Yardbarker: Curtis Painter

The Afternoon Dump: Stolen Base, Women Get Disgusted Easily, Sports History, Kobe Doesn’t Like Spike, First Episode of American Gladiator, Bunting Gone Wrong, and Darlene Likes Guitars

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:43:15 -0500

A good way to start off Monday. Jennifer. Weird thing happened to the Colts. . . They drafter Purdue QB Curtis Painter in the sixth round. Wow that is just weird. I am switching majors and I am pretty excited about what I chose. Look at this email I got: “Hi,We wish to inform you of the yearly [...]

Colts Select QB Curtis Painter (6th Rd., No. 201)

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:14:16 -0500

With the 201st overall pick in the NFL Draft the Indianapolis Colts select Purdue QB Curtis Painter. He possesses average arm strength, less-than-...

Colts Select QB Curtis Painter (6th Rd., No. 201)

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:49:17 -0500

With the 201st overall pick in the NFL Draft the Indianapolis Colts select Purdue QB Curtis Painter. He possesses average arm strength, less-than-...

Your Week Thirteen Pammy Nominees

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:21:34 -0500

Every Monday you will have anywhere from ten to twenty quotes to pick from and your votes will decide our weekly winner and ultimately the grand champion. I'll have the winners and new standings up tomorrow and be sure to cast your vote at the bottom. You guys were animals this past Saturday, so we've got 21 gems to choose from. There was a ton of innuendo, Brent Musburger not knowing Beyonce, Mike Patrick loving Coldplay, and Lou Holtz being depressing. We're coming down to the ...

Final Big Ten Wrap

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:32:50 -0500

Other than hosting a Big Ten Bloggers' roundtable this week and my blogpoll ballot, this will be the final entry devoted to football. From this point on, I'll be shifting over to basketball full-time. The basketball season has been very predictable so far with four wins over teams we should beat without breaking a sweat. That changes this week with Boston College and either Oklahoma or UAB to face in New York. I'll get into that more later, but here are my final rankings and thoughts on the Big Ten season.

11. Indiana (3-9, 1-7) a?" I agree with Boilerdowd in that it was one of the ugliest performances ever in a Bucket game by either side. Come on, Hoosiers! You've got to at least look like you want to kept he Bucket and ruin your rival's season even further. Indiana didn't even look interested in playing yesterday. It's like they went through the motions and showed up because the schedule said so. Was Greg Middleton wrapped up in carpets and thrown into the Wabash Friday night? You would think even he would want to go all out after what Tiller said about him.

As I commented on earlier this week at the Hoosier Report, I think in the long run Hep's death was a huge step back for this program. They rode the emotion last year, especially against Purdue. You cannot deny that fact when his widow was on the sidelines as an honorary captain against the Boilers. Without him though, they have lost all the positive momentum the program as a whole had going. At least the stadium will look nice next year. That many more Ohio State fans can come on October 3rd now.

10. Michigan (3-9, 2-6) a?" Michigan was only slightly better than Indiana with a pair of conference wins (in upsets) and three total wins over 1-A programs. Still, there has to be massive improvement next season. Will we see Michigan "turning the corner" like Notre Dame next year when they reach 6-4 only to lose to Purdue for the first time in Ann Arbor since Bob Griese was quarterback?

The honeymoon needs to be over for RichRod. There is no excuse for a team with this much talent to be 3-9 and go down as the worst team in school history. They are int he same boat as Notre Dame right now. They have more talent than 90% of teams out there, so anything less than 9 wins a season has to be considered a gross underachievement. You're Michigan for crying out loud! At least Roy Roundtree will provide a huge offensive boost next year after his redshirt year in wait.

9. Purdue (4-8, 2-6) a?" Games I would like to have a second chance at this year: Oregon, Minnesota, Notre Dame, and Michigan State. With the offense we had yesterday and the defense that appeared several times this year I think all four of those games could easily become wins with a second chance. I still believe we beat Minnesota with a healthy Curtis Painter. If the defense that played in the Ohio State and Michigan State games showed up we could beat the Irish. A healthy Painter playing like he did yesterday gives us a good chance against the Spartans. Oregon was simply a game where one play of many could change the outcome.

