The bucket is gone.

by BoilerTMill on Nov 18, 2007 9:43 PM EST

If we were going to lose it, and let’s face it, we’re going to lose it eventually once in awhile, I don’t mind losing it to an inspired Indiana team that simply outplayed us. I have a ton of respect for coach Hep and what he did for that program, so they certainly deserve their victory, the bucket, and a bowl game. They came out and punched us in the mouth, built a big lead early, and played the entire game with more emotion and fire. We were handed most of the breaks on some questionable penalties and even after storming back Indiana had enough to get in position for the winning field goal.

Simply put, Indiana wanted it more, and we only showed we wanted it in the last 20 minutes. In the past that would have been enough against the Hoosiers. These are not the same old Hoosiers. They are becoming a team that you have to play the entire four quarters against. Just ask Iowa, Penn State, Northwestern, and now us. If hardy returns for another year they will likely be even better next season.

This Sunday morning Purdue football and Indiana football find themselves at almost the exact same spot after years of domination by the Boilermakers. The teams have identical records, and their most recent meeting was decided by a last minute deep field goal. Indiana’s 7-5 brings a lot of joy, taking the program to heights it has not seen in 14 years. As Purdue experienced in 1997, when you have a drought that long any bowl is a good bowl. It means you get to continue the season, keep practicing, and build for next season.

Purdue’s 7-5, achieved in almost the exact same way since we were both 4-0 out of conference against similarly weak schedules and had wins over Iowa and Minnesota, is nothing short of a colossal disappointment. Because of the heights we have reached we no longer accept a 7-5 season where we failed to beat any good teams an achievement. One could say this year was slightly better as we have three wins over bowl eligible teams as opposed to just one from last season, but it has been four years since our last win over a ranked team. Big things were expected this year from our offense, but it faltered when we needed it the most. The defense showed improvement in spots, only to fall apart again at the end of the season. Now we have a coaching staff that is in serious trouble despite presiding over the most successful period in the program’s history.

This fact makes it ironic that we just lost to Indiana, as they were in a similar situation at the end of Bill Mallory’s tenure. Mallory is Indiana’s winningest football coach ever with 69 wins. Tiller, assuming he returns next year, will become Purdue’s winningest coach. Mallory coached Indiana to six of their now nine total bowl bids. Assuming Purdue gets selected to a bowl this year, Tiller will have coached Purdue to 10 of their 15 total bowl bids. Tiller immediately took a 3-8 team and had them finish in the top 25 in three out of his first four years. Mallory took Indiana to six bowls in eight years with two top 20 finishes. Both coaches saw their programs decline from those heights at the end, as expectations of more never panned out.

This sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? A similar thing happened with Gene Keady on the basketball side of the ledger. I am not one of the apocalyptic posters on the Purdue message boards that says Tiller must be fired immediately. The work he has done in 11 seasons compared to what was there in decades before is nothing short of incredible. He has taken a program that averaged 3-4 wins per year and turned it into one that averages 7-8 wins per year. He has had us as a regular visitor to the top 25 even this season. He has put us into bowl games year in and year out when such historically strong programs such as Alabama, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Nebraska have been unable to sustain such success recently. This modest success has lead to facility improvements and has at least had us in the discussion nationally well into October instead of being eliminated before the season starts. He’s been far from terrible, and has really done nothing that warrants a sudden firing.

On the other side of the ledger though you cannot argue the numbers against him. Tiller has built his record against the MAC Indiana, Northwestern, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Illinois while struggling against the upper tier of the conference. Against those five teams he is now 39-9, but five of those losses have come in the past three seasons. One could argue we are on the same level as Iowa at the moment, and Tiller is 4-5 having never won in Iowa City. The upper echelon of Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State is even worse. We are just 8-23 against those four under Tiller, with only three of those wins (twice at Wisconsin, once at Penn State) away from Ross-Ade Stadium. We haven’t beaten one of these four since 2004.

