NCAA Football Preview - Purdue Boilermakers
Sports Network | August 12, 2008
OFFENSE: Quarterback Curtis Painter threw for a school-record 546 yards in leading the Boilermakers to victory in the Motor City Bowl. It was a fitting end to a solid junior year for Painter, who completed 63 percent of his passes for 3,846 yards, with 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He is on pace to replace Drew Brees as the school's all-time leading passer.
Senior Kory Sheets (168 carries, 859 yards, 11 TDs) and junior Jaycen Taylor (107-560-4) return to the backfield after combining for 1,419 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2007 and bigger things are expected this time around.
The passing offense revolved around wideout Dorien Bryant and tight end Dustin Keller last year, but both have graduated. Greg Orton figures to be more involved after finishing with 67 catches, 752 yards and three TDs in 2007.
The offensive line has plenty of continuity and although the team must replace two starters, seven of the top 10 linemen return, including left tackle Sean Sester (6-7, 325), who earned All-Big Ten accolades in 2006.
DEFENSE: Linebacker Anthony Heygood (6-2, 230) is coming off a season in which he finished second on the team with 81 tackles, in addition to a team-high 15 tackles for loss. Junior Jason Werner (6-4, 221) and sophomore Kevin Green (6-2, 236) are two other linebackers to keep an eye on. On the defensive line, Purdue graduated the few players who generated any pressure on the quarterback. Ryan Baker (6-5, 280) and Alex Magee (6-4, 295) will be counted on to provide leadership in their senior seasons. The Boilermakers appear to be pretty well off in the defensive backfield, with starter David Pender (6-1, 180) returning at cornerback, and starting free safety Brandon King (5-11, 192) also getting work at corner. Torri Williams (6-2, 208) and Josh McKinley are the leading candidates to step in at both safety spots.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Kicker Chris Summers made considerable strides (18-of-22) last year as a sophomore. He may end up logging double duty as a punter, as well. Purdue led the Big Ten in kick return yardage, but much of the credit for that goes to Dorien Bryant. But Desmond Tardy, who returned one of his eight kicks for a touchdown, is back in the mix. Tardy will also likely be given a shot at returning punts.
OUTLOOK: This will be coach Joe Tiller's final season, so certainly there is a motivation factor for the players to send him out in style. At Big Ten media day, Penn State coach Joe Paterno spoke about how coach Tiller brought a whole new concept to the style of play in the conference, something that other coaches around the league have tried to imitate.
"Joe came in and he started to open up offenses and created a lot of problems, and we in coaching are all people that are mimics and I think Joe did that and he did it with a lot of class," Paterno said.
Replacing Tiller will be former Eastern Kentucky head coach and long-time Tiller confidante, Danny Hope, who was hired in January to serve as an assistant for the upcoming season. Despite a bit of uncertainty, the coaching staff feels pretty good about the upcoming season. Uncertainty, because 15 potential starters missed a good portion of spring practice with various injuries. And with a roster half-filled with underclassmen, you can't be too certain of anything, really.
The schedule is going to be a grind. The Central Michigan game on Sept. 20 is a revenge game. The Boilermakers also play at Notre Dame, home against Penn State, at Ohio State then at Northwestern all in a row. They also play Michigan and at Michigan State in back-to-back weeks. Expecting a fairytale ending to Tiller's tenure in West Lafayette isn't realistic.