There are enough pieces left over to believe we can get back to 6 or 7 wins and a bowl game next season. I am certainly not expecting a national title, now would 6 or 7 wins be turning a huge corner to a massive accmplishment. It would merely be a step back in the right direction. It is all up to the players and how hard they want to work in the offseason. We sent Joe off right, now it is time for coach Hope.

8. Illinois (5-7, 3-5) a?" Once again, Illinois followed up a shocking BCS bowl appearance with a 5-7 season. Unlike 2002, there is plenty of raw talent there, but there are a number of concerns that leave people wondering if there will be a turn around. Illinois' five wins came against Indiana, Louisiana Lafayette, Eastern Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa. With the exception of maybe Iowa, those are all games they should have won. Western Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Wisconsin probably should have wins based on talent alone. That is way too many losses to teams you probably should beat.

This team has to stop turning the ball over and it must find an answer to at running back. It became very apparent how much Mendenhall meant to this team when he was gone for this season.

7. Minnesota (7-5, 3-5) a?" So much for Pasadena this year. The Gophers clearly were in over their heads for the second half of the season, culminating in last night's abysmal performance against Iowa. The good news is that they will still go bowling. The bad news is they are likely headed to Detroit to face Western Michigan, Central Michigan, or Ball State. All three are very good teams, each with a win over a Big Ten opponent.

There were enough positive signs though to hope that the opening of TCF Bank Stadium will be a huge success next year. They must find more of a running game like most of the teams in the bottom half of the conference. Adam Weber will be better with another year's experience as well.
6. Wisconsin (7-5, 3-5) a?" The Badgers are probably the most disappointing team in the Big Ten. They lost to Michigan. They needed overtime to beat a 1-AA opponent. They took a season that saw them in the top 10 at one point and barely qualified for a bowl game.

Still, they finished the season on an up note. They won their last three games even if they were against Indiana, Minnesota, and Cal Poly. Two of those three easily could have become losses and kept the Badgers home for Christmas. They have plenty of offensive talent returning. They need to fix the defense and start playing like they know they can play.

5. Iowa (8-4, 5-3) a?" To any Iowa fans that stopped by, I am sorry. I predicted a last place finish in the conference, and I was wrong. At least rest in the knowledge that you are not alone. You merely pulled what Michigan State did last year with my predictions. To whomever I predict to finish last next season, expect a 7-win season and bowl appearance. Of course, it is likely going to be Indiana, so scratch that.

Shonn Green is, quite simply, a stud. If he is smart he will make this his final season in Iowa City before bolting to the NFL and getting Oprah-rich. It's okay, too. Jewel Hampton is a capable replacement. This team was 8-4 with all four losses by less than a touchdown. All four losses came to teams that spent time in the top 25 too. Illinois is the worst loss of that bunch, and it is not Indiana over Northwestern horrible. This could be a very good team next year, so I am glad they are off the schedule. They make their season debut in my blogpoll ballot.

4. Northwestern (9-3, 5-3) a?" I don't know what to make of Northwestern. They did as I predicted and made good on their 1 in 4 year run to near the top of the conference. They grabbed some good wins against Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa. They flunked their two major tests against Ohio State and Michigan State, but there is no shame in losing to those two. Loss #3, however was one of those "What?" losses.

In my blogpoll ballot below, I almost put Northwestern into the bottom part of the top 25. That part has been fluid, but the Wildcats have been right on the edge for most of the season. Then I remembered loss #3 was to Indiana. This is the same Indiana team that put on one of the most uninspired displays of football in the history of the game yesterday. No team that losses to Indiana deserves to be ranked this year. Sorry, Lake the Posts. Great season, but that was inexcusable. May you cheer for the Ducks next week and play in Tampa January 1.

