I saw an earlier post that compared last years stats with this years stats to show that progress has been made. I thought this was a good starting point, but I wanted to look at a larger sample size since 2013 was record breaking bad, making it almost impossible not to improve. So I went a step further and looked at the past 8 seasons to try and see if we are headed in the right direction. Let's start with defense.
Year |
Wins |
Losses |
Points Against |
Avg. Per Game |
First Downs Allowed |
Rushing Yards |
Avg. Per Game |
Passing Yards |
Avg. Per Game |
Total Offense Allowed Per Game |
Average Allowed Per Play |
3rd Down Conversion % |
Turnovers Forced |
2007 |
8 |
5 |
345 |
26.5 |
275 |
1936 |
148.9 |
3123 |
240.2 |
389.1 |
5.1 |
38 |
27 |
2008 |
4 |
8 |
301 |
25.1 |
230 |
2098 |
174.8 |
2199 |
183.2 |
358 |
5.2 |
36 |
20 |
2009 |
5 |
7 |
349 |
29.1 |
229 |
2081 |
173.4 |
2438 |
203.2 |
376.6 |
5.4 |
41 |
24 |
2010 |
4 |
8 |
345 |
28.8 |
255 |
1655 |
137.9 |
2773 |
231.1 |
369 |
5.2 |
43 |
21 |
2011 |
7 |
6 |
349 |
26.8 |
285 |
2274 |
174.9 |
2873 |
221 |
395.9 |
5.5 |
41 |
21 |
2012 |
6 |
7 |
406 |
31.2 |
274 |
2370 |
182.3 |
3041 |
233.9 |
416.2 |
5.7 |
41 |
25 |
2013 |
1 |
11 |
456 |
38 |
295 |
2825 |
235.4 |
2694 |
224.5 |
459.9 |
6.2 |
57 |
20 |
2014 |
3 |
9 |
380 |
31.7 |
268 |
2305 |
192.1 |
2687 |
223.9 |
416 |
5.6 |
46 |
19 |
The defense has steadily gotten worse since 2007; which is no surprise since that was our last good (not great) team. We really bottomed out last year, but I think we are headed in the right direction on the defensive side of the ball. This years defense performed very similar to 2012's, and we were led by 2 freshman linebackers that should be able to anchor the defense for the next several years. Hopefully the pass rush improves with the addition of some more hybrid DE/LB's that fit the 3-4 scheme better. That should help us force some more turnovers along with creating longer 3rd downs, as we are still weak in preventing 3rd down conversions.
Year |
Wins |
Losses |
Points Scored |
Avg. Per Game |
First Downs |
Rushing Yards |
Avg. Per Game |
Passing Yards |
Avg. Per Game |
Total Offense Per Game |
Average Per Play |
3rd Down Conversion % |
Turnovers |
Penalty Yards Per Game |
2007 |
8 |
5 |
446 |
34.3 |
314 |
1674 |
128.8 |
3993 |
307.2 |
436 |
5.6 |
40 |
26 |
48.3 |
2008 |
4 |
8 |
296 |
24.7 |
254 |
1498 |
124.8 |
2995 |
249.6 |
374.4 |
5.0 |
39 |
23 |
40.3 |
2009 |
5 |
7 |
334 |
27.8 |
236 |
1633 |
136.1 |
3063 |
255.2 |
391.3 |
5.6 |
42 |
29 |
41.2 |
2010 |
4 |
8 |
236 |
19.7 |
190 |
1930 |
160.8 |
1809 |
150.8 |
311.6 |
4.7 |
32 |
27 |
57 |
2011 |
7 |
6 |
350 |
26.9 |
267 |
2361 |
181.6 |
2538 |
195.2 |
376.8 |
5.3 |
41 |
20 |
60.2 |
2012 |
6 |
7 |
373 |
28.7 |
266 |
2135 |
164.2 |
3100 |
238.5 |
402.7 |
5.5 |
40 |
27 |
50.9 |
2013 |
1 |
11 |
179 |
14.9 |
178 |
805 |
67.1 |
2590 |
215.8 |
282.9 |
4.6 |
31 |
22 |
42.9 |
2014 |
3 |
9 |
286 |
23.8 |
207 |
1886 |
157.2 |
2249 |
187.4 |
344.6 |
4.9 |
36 |
24 |
41.9 |
Offensively we have a ways to go; which could mean it's time for a change. The good news is the running game bounced back nicely; which shows a ton of improvement with the O-Line. And since they will all be back next year, I think it's safe to say the running game should be similar next year. I know Hunt and Mostert will be gone, but I think we have some pieces to fill in for them. Now the passing game was a big dissapointment and we have a lot of work to do there. We especially need to develop the wide receivers since they really struggled, outside of Anthrop. The QB's are another big question mark. I was hoping Appleby could lock the job down, but that hasn't happened. Maybe he steps up next year, but I'd really like to see what Blough can do, since he's the guy Hazell brought in. In the end I think we sould keep Shoop, fire the TE coach, add TE's to the WR coach and hire a QB coach.
Honsetly our numbers from this year compare pretty favorably to 2012, the defenses were very similar; while the 2012 offense was a little bit better. That 2012 team went 6-7, but didn't beat any bowl teams. This year we won 3 games, but beat 2 bowl teams. I know it's easy to point to that 6-7 team and say "Hope was better, he took us to bowl games", but I don't think that team is much better than this years team, and the numbers back that up.
Lastly I'd just like to say that Hazell is completely changing Purdue's identity from a spread run and gun team; which is what Hope continuted from the Tiller era, and wants to win with defense and ball control. I don't know if that can work at Purdue (it's working for Minnesotta), but Hazell has upgraded us in the 2 categories necessary to be that type of program, O-Line and LB. He also has the team turning the ball over less and committing fewer penalties then the Danny Hope era; which shows he has more control over his team.
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