Purdue Boilermakers Game Day Vitals: Ohio State

I'm going to be very blunt. Not a whole lot needs to be said about this weekend's football game. Somehow, Purdue has managed to completely, completely embarrass itself AT HOME the last couple of weeks. They now sit at 3-3, and after going into the Horseshoe this weekend, they will likely leave 3-4 with only five more chances to win three extra games and become bowl eligible.

Now, I would love to see an upset. It would be awesome, and Lord knows we need it! In fact, a win for Purdue in Ohio Stadium, however unlikely, will totally revive the Boilermakers' season. But, Purdue hasn't beat the Buckeyes in Columbus in almost 25 years. Purdue is coming off two crappy losses of epic proportions. Braxton Miller would likely be the Heisman runner-up if the season were to end today. And if it weren't for their bowl ban, OSU would be ranked in the Top 10 of the newly released BCS rankings.

So, while I would love to see a Purdue win on Saturday, an ass-kicking seems more likely. After placing so much faith in our team before the last two games and getting absolutely nothing in return, I have very little hope left to give to the football team. Hopefully, we can just keep the game close, like within a few TDs. And hopefully, we can go 3-2 through the rest of our schedule to at least go to a bowl game.

But, then again, maybe that's not what we need. No, what this program needs is a subpar end to accompany a subpar start to this season. We don't need another bid to a shitty bowl game against a small conference near-champion every three years and continue to hand Hope contract extensions in celebration of mediocrity as his shining achievements.

We need to go 5-7, or even 4-8 this year and continue to completely disappoint, because doing that would likely ensure the exits of Danny Hope, Gary Nord, J.B. Gibboney and company.

Purdue football is surely a good program. I mean, Christ, we went to the Rose Bowl only a dozen years ago. We are the Cradle of Quarterbacks. We have 19 consensus All-Americans, 12 B1G titles, 9 total bowl wins including one Rose Bowl and 12 Heisman finalists. Based on that, we deserve much better results than the shit-smelling awfulness the current administration is producing.

I mean, really? 112 total yards on offense through the first three quarters of the Wisco game? Really?? I think it's time to make a new football t-shirt: "Got Hope? Nope!"

As much as I am rooting for my team to turn this season around and win more games, that might not be what the Boilers need to do. Instead, I think that in the long run the best option is for the Hope era to end as soon as possible.

No more 6-6 seasons and berths to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl once every few years and 4-8 campaigns in between. No more unprepared, embarrassing ass-kickings on national TV. No more games with constant bubble screen calls. No more stupid timeouts, idiotic gameplans or anything of that sort. No more. I can't take it. We are better than this. I just know it.

It's time for a fresh start for the Purdue football team. This needs to be Danny Hope's last season at Purdue. No I have met Hope, Nord, many of the players and other coaches. They are all wonderful people. But the current administration running this football team has to go. It's painfully obvious that they aren't cut out to run this program. When Hope & Co. eventually do get fired, I will wish them the best of luck, but I will also be glad that a very forgettable era in our history has come to an end.

I really don't mean to be too blunt, but just look at all of the numbers, the statistics, the video footage. All of the evidence is appalling, and all of the evidence is there to justify the firing of Danny Hope and the others responsible. Nothing more needs to be said, really.

As far as this weekend goes, just hope we don't get completely whacked, and hope for better things to come throughout the rest of our schedule.

Anyways, I hate being a downer. But, I mean, who knows? Maybe we will win this weekend, pulling off the most magical and unlikely of upsets. It could happen, after all. It is a possibility. But, the Cubs winning the World Series is also a possibility, I suppose.

Oh, well. Better luck next coach. Here is all of the info you will need to prepare yourself for the Purdue-OSU matchup. Enjoy.

Opponent: Ohio State Buckeyes (7-0, 3-0 B1G)

2011 record: 6-7 (3-5 B1G)

Bowl result: Lost Gator Bowl 17-24 vs. Florida

Last week: Won 52-49 at Indiana

Date of game: Saturday, October 20, 2012

Kickoff time: 12:00 PM ET

Game location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH

Series record: Ohio State leads 38-14-2

Series record in Ohio Stadium: Ohio State leads 21-5-2

Last meeting: In 2011, Purdue beat OSU 26-23 in OT in Ross-Ade.

Last meeting in Ohio Stadium: In 2010, the Buckeyes trashed Purdue 49-0 in Ohio Stadium. But, technically speaking, the game never happened. Thanks to the OSU sanctions, Purdue is on a three game win streak against Ohio State entering Saturday's game.

Last Purdue win: Last year at Purdue (w00t!)

Last Purdue win in Ohio Stadium: In 1988, Purdue won 31-26 over OSU in Columbus.

Ticket information: Specifically for Purdue students, tickets to Saturday's game in Ohio Stadium can be purchased for $70 at www.purduesports.com. Otherwise, Purdue fans will have to turn to StubHub or Ticketmaster to find tickets to the game. Public single game tickets for games at OSU usually sell out before the season even starts.

TV: ABC or ESPN 2 (depending on region)

Radio: Purdue Sports Network (All 27 PSN channels can be found here), Sirius Channel 112 and XM Channel 190 (both are OSU feeds)

Opponent blog(s): Land-Grant Holy Land is OSU's blog on SB Nation. There are also some independent Buckeye sports blogs worth mentioning, such as Eleven Warriors, The Buckeye Blog and Buckeye Banter. And, as always, checking out Ohio State's main athletic site--www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com--can give you some plenty of info on the OSU football program.

Weather at kickoff: The Saturday forecast for Columbus calls for 58 degrees with partly cloudy skies, a 10% chance of rain and breezy 11 mph winds. Pretty damn good football weather if you ask me!

Other Week 8 B1G games:

• Minnesota at Wisconsin, Saturday at 12:00 PM ET on ESPNU
• Nebraska at Northwestern, Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on ESPN2/ ABC Regional
• Michigan State at Michigan, Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on Big Ten Network
• Indiana at Navy, Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on CBS Sports Network
• Penn State at Iowa, Saturday at 8:00 PM ET on Big Ten Network

(For the curious) Other noteworthy Week 8 FBS games:

• No. 6 LSU at No. 18 Texas A&M, Saturday at 12:00 PM ET on ESPN
• No. 7 South Carolina at No. 2 Florida, Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on CBS
• No. 17 Texas Tech at No. 23 TCU, Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on ABC/ESPN2
• No. 4 Kansas State at No. 13 West Virginia, Saturday at 7:00 PM ET on FOX