3. Michigan State (9-3, 6-2) a?" The Enlightened Spartan said it best about yesterday's loss to Penn State. Michigan State proved it is the best of the rest of a crappy conference. Is that so bad though? They won the games they were supposed to and lost the ones they were supposed to. That formula worked for Purdue until this season. The Spartans are still a good team. I thought their fans were a little too confident, but you need confidence if you are to become a great team.

Michigan State gets a New Year's Day Bowl and a chance to build on this for next season. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The Big Ten is going to e pretty wide open next year, so they can seize the opportunity and get to Pasadena a year later.

2. Ohio State (10-2, 7-1) a?" I'd like to question if Ohio State is really that much better than everyone else. They did the same as Michigan State, (beating the Spartans convincingly in the process) but lost the two most important games on the schedule. They are one of the few teams this year that can say their only losses were to teams going to BCS Bowls, and as a result they will likely get a shot at Georgia (if Oregon State beats Oregon) in the Capitol One Bowl. Georgia is in the same boat as them, so it should be a good game.

I know the Buckeyes will be disappointed though. They are going to be among the favorites for next year, but this was their big chance. They will get other chances because of the schedule they play (they always have a marquee non-conference opponent). The talent isn't going to dry up any time soon either.

1. Penn State (11-1, 7-1) a?" Ladies and gentlemen, your winner and new champion: the Penn State Nittany Lions! Like 2005, Penn State was one last second play away from perfection. They got a little bit of help last night in getting to the national title game, but now they need crazy stuff to happen. They need stuff like Auburn over Alabama, Florida State over Florida, Oklahoma State over Oklahoma, Missouri over the Big 12 South champion, and UCLA over USC for them to go to Miami.

It will be interesting to see who the Nittany Lions face. Oregon State beating Oregon means a rematch with a much improved Beaver team. Among the four Pac 10-Big Ten games this year, that was probably the least likely to produce a rematch in Pasadena. If Oregon wins, USC is the opponent unless a decided schematic advantage, UCLA, or a Trojan trip to Miami gets in the way. Penn State should have a fun time the next two weeks

Blogpoll ballot:

As usual, the bottom part of the ballot is in mass chaos as I struggle to put together a final five. Number one was easy, but 2-7 were much harder. I even considered moving Utah up. Being undefeated at this point, especially in the Mountain West which is tougher than the Big East and maybe ACC. has to be worth something. If all hell breaks loose the next two weeks why shouldn't we consider Utah?

Texas Tech had to take a huge hit simply because true #2 teams don't crap the bed in big games like that. I put Texas ahead of Oklahoma because they did beat the Sooners. Oklahoma State can simplify things by beating Oklahoma next week, but it is possible that the whole Big 12 South mess could be thrown away if Missouri wins the Big 12 title game. In that case, all three in the South should forget about Miami because if you can't win your conference you don't deserve to go to the championship. Florida is an interesting case. The Mississippi loss isn't as bad as originally thought, but it is worse than Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Texas' loss. It's on par with Penn State's loss to Iowa. In reality, you have to consider 2-7 as almost one giant #2.

Speaking of Penn State, how can you argue them above USC? It's simple: they pounded the crap out of the team that beat USC.

One team you won't have to worry about being ranked is Notre Dame. Their classless fans came through for them again yesterday. I know many Notre Dame fans. Most of them are pretty well grounded too. I would be embarrassed to represent a team that its own fans throw stuff at them. As a result, the Irish will never be ranked in my blog poll ballot. Ever. That was the last straw as far as me giving them any kind of respect.

As usual, feel free to comment in the comments.

RankTeamDelta 1 Alabama -- 2 Florida 1 3 Texas 1 4 Oklahoma 1 5 Penn State 2 6 Southern Cal -- 7 Texas Tech 5 8 Utah -- 9 Boise State -- 10 Ohio State -- 11 Missouri -- 12 Oklahoma State -- 13 Georgia -- 14 Ball State -- 15 TCU 2 16 Cincinnati 5 17 LSU 2 18 Oregon State 2 19 Brigham Young 4 20 Oregon 3 21 Michigan State 5 22 Tulsa 4 23 Boston College 3 24 Western Michigan 2 25 Iowa 1
Dropped Out: Miami (Florida) (#18), Pittsburgh (#22), Maryland (#24), Central Michigan (#25).

