months ago
Good question JJ...thanks for reading! My poll is only a Top 17 (I send in a ballot each week to the site I linked, and that's the rankings I use...they only want 17 teams)...so I'm not forfeiting any extra votes. Oregon is right there just outside the top 17...I had them barely in (#16) last week...but from being at the game Saturday, I thought Purdue outplayed Oregon most of the game. (And as much as I'd love to put Purdue in my poll, that's not happening!) Anyway, I've dropped other teams a few spots for winning ugly (Georgia being one), and that's why the Ducks are on the outside looking in at the moment. We'll see how they fare for the next few weeks without Roper...I'll be keeping an eye out. Your Auburn point is well taken.
Thanks for the comment!
from 2 months ago
Sorry Tim, I misunderstood what you were saying, poll-wise.
It seems pretty clear that for whatever reason the Ducks coaches aren't that keen on Justin Roper, regardless of the injury. Their preference certainly would have been Nate Costa, and even with Roper starting they've kept giving Masoli and Harper playing time. Typical Mike Belotti QB-roulette...
Even still, the defense is pretty great, and the running game is pretty great and if fill-in-the-blank can get the ball to Ed Dickson or one of the receivers once in a while, they could strong together a bunch of wins this season.
JJ
from 2 months ago
Agree that the Ducks could have a big year...you're right that Roper didn't play every snap even before the injury, so they should be able to pick up the slack while he recovers from the knee injury. Should be interesting...
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