An Epic Matchup

The Texas Tech Raiders take on the Oklahoma Sooners on November 22 at 8:00 pm. This will be one of the best if not the best offensive games of the year. Texas Tech with Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree are averaging about 47 points a game. The Oklahoma Sooners on the other hand are averaging 51 points a game, so this is going to be an offensive game all the way. I believe that, although these are the two best offenses in football, that the game will be won by defense because whichever defense gives the best performance will win the game and be eligible for a BCS game. The defenses on both teams are pretty balanced and will both have a tough time against each team. I believe though that by the end of the game the winner will be the Texas Tech Raiders.

Lewis Jackson 23

If you have been to any of the Purdue men's basketball games this year, then you have noticed Lewis Jackson. For what he lacks in size he makes up for with speed. Standing at 5 foot 9 inches, he is one of the quickest point guards I have ever seen. It is his bursts of speed and unbelievable acceleration that makes him so quick and elusive. He is really great at catching his defenders unaware and flat-footed. The second this happens, he makes his move and is driving the lane before his defenders even know what happened. He is also capable of finishing the play with a spectacular lay-up or has the vision to dish the ball off to one of his teammates. He is a really incredible player for a freshman.

Although Lewis does not start, he is still a huge part of our Purdue team this year. He is always one of the first players to go in off the bench. He gets a lot of playing time, averaging just over 21 minutes a game. He has not been a play maker in the sense of incredible stats. He is only averaging 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists per game; but he is definitely noticeable out on the court. His presence is definitely felt by his teammates and the opposing players. The only faults I have found with him is his perimeter shooting and his free throws. He is hasn't made any 3-points yet out of 4 attempts and is only 3 for 6 in free throws. As he matures as a player and gets more experience, his numbers will continue to go up. We need to keep in mind that he is still very young and is new to college basketball.

Even though it is early in the season and his college career, I can see this guy being a huge part of Purdue's team for years and possible one of the best point guards in college basketball, once he learns the college game a little better. Keep watching Lewis Jackson as he makes plays for our Purdue Boilermakers this season.

Purdue Boilers on a Roll

The Boilers basketball team has been doing a great job by filling seats in Mackey and by showing the Purdue fans that they can actually have faith in a sport, since the football team has been playing such bad football this year. Their first regular season opponent was the Detroit Titans who Purdue dominated late in the game to come out with a score of 82-50. Leading scorer for Purdue was E’twaun Moore with 18 and JaJuan Johnson followed with a close 17 points and because of his amazing height and wingspan (he has a 7’ 3” wingspan) he also had 4 rebounds and a block. Robbie Hummel rounds out the top three in scoring for Purdue with a total of 14 points. The top scorers for the Titans were Thomas Kennedy with 18 points and Eulis Stephens with 12 points. The Boilers just dominated this team with athleticism and defensive pressure.

Eastern Michigan was there next opponent and they dominated them in just the same fashion as the team before. They did this by out hustling, rebounding, and scoring the Eastern Michigan Eagles. The leading scorers for Purdue were Robbie Hummel with 18 points and E’twaun Moore with 17 points. The leading scorers for the Eagles were Justin Dobbins with 16 points and Brandon Bowdry with 15 points. The main reason that Purdue was able to beat the Eagles was not because of their scoring but because of their tremendously, effective defensive play. They started out losing but then their defense came into the game and changed the momentum for the rest of the game.

Loyola was Purdue’s next victim as they have advanced in the NIT pre-season easily so far and Loyola was just another day at the park. The scoring this game was much more spread out with E’twaun Moore ending with the top score of 14 points for Purdue. Robbie Hummel had 13 points, while Marcus Green had 12 points and 10 boards. The leading scorers for Loyola were Justin Cerasoli with 14 and Darrin Williams and Andy Polka both had 6 points. The Boilers won this game with heart because starting out they missed their first 10 of 15 shots from the floor but their defense was phenomenal and kept them in the game until the final buzzer went off and Purdue gained a W.

Although Purdue has had a strong showing in their first 3 games they will need to step it up because the deeper they get into the NIT Season Tip-Off the harder teams they are going to face. Next game is at Boston College and should be somewhat of a test because Boston College, although not as good as past seasons, still has some playmakers that could give Purdue a loss. Purdue should prevail though unless they keep playing the way that they have because every game they have played so far they have been under fifty percent from the file this meaning that they only make about forty seven percent of their shots each game that number needs to go up into the high fifties if they want to be contenders when March rolls around.
Now to talk about why it is that Purdue IS GOING to make it to the FINAL FOUR!! Purdue’s defense has been spectacular so far. They pressure the ball on almost all who ever touch it and Robbie Hummel’s tremendous pressure helps create frustration in whoever he is guearding which then usually leads to turnovers for their opponents and buckets for Purdue. They are also great as a cohesive unit working together for a common goal (i.e. team definition, thanks engineering 126) and that goal is to stop any team from scoring and they do a fine damn job of that. Another quality that makes them dangerous is there explosiveness and with Lewis Jackson as backup point they have that explosiveness that can be very dangerous. The final reason that they WILL make it to the FINAL FOUR is that they can change up their style of play from a run and gun fast break team to a half-court setup team and the players they have to do this are in phenomenal shape and have the athleticism to almost run with everyone. I believe that with the help of better post play by JaJuan Johnson, better shooting percentages, and keeping up with the defense the Purdue Boilermakers will be an exceptional team to watch this year.