The Afternoon Dump: Brett Favre Is Smart, Lindsay Is A Newb, Pacers Brawl, Hot SEC Girls, 2010 Mustang Worth It, Shaq Is Mad, Hayden Is No Woman

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:34:20 -0500

These three cuties lined up from shortest to taller. Back at Purdue now. Had a good trip (although we lost). After watching Curtis Painter play on Saturday I think he should start against Indiana, Siller didn't do good whatsoever. IU is our biggest rivalry. What is this? Did I see the Colts get ...

Iowa 22, Purdue 17, T-Mill 85 degrees...

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:40:27 -0500

Today's weather in Iowa City, according to my phone game tracker, was 37 degrees with a stiff wind and snow flurries. I saw this as I was sitting in brilliant sunshine and 85 degree weather on Miami Beach. In the end I didn't have the heart to find a place to watch it. I settled for watching the gametracker on the phone and checking out the highlights later online.

It was a much better use of my time.

This loss was like much of our season. We did a few things well, but one major thing led to our defeat. Today we saw glimpses of the Curtis Painter we have needed all along, but the run defense was finally gashed by one of the good backs it faced. A pair of touchdowns were called back due to mental mistakes, and those four points lost on that drive would have been huge in the end if you add a two point conversion. Iowa made some mistakes, but we made bigger ones.
Now the ignominious Bucket game is here. The loser will finish all alone in the basement of the Big Ten. We have to win in order to avoid this fate, but honestly a loss wouldn't surprise me at this point. It would be the final insult in what has been a dismal season.

Positives from the Iowa game:

Curtis Painter a?" For what it's worth at this point, Painter may have won the starting job back if he's healthy. Siller is obviously the future. It is sad that his numbers were still not that great and he overthrew the end zone on the final play, but we have to think it was one of his better efforts on the season. The present isn't very bright, but I really hope Painter can have a solid game against the Hoosiers next week. He's taken a lot of flack this year. Much of it was deserved, but he was still hurt for a good portion of the year too. I'm sure he is as disappointed as anyone. I want him to have a solid final game just so he can end his career on a somewhat positive note. He found the end zone a couple of times with a pair of seniors that also had much-needed good games. He ran the two minute offense well and earned himself more PT in the second half.

Let's face it, there isn't a whole lot else to play for this year. If Curtis Painter can give us the best shot against the Hoosiers he should play. If Justin Siller is that player, he should play. We'll probably see both at least a little, but since we have only one game to play for now I would go with Painter. He deserves a shot at some minor redemption and I think he will get it. The interception as bad at a bad time again, but we're used to that. Painter moved the offense and produced points for the first time in months. He was far from the reason we lost.

Joe Tiller a?" Joe sure played like he wanted to win. He channeled his inner Charlie Weis and went for it on fourth down four times, getting all four. I was shocked to see him go for it on 4th and 3 from the eight early on. Even though that was the drive that had a pair of scores called back it was still gutsy. Watching the gametracker allowed little chance to know situations, so I initially thought he was going for it there because of the assumed swirling winds. At least he played for the win. You get the sense that next week will be a kitchen sink game. We have nothing to lose, so throw everything into making it a big party of a win.

Desmond Tardy a?" It's another solid day for a guy that some say should have been playing more all along. Desmond Tardy will be missed. He has shown this year that he can be a special player when we get the ball in his hands. Unfortunately, we haven't done it enough. I will go on record as saying that Desmond will be missed sorely next season. We have some solid guys in Smith and Valentin that look to be the leading receivers for next season, but neither one of them has shown the ability to separate from defenders after the catch like Dez has.