Let’s look out of conference for a moment. We’re 10-2 against the MAC and 3-0 against 1-AA teams. Against Notre Dame we’re 5-6, but many of those wins have come against bad Notre Dame teams. Against BCS conference foes (regular season only) we’re 5-2, but Arizona, Wake Forest, Cincinnati, and Syracuse aren’t exactly world beaters.

Coach Tiller has become the master of taking advantage of the non-conference schedule, beating the mediocre to bad, and losing to the good. We used to at least be competitive with the top four in the conference, but Only this year’s Penn State game has come close to netting us a win since beating Ohio State in 2004. That is a step back, and with everyone in the conference getting better we cannot afford many steps back before we are back at 3-4 wins per season.

This is not meant to be a full regular season wrap, as I will go into that between now and bowl time, but we are clearly at a crossroads. We are now dead even with our rivals to the south. Yesterday’s atmosphere in Bloomington was the best I have ever seen from a Bucket game, and I would love to see it continue that way because both of us get better from here. It is a long time from now until November 22, 2008. Hopefully we will be ready to get the bucket back.

Getting back to yesterday’s game for a moment there was a particular sequence of plays that stood out to me. Due to the wonderful urban planning and traffic direction by the powers that be in the city of Bloomington Our 1pm departure from Greenwood didn’t allow us to actually get to the game until midway through the first quarter. The first play I got to see was the Justin Scott interception. We got the ball at the Indiana 39 yard line, but were unable to do anything with it. To me this is where the game was lost, because an early score would have put all the pressure on Indiana. Instead we bailed out the Hoosiers, and they built off of the momentum of that stop.

The rest was history and decided by the running game as many football games are. We were unable to get the run going against a team that has been unable to stop anyone from running all season. Conversely, our improved run defense was lit up by one of the worst number 1 running backs in the conference. Marcus Thigpen’s best day this season had been against Western Michigan when he ran for just 81 yards. We allowed him to run for 140 of his 512 yards on the season, mostly on simple delayed handoffs up the middle that we seemed to have no idea were coming. I can understand concentrating on Lewis, but you’d think we would adjust to Thigpen after getting burned two or three times.

The failure to adjust also came through on the game’s biggest play at the end. Facing third and five at the Purdue 45 everyone in the world except our defense and coaching staff knew the pass was going to go to Hardy, and that he would be past the first down marker. There was no attempt at double coverage, and Lewis easily made the same type of completion that Hoyer kept making last week on third down. This even came out of a timeout, one of many ill-advised timeouts down the stretch that only helped Indiana and hurt us.

We showed a lot of heart coming back in such an emotionally charged atmosphere, but if we had played like we are capable of playing we never should have been down by three touchdowns. The way we played down the stretch tells me we easily could have won, but the disturbing trend of getting going only when we have our backs to the wall seems to have returned.

It’s amazing to see just how even these teams were yesterday, and that is why I am excited for the future if both can find a way to improve. They made us pay for a critical turnover (the Orton fumble), and we made them pay for their late fumble. Both teams missed makeable field goals. Both teams had dominant stretches of play where they ran off a bunch of points without answer. We have gotten worse, but Indiana has gotten better.

The bottom line is that we walked into a volatile situation yesterday and still came one play away from getting a stop and potential win. As I write that I thought of how frustrating that was during the 2004 season, and how we have departed from even being that close in losses only to return to it. Indiana gave us everything they could for 60 minutes and we still came back to tie it, despite the emotion they were playing with, and made a game of things. I hope the returning players remember what happened and build on it, because it is the only way we will avoid sliding further back.

Congratulations to the Hoosiers. You deserved yesterday’s win, your bowl game, and the bucket for this year. You have come a long way from the 63-20 thrashing just three years ago, and you have made this a rivalry game again. I am glad you did this for Hep, as I have nothing but respect for what he did at IU and you have done a wonderful job of honoring his memory. Enjoy your bowl game and take care of the Bucket for us, because it is a rivalry again.

We will be ready on November 22, 2008.

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Very good article.

