Has Purdue football been pushed aside and under-appreciated due to their early 0-3 start to last season and their beating in the Music City Bowl against Auburn?
ESPN’s FPI has the Boilermakers projected to finish the season 5-7 in 2019. The Orlando Sentinal outlines the team as 55th best in the country, while CBS Sports has them sitting 53rd.
However, this could be a season for the Gold and Black to have a breakout season after their 6-7 finish in 2018. Let’s take a look at a very optimistic outlook for the Boilermakers in 2019.
They don’t have Ohio State, Michigan, or Michigan State on the schedule. They start on the road against a less than impressive Nevada team. Then come back to kick off the home slate playing one of the weaker teams in the SEC, in Vanderbilt, who will be coming off a meeting with Georgia.
After this, the Boilermakers will have, what should be a true test against TCU at Ross-Ade Stadium in the second night game of the season for Purdue football. This could be the flipper for the Boilers for the season. A win over a TCU team that comes in fresh off their bye week, would send them into conference play riding high.
The schedule won’t let up, but it’s not the worst case scenario, as Purdue will have a bye week after the TCU game. They start off at home against Minnesota and improving to 4-0 would almost certainly set up a top 25 matchup in week 6. However, this should be the toughest test of the season yet for Purdue as they take on Penn State. The lucky draw for the Boilermakers in this scenario, however, is that this game is already scheduled for a noon kick. The atmosphere will still certainly be electric, but, if they can keep it close, they could come into Beaver Stadium and pull the upset.
Now, this is all just perfect case scenario. However, let’s just say the Boilers jump out to a 5-0 start to the season. Purdue will come back to West Lafayette against a still rebuilding Maryland team, who had one of the lesser competitive defenses in the Big Ten. Even with a loss to Penn State, this would put Purdue at 5-1.
Then the Boilers will head back on the road for a tough test against Iowa. The benefit for Purdue in this matchup, is the Hawkeyes will have come off a road trip to Michigan and then a home matchup against Penn State, two of the tougher teams in the conference. This could suit Purdue well. Say they leave Kinnick Stadium with a win and sit at 6-1.
It’s back to Ross-Ade for a matchup with Illinois. That should be a double-digit win for the Boilermakers, going up against what was one of the three worst defenses in college football last season. This would make it 7-1 for Purdue, assuming they lost to Penn State.
Then they will welcome Scott Frost and Nebraska into Ross-Ade, fresh off a matchup against Indiana at home in Lincoln, and having had a bye week prior to that. Purdue will have to be extremely focused in this matchup, especially with Frost being in his second year under the helm, having seemed to turn the ship around at the end of last year for the Huskers. This one could go either way, let’s just say for purposes of this story, its a loss for Purdue. This puts them at 7-2 on the season.
Then the Boilers head on the road for a matchup with Northwestern, who will have had to have shown most of their cards in the season to this point. The Wildcats will have had games at Stanford, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, as well as at home against Michigan State and Ohio State. If Northwestern comes in still sitting pretty in the top 25, watch out boiler fans, this could get ugly. However, with a few chinks in the armor already, the Boilers could be poised for a big road win here, improving to 8-2.
With a win over Northwestern and only 2 in conference loses, the Boilermakers could be right in the hunt for a Big Ten West Title, as they take in their bye week. They will then head up to Madison for a showdown with the Badgers, which could decide who plays in the title game, depending on how things fared with Nebraska’s season to this point. Wisconsin will enter this one coming off a road trip against the Huskers. As well as having had played Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Northwestern already.
If Purdue can steal one at Camp Randle, they will head back to Ross-Ade looking to wrap up the regular season with a third straight win over the Hoosiers. Now let’s just say here that Purdue sits at 10-2 on the season, and might just have a shot at winning the Big Ten West, and earning a spot in the Big Ten Title game for the first time.
All of this, however, is hypothetical with only time truly being able to tell us the result here. To wrap up, let’s take a look at some of the motivation for the Boilers heading into 2019.
Why Would This Be a Possibility?
1.) They won Brohm back, despite him being offered a spot as the head man at his alma mater, Louisville.
2.) Rondale Moore. The kid is a freak athlete, and a strong contender to be in the mix of the Heisman this season.
3.) Last season’s 0-3 start doesn’t tell the whole story. In game one, a late penalty on the defensive side of the ball extended a drive on what would have been a fourth down, giving the Boilers the ball back with over a minute left to strike a comeback. Game two and three, last-second field goals, put daggers through their hearts.
4.) Riding the Ohio State win wave. With last years upset of Ohio State, Purdue and coach Brohm set a precedent, that they are ready to play with the big boys.
5.) 63-14 loss in Music City Bowl to Auburn. Nothing will get you working overtime in the offseason like an embarrassment in your final game of the season. Bet on this one sitting in the back of the team’s mind.
Keys to Success.
1.) Defense matters. Last year the Boilermakers had the 3rd worst pass defense in the country, mainly due to an inexperienced secondary. They gave up big play after big play and in many of the losses, couldn’t help get their teammates off the field or maintain leads. Freshman Marvin Grant could be a piece of that puzzle to help fill the holes of the secondary, coming in as a four-star recruit at safety. Also to bring up upfront the the pass rush, new recruit George Karlaftis was the top defensive end in Indiana and fourth overall in the country for the 2019 class as ranked by 247. He will undoubtedly help compliment a lacking defensive front from last season. Karlaftis was also just recently named the National High School defensive player of the year. The West Lafayette High standout turned down offers from Miami, Clemson, Alabama, Notre Dame, and USC to stay close to home.
2.) Elijah Sindelar must stay healthy. After having a history of injury, he has been granted a chance to prove himself as the full-time starter in 2019. However, if the injury bug creeps back in, the Boilermakers will have to lean on a quarterback core that has a combined one pass completion at the collegiate level, coming from Nick Sipe. However, there is promise in freshman Jack Plumer and Paul Piferi. Boiler fans just keep your fingers crossed that Sindelar stays healthy, and avoids turnover issues, like his three picks in last seasons opener.
3.) Feed Rondale Moore!!! There shouldn’t be a game where Moore touches the ball less than ten times. First-team All-American as a freshman in 2018, he is poised for another stat filled a year in 2019. Although opponents now know he is the real deal and then some, he will still be able to make highlight reels and leave defenders wondering. Also, he will have two new promising freshmen to help build out the receiving corp in David Bell and Milton Wright, taking some of the focus off of Moore.
4.) Spread The Ball Around. With what could turn out to be the most potent receiving corps in Boilermaker history, Sindelar will need to spread the wealth and keep the defense guessing. Key freshman additions will help, with the likes of David Bell who chose Purdue over Ohio State and Milton Wright who had an offer from Alabama. They are both four-star recruits according to 247’s ratings. With Bell at 6′ 2″, Wright at 6′ 3″, and both weighing in at 200 pounds, their speed will help take a lot of pressure off of Moore, who was consistently double teams in the second half of last season. With the big arm of Sindelar, expect the Boilermakers to remain one for the best passing offenses in the country.
Written by Adrian Beecher