Anthony Heygood a?" This is another guy that is having a solid year and has a good chance to be our highest drafted player in April. Hey good always seems to be where the ball is and is there for the tackle. The defense got absolutely gashed on the ground today, but Heygood was still good. It is my hope that he is teaching the younger guys how to play by example because we need linebackers desperately next season. That's even more true since Jason Werner has "A couple of weeks"-ed his way into not playing at all this year.

Negatives from the Iowa game:

Run defense a?" This is the first time this year we have made a great running back look even better. Last week's numbers against Ringer were skewed a bit because we generally did a good job of containing him until he broke a big run late. Greene had no such containment. He ran early, ran often, and could have run for more if we had threatened to score more points. I think Frank Duong is still wondering what hit him.

Another clutch Painter interception a?" As mentioned, it is sad that this was one of Curtis' better games. The interception came when my phone gametracker decided to stop working. I didn't see it until the highlights online, but the throw was just retarded. It cost us a chance at three points there, and three there would have meant at least a field goal attempt for the win. I've never even played quarterback and I know not to throw into a crowd of people to a not open running back. At least we only have another week of this.

Dumb penalties a?" They cost us a touchdown twice. Enough said.

Final thoughts:

I didn't want to say too much because I honestly didn't watch the game. I have only stats, a two minute highlight package, and the gamtracker to go on. It sounds like this was yet another game we could have won, but we ended up shooting ourselves in the foot again. It is the story of the season and there is no sense in rehashing it. I had a "meh" attitude about this game, and that's exactly the way it turned out.

We now have to win the Bucket. This season has been awful, but if we lose to an Indiana team that is lucky to have three wins against a crap schedule it will be a stinging insult. We've at least been close in a couple of games. The offense has let us down but for the most part the defense has been solid. Indiana has looked awful on both sides of the ball against nearly everyone from Ball State to Minnesota. They can't run the ball, they can stop the run or the pass, and the passing game has been touch and go. If we cannot beat them in Tiller's final game (and the final game for one of our best running backs ever) Tiller's entire legacy will be tarnished.

Some would say it has already been wrecked beyond repair. I say it can be salvaged, but only a little. A lot of what has happened this year has not been totally his fault. He hasn't forgotten to read other receivers. He hasn't gotten hurt. He hasn't quit in the second half of the Notre Dame game. He is not making dumb mistakes that cost us touchdowns like today. It was a perfect storm of suck this year, though ironically we could be a week away from saying we at least beat a ranked team. Should Central Michigan upset Ball State this week they might crack the top 25, making it our best win in four years.

It is terribly sad it has come to that and beating IU for the Bucket for benchmarks in a season. Danny Hope will have to rebuild just as much as Tiller did his first season.

Buckeyes Limp Past Purdue

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:47:31 -0500

In what could have been a blow-out, the Ohio State Buckeyes played conservative Tressel-ball with several key offensive players unavailable. Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins took his game to a whole new level against Curtis Painter and Boilermakers on Saturday as the defense only allowed 70 yards on the ground and stopped Purdue every time they got near the red-zone.

Review: PSU 20, Purdue 6

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:43:06 -0500

Today I'll go over a few of the ups and downs from Penn State's win over Purdue. As I said before, I'm officially worried about Joe Paterno's health. I'm not ready to make rash claims, but it's definitely a concern right now. The Purdue win was a weird episode in the Penn State football season. The offense did look good, yet we're all pissed at them. The defense has been very shaky this year, but showed up big time against Curtis Painter. Good teams win on the road...

Week 6 Big Ten wrap up (with blogpoll ballot)

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:28:47 -0500

Because of some changes in the new blogpoll procedure I am moving the Big Ten wraps up to Sunday nights. This will allow me to do some more research as I'll be at a computer with internet access. Hopefully, this will also improve the quality of the writing.

Second, there will likely be a major announcement about the blogpoll coming tomorrow. Basically, all of us voters are gaining legitimacy through and agency that I can't officially say right now, but it rhymes with PBS and they often have SEC games on Saturday's. It is because of this that I must have the blogpoll preliminary ballot posted by Monday morning at 10am. Also, I'll be posting the final results more regularly as well. It's not like Purdue has to be worried about being in this poll the rest of the season, but it is still fun to follow.