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http://www.firecoachtiller.com

by Anonymous on Nov 18, 2007 9:58 PM EST reply actions

I hate IU.

by Scotty Leisure on Nov 19, 2007 12:39 AM EST reply actions

I was at the game and sat 12 rows behind the Purdue bench. There was absolutely no fire or emotion at all until Purdue tied the game. I am grateful to Tiller for taking our program out of the basement and providing us some success to enjoy. But, he has now reached the end. His team's lack of discipline and his inability to manage a game are not acceptable. I understand that Purdue is a tough place to recruit but Tiller just seems to have no plan or control. I think it is time for change.
And.... How on earth does Brock Spack make a living as a Defensive Coordinator? He really is out to lunch.
Go Boilers!!

by steve on Nov 19, 2007 2:21 PM EST reply actions

I admire your positive attitude. I watched the game on TV and... we were horrible.

Letting a mediocre RB gash you up the middle again and again with no adjustments. The LB was actually vacating the middle gap every time. This is indiciative of the same coaching error made in the MSU game. They were SO scared of Hardy that they left the run wide open - just like they left the pass wide open in the MSU game. And after seeing a whole HALF of this there were still no adjustments made. I've seen high school coaches make better adjustments. This should have been as easy as "Yep - that's not working. Let's do something else."

Abandoning the run early and then trying to establish it in the 4th quarter when you're down big. BTW - mixing in the run is a big reason we started moving the ball better late in the game. Gee - why didn't we do that earlier? My dad (a big time tOSU fan so he's pretty unbiased RE: Purdue) actually turned to me and said "There's 6 minutes left in the game and they're running the ball like they're ahead. They haven't run the ball the whole game!"

Painter is incapable of putting any touch on the ball, pure and simple. He had a wide open Keller (I think it was him) and all that was needed is a 5th grade pitch and catch. There was no one within 10 yards of him. Of course, he threw it at full rocket speed way over his head just like he always does. I'll never doubt his arm strength, but the guy just can't get it done. He's had enough starts now that the "he's just too jacked up for the game" excuse is growing tired. I've *never* seen him exhibit an ounce of touch on the ball.

Purdue football just isn't fun to watch anymore. It's like a death march... you know the outcome well before kickoff, it's just a question of how much they'll tease you before they totally break down and lose.

Count me in the "change is needed" camp. I realize that Tiller will probably be back no matter what, but PLEASE at least shake up the assistants! This is painful to watch and embarrassing to our school.

by Nate on Nov 19, 2007 4:00 PM EST reply actions

I too admire your positive attitude. Having said that, it appears to me that the problem is not with Joe Tiller's coaching abilities, but rather with his leadership.

We have had a miserable defense for years. It was evident again this year when we were lit up by Ohio State, Michigan, MSU, and IU. We all know that this is not the first year of a poor defense. It seems to me that Coach Tiller needs to step up and find someone who can put a respectable defensive unit on the field.

Also, our offense is stale. From my amateur football viewpoint, it appears to me that everyone in the Big10 is defending our offense better and better each year. Ohio State shut us down, even though they have not played us in two years as did Michigan.

My opinion is that Coach Tiller needs to put pressure on his coordinators to perform...otherwise, he needs to clean house and find someone that can get the job done.

What I find most terrifying of all is the talk that Brock Spack is expected to take over this program when Coach Tiller retires. This thought should send chills to the bones of every Boilermaker fan.

