6 Days to Purdue Football: Gary Bush

by BoilerTMill on Aug 29, 2010 8:00 AM EDT in Football

It is appropriate that today is the sixth day before Purdue football and it features one of the six receivers that is expected to contribute. Big things were in store for Gary Bush when he came to Purdue. He didn't contribute last year like some expected, but the redshirt year could be very good.

Gary Bush - Fr. (RS)

Hometown: Miami, FL (Christopher Columbus HS)

Wide Receiver

6', 175 pounds

2010 Projection: Contributor at wide receiver

Bush played very little last year. He played so little (two games with no statistics) that he was still able to redshirt. The official reason was that he was suffering from a sports hernia. It ended up being a good thing, because now we can basically do hockey-style line changes with our receivers. We have the strong line of Keith Smith, Cortez Smith, and Justin Siller, and the speed line of Antavian Edison, O.J. Ross, and Gary Bush.

Bush had a solid season for Christopher Columbus High in Miami, catching 33 passes for 555 yards and nine touchdowns. The good thing is that he was playing against lots of Division I talent in the South Florida area. He's also good enough that if he wanted, he could probably play for coach Painter. Both he and Gabe Holmes were AAU basketball teammates, and Bush averaged 21 points and 10 assists per game.

On second thought, if he gets buried on the depth chart we need to get Matt Painter over to the football stadium to get him on the team. Can you imagine having a 10 assist per game guy backing up Lewis Jackson at the point? Can we convince him to walk on just for the Big Ten season and NCAA Tournament in basketball this year?

Sorry about that. I was dreaming in basketball again. Back to Gary Bush. He was also a long jump standout, finishing third in the state in as a junior in high school. This athleticism will transfer over well. We don't need him to be a huge start his year, but if he can be a threat that makes us more dangerous.

Boilermakings note:

DT Jeff Zgonina wants to play 1 more season - NFL News - FOX Sports on MSN
Jeff Zgonina was one of the few bright spots of the Colletto Era, and he may have the most underrated 18 year career in NFL history.

Big Ten fills up Rotary Lombardi watch list - Big Ten Blog - ESPN
Ryan Kerrigan is on the Lombardi Award watch list.

GoldandBlack.com - Offense shows progress in Saturday scrimmage
Interesting news from the scrimmage today. They are dancing around Jonathan Linkenheimer's injury, but the dude has a cannon for a leg. I really, really like that the defense and offense are even. To me, that's a great sign.

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OT but a good read on Kelly

http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20100828/SPORTS13/100829547/1021/Sports

“He’d start the (tight end) behind the quarterback in motion,” Jim Kelly said. "If he’s in motion right, is it going to be a power run right, or is he just a decoy? That’s what the defense is asking itself.

“Anybody running the spread has similar plays, but Brian Kelly made them more creative, more imaginative, and he was extremely prepared. Revolutionary? No. But, a step above anyone I’ve seen. He does a great job of keeping defenses off balance.”

The frantic pace of the offense could have something to do with the effectiveness.
“In an 80-yard drive, the defense has just been running all over the field,” Jim Kelly said.

“A lot of those guys are back on their heels; they’re sucking wind. (Brian Kelly) knows that linebacker might be a half-step late getting to his drop zone, and he’ll take advantage of that.

“It’s a combination of everything that makes it work.”

by teutonic13 on Aug 29, 2010 11:50 AM EDT reply actions

Insert Paragaph to beggining of previous

Jim Kelly said one of Brian Kelly’s favorite tactics was to use a three-tight end formation — one tight end on either side of the line and one directly behind the quarterback, with running backs flanked on either side.

by teutonic13 on Aug 29, 2010 11:52 AM EDT reply actions

Works both ways....

What happens when the offense goes cold and they go three and out on consecutive possessions? Their own defense is out there sucking wind.

There is a law of diminishing returns with any offensive system. Once everyone starts running a particular system, the novelty wears off. Take a guy like Kelly, an early innovator of the spread, will his results hold up long term? Remains to be seen? What about the other phases of the game Special Teams and Defense? How has his teams fared in those categories?

by bstirrat on Aug 29, 2010 2:08 PM EDT up reply actions