Week 6 Big Ten rankings:

11. (10) Indiana (2-3, 0-2) Result: Minnesota 16, Indiana 7 a?" Indiana moves behind Purdue this week because Purdue at least played a really good team to a two touchdown game. Indiana made Minnesota's defense look to be much more improved than it probably is. Indiana turned it over three times and only had the ball 22 minutes. The running game was virtually non-existent again, and the defense allowed a record day to Eric Decker. Basically, Indiana has taken a major step back. There is simply no excuse for an offense with a player like Kellen Lewis to score just seven points against Minnesota. This is the last game that I expected to be a defensive slugfest. Nearly a quarter of Indiana's yards came on the 77 yard scoring play to Marcus Thigpen.

10. (11) Purdue (2-3, 0-1) Result: Penn State 20, Purdue 6 a?" I don't think we really learned too much yesterday. Honestly, this was one of the dullest games I have ever been to. Purdue could have made quite a game of thing if not for its mistakes. Penn State simply didn't make any costly ones. I guess we should be encouraged that Purdue didn't thoroughly embarrass itself. That really doesn't say much. We now will be replacing our kicker with an unproven true freshman and everyone has given up on Curtis Painter. Two straight road games isn't the recipe to turn things around.

9. (9) Iowa (3-3, 0-2) Result: Michigan State 16, Iowa 13 a?" Iowa did what no one else has been able to do this year: they kept Javon Ringer out of the end zone. Turnovers were once again a problem. Shonn Greene wasn't. His 30 carries for 157 yards against a pretty good defense should give Iowa confidence that it can compete this year. Unfortunately, that makes three straight losses by less than a touchdown. They now face a critical game at Indiana. The Hoosiers have been surprisingly dominant the past two years, but it should be a good game since both teams need a victory.

8. (8) Michigan (2-3, 1-1) Result: Illinois 45, Michigan 20 a?" So much for the defense being the strength of the team. Juice Williams is not particularly known for his throwing ability, but he set a Michigan Stadium opponent records with 431 yards of total offense. The offense itself was better than it has been, but it is still not to the point that it can survive a 500 yard day by an opponent. They basically let a close game get away in the fourth quarter. At least the first quarter was pretty with Michigan leading 14-3. This week's game against Toledo will provide a good chance to work on things.

7. (7) Minnesota (5-1, 1-1) Result: Minnesota 16, Indiana 7 a?" Minnesota has to feel good that a bowl game is definitely in sight. Minnesota probably had the most good happen to it this week. They know they can trust the defense to at least stop someone now. Eric Decker is a big time receiver. The running game is providing plenty of balance. The offense is also keeping other teams off the field with long drives. You cannot discount the play of their special teams either, coming through with three field goals to get the win. One win is all that is needed now to get to a bowl, and they should get it.

6. (6) Northwestern (5-0, 1-0) Result: bye
a?" Northwestern may have benefitted the most this week with Iowa, Purdue, Michigan, and Indiana all losing to help their bowl position. The game against Michigan State this week should be pretty big.

5. (4) Wisconsin (3-2, 0-2) Result: Ohio State 20, Wisconsin 17 a?" I talked at length about Wisconsin may have been the best closing team in the Big Ten after the way it played in the first three games. That clearly isn't the case now, as they have blown two straight leads. The defense has been unable to get a stop when it needed to. They are now out of Big Ten race, and a visit from Penn State won't help things much after this week. At least the last four games on the schedule are the easiest games of anyone to finish on.

4. (2) Michigan State (5-1, 2-0) Result: Michigan State 16, Iowa 13 a?" I think Michigan State had a win over Iowa much like Penn State over us yesterday. They did just enough to pull it off before facing a tougher opponent next week. Sometimes style isn't important as long as you have more points at the end of the game. I would certainly take that with Purdue right now. The Michigan State bloggers are calling it an ugly win, but that is better than no win at all. I only dropped them because the three teams above them had better wins this week.