by Eric on Nov 19, 2007 6:39 PM EST reply actions

I couldn't agree more with the critcal talk of our defense. Spack and everyone on the defensive side of the ball need to go. If you look at the way the defensive line played the run it was totally incorrect. They had their shoulders turned in every gap rushing the passer. This makes and O-lineman’s job tremendously easy. All IU did was run a zone blocking scheme where they handed the ball to Thigpen on a delay and he waited to see which hole opened up and ran through it. Then there were no linebackers to stop him because they spread us out five wide and our two linebackers left were hitting one of five holes they saw open up. It was a total disaster that started with the D line. That is football 101 and a direct effect to the ignorant coaching mentality of Brock Spack. I think that Tiller has brought an entirely new dynamic offense to the league. Look at how many teams employ some sort of spread offense now in the "Power running league" of the Big Ten. Illinois and IU have adopted these new offenses because of the success of Purdue. However, you don't see elite teams in the Big Ten losing games when they put 24 points on the board. Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan win probably somewhere in the upper 90 percent of those games. To allow an opponent to put that many points on the board is ridiculous. I despise this "Bend but don't break" defense because you are still allowing them within field goal range to score points. Maybe it is the proximity to Indianapolis that Purdue fans think that we should be putting 50 points on the boards every game and who cares how the defense plays. I grew up a Bears fan and I am huge fan of a stout defense that shuts down an opponent. I think our offense plays fantastic and that is a direct correlation to Tiller and his scheme. They played well enough for us to win 10 games this year our defense cost us the other three. Spack as head coach does send chills down the spine.

by Barry on Nov 21, 2007 6:40 PM EST reply actions

I was also at the game and cannot remember a game with less to cheer about for two and half quarters. Only the interception broke the dreariness and we squandered that promptly.

College ball all comes down to the head coach. He is the one who hires and directs the assistants. He is the one who recruits the players. He is the one who sets the tone, leads the program. And the program is either going forward or backward and Purdue is certainly going backward.

I don't spend hours scouring stats and record books, but if you take out the Drew Brees years, what is Tiller's overall W-L record? I'm guessing it's slightly over .500, maybe someone else has those figures readily available to confirm or refute this.

The IU game was a pretty good representation of the past couple (few?) seasons. Opponents are pretty much able to cover our receivers closely. When we run a route right and Painter (or before him, Orton) delivers an accurate ball we get a completion but the defender is right there to make the tackle. But our defenders are rarely near a receiver when he makes the catch. How many times this year did an opponent catch a pass, run 5-10 yards before a Purdue back is close enough to attempt a tackle? The epitome of this at IU was the swing pass/safety valve out in the flat. Never saw a linebacker anywhere near the receiver. This happens all game long, every game.

Everybody eventually covers our guys, but we never cover theirs. We have speedy backs, we have strong linebackers, just like other Big Ten teams. Where is the coaching? How many points and yards must we give up every week before someone decides Brock Spack must go?

I understand you can't have a good defense every year. People get hurt or a few players turn out to be less talented than you thought. But how many years has Purdue ranked in the top half for yards or points allowed?

On offense, Painter cannot throw accurately enough to run this offense. He and Orton both have a throwing motion that is way too long and neither can throw with the versatility needed to run a pass oriented offense. Lewis missed 1 pass the whole game, overthrew it once and we picked it off. Painter missed (I mean untouchable missed, five feet over the receiver's head) too many to count, including the Keller route. He could have misthrown that ball by 5 yards and Keller could have caught it without a defender knocking it down. But he missed it by 10 yards.

Even programs with run offense have better passers than Painter. Why don't we have someone better?

And how could we let the worst running team in the Big 10 run up and down the field? Someone in the coaching staff make an adjustment. Every other team makes adjustments on us at half.

I read a couple player comments after the game about hoping to get a bowl bid because they are going to "bring it." What are they waiting for, this is the Bucket and they had to know IU was capable of beating us, and hyped up to finally win it at home, for Coach Hep, to get a bowl bid and so on. I don't see the fire, the desire to win, to excel that I see in other teams. This too mostly comes from the coach. It's either recruiting guys who want to play hard or teaching them to.

Tiller has done good things for Purdue football. I certainly enjoy winning over losing, going to bowl games , but those things are not guaranteed with Tiller or without him. Illinois and IU were both in the basement and they have passed us out. Without the death of their head coach Northwestern might have passed us. So, how do we get better? Spack's departure would be # 1 on my list.

by Greg on Nov 27, 2007 11:03 AM EST reply actions