3. (5) Illinois (3-2, 1-1) Result: Illinois 45, Michigan 20 a?" I am very thankful that we don't play Illinois this year. We have enough trouble as it is with dual threat quarterbacks, and Juice Williams demonstrated he is one of the best. The amazing thing is that Illinois got things done both running and passing. They made a pretty good Michigan defense look awful at home. They now have a pair of games at home against Minnesota and Indiana before traveling to Wisconsin. I wouldn't count them out of the Big ten race yet, but having already lost to Penn State hurts.

2. (3) Ohio State (4-1, 2-0) Result: Ohio State 20, Wisconsin 17 a?" the first test has been passed if they are going to win the conference again. Barring a major upset, only Penn State, Michigan State, and Illinois stand in the way. You never know how tricky the trip to Evanston can be at the end of the year either. I am really impressed by the amount of poise that Pryor is already showing this early in his career. A late drive like that in one of the most hostile night venues in the country is something most 5th year seniors can't lead. Pryor did it with ease.

1. (1) Penn State (6-0, 2-0) Result: Penn State 20, Purdue 6 a?" I don't know how much I would give Penn State's win to its defense. In the kicking game alone we handed them a full touchdown. A fumbled snap could have meant another four as well, since Purdue could have gotten a first down on that play and later a touchdown. Once the Nittany Lions got in front by two scores you felt like it was more than secure with that defense. It was a lot like the Ohio State game last year. I also like how they ground out the clock in the closing minutes to not even give us a chance after we scored. There was still enough time that a small miracle was possible, but we never got the ball again.

Blogpoll ballot:

There isn't much change at the top as all the top teams kept on winning. Among the more impressive teams were Texas Tech and USC who each won in games that could have been major challenges. I feel like North Carolina is a team on the rise while I would love to see Vanderbilt keep stealing games in the SEC. Maybe it's the colors, but I have forgotten what it is like to see a team wearing black and gold knock off a ranked team. Feel free to comment in the comments section (and yes, Jack, I would have moved UConn in had they beaten North Carolina).

RankTeamDelta 1 Oklahoma -- 2 Alabama -- 3 LSU -- 4 Texas -- 5 Missouri -- 6 Penn State -- 7 Texas Tech 1 8 Georgia 1 9 Southern Cal -- 10 Brigham Young -- 11 Florida 1 12 Utah 1 13 Vanderbilt 8 14 Ohio State 2 15 Boise State 3 16 Michigan State 4 17 Oklahoma State 9 18 Auburn 7 19 Virginia Tech 7 20 South Florida 6 21 Kansas 4 22 Ball State 1 23 Wisconsin 8 24 Northwestern -- 25 North Carolina 1
Dropped Out: Oregon (#19), Wake Forest (#22), Oregon State (#25).

Notre Dame vs. Purdue: Tale of the Tape

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:25:33 -0500

Non-conference rivals will battle for state bragging rights this weekend, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish host the Purdue Boilermakers in South Bend.

First Look: Purdue Boilermakers

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:25:37 -0500

In this week's First Look, the Purdue Boilermakers offer up a unique situation. With a departing coach in Joe Tiller, a dynamite quarterback in Curtis Painter, and more question marks than answers, the boys from West Lafayette could surprise more than a few around the Big Ten in 2008. Following the first losing season in more than a decade, the Boilermakers rebounded with consecutive eight-win seasons, yet managed to be far less than impressive along the way. Can this team overcome some m...

Two Future NFL QB's

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 07:01:55 -0500

The Motor City Bowl showcased two QBs with future NFL prospects -- Curtis Painter and Dan LeFevour

Purdue Football Preview and Predictions

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:57:38 -0500

The Boilermakers lost only five starters from last season's team. QB Curtis Painter plans to lead them to a successful season. Are they stacked enough to contend for the Big Ten Championship? Purdue's blogger gives you the details about the team and his predictions. Vote how many games you think Purdue will win.