Rivalry Game to End Season

If you are a Purdue fan, there is no doubt that the Indiana Hoosiers are the one team that you cannot stand losing to. It is the biggest rival game of the year and the last game of the season. There is no doubt that both team will play their hardest since they have nothing else to look forward too. Both teams have a losing record, but none want to lose the last game, especially to their worst foe. Purdue (3-8) and Indiana (3-8) will face each other this weekend in what should be the best game of the year.

Purdue's offense will be led by seniors Curtis Painter and Kory Sheets. There is no question that Painter will start this game. I am not sure if Painter will play the whole game or if his shoulder is still hurting a little. If so, Justin Siller will come in and try to get the offense going. I predict that Kory Sheets will have a remarkable game. There is nothing holding him back. Playing against our biggest rival, the last game of the year, the last game of his career: Sheets has nothing to look forward to. So why wouldn't he play his best and leave Purdue on a good note. Senior Greg Orton has been a huge part in our passing game this year so expect him to contribute a lot.

The defense will be led by senior linebacker Anthony Heygood. Heygood has had a really incredible season this year. Our Boiler defense has all together had a really good year and has kept us in a lot of the games. There would be no reason for a defensive collapse this weekend. Expect a strong show from our Purdue defense, especially Anthony Heygood.

The Hoosier offense does not have a big star on their team. They don't even have a outstanding number one quarterback. Quarterbacks Kellen Lewis and Ben Chappell have thrown the ball almost the same number of times and for about the same yardage. They have 5 running backs that have carried the ball 50 times or more, and 6 wide receivers that have over 150 receiving yards. This team will not look towards just one guy to carry the team. Purdue won't have to worry about one guy making big plays the whole game. But then again, we cannot just focus on one man to shut down their offense. Indiana will keep our team guessing on defense the whole game since they run about as effectively as they can throw. I have no doubt that our defense can keep up with this offense though.

With our many talented senior graduating and head coach Joe Tiller retiring after this year, our Purdue Boilermakers will put on a show this weekend by beating the Indiana Hoosiers. There is nothing better than playing a big rival at home. Everyone should be at the game this weekend and cheer for our Boilermakers in the last football game of the year.

Rice one of the best college baseball teams in the nation has decided to play fall baseball games and it is paying off wonderfully. Teams are starting to begin games in fall instead of the 56 games that they play in the spring it would cut down that number to 52 making it easier on the players. Rice Coach Wayne Graham said, “Texas and us both are in the same position they took three weeks at least out of the schedule, and we both have to take nine days off for finals. Anyone who says playing 56 games in that short a time doesn't put stress on their academics, they don't have any academics. It's no good to play 56 games for us, in fact we probably ought to cut down to 50. But 52, we'll manage. Intra-squading yourselves for five weeks, it's hard to keep them motivated.” This is a very good point because playing that many games straight would put a huge strain on academics.

Rice has played two 14-innning exhibition games against the Texas Longhorns and have came out on top of each by the score of 13-6 each game. Freshman Anthony Rendon and Brock Holt are ready for the real thing said coach Graham. The feeble holt has been hitting the balls repeatedly and been fielding like a pro says Graham and Rendon has been doing a great job at third and may have the position if he keeps up his excellent fielding.

Jimmy Comerota, who played second last year, is going to take over first although he may be switching it up with the freshman later on down the road. He has been hitting the weight room during the offseason because he is much bigger and stronger and during the exhibition games has been hitting the ball in the gaps.

Junior Diego Seastrunk has been moved to catcher and will more than likely stay there the entire season. “There is no tool missing from his catching arsenal,” Graham said. “His hands behind the plate are excellent, he's just got to keep working on his blocking skills, because he can throw, there's no doubt about that.” With his strong arm it will be extremely hard for anyone to steal on him.

The pitching on the other hand is a little shaky because of the loss of seniors from last year. Ace Ryan Berry has improved substantially this season by improving his changeup and with his fierce curve and fastball he will be a force to be reckoned with. Graham has been saying that his team will rely on freshman lefty Taylor Wall who has a ferocious three pitch mix that can fool any hitter. Anthony Fazio will also be relied on and lefty Matt Evers will fill Cole St. Clair’s vacated spot as closer for the Owls.

The Rice Owls have a good chance of making it to the College World Series this year and leaving their mark on every team they play. They have a good lineup and a developing bullpen that could leave hitters wondering what just happened. Their defense is probably their strongest point because of their speed and exceptionally good freshman.

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma

The Texas Tech Raiders have another challenging, maybe even the most formidable opponent, the Oklahoma Sooners. With two of the best offenses in College Football this should be one of the highest scoring games of the year. Texas Tech is averaging around 47 points a game while Oklahoma is averaging more than 50 points a game; this just proves that it will most likely be an extremely high scoring game. Texas Tech’s defense is the only thing that will possibly put them over the Oklahoma Sooners because the Sooners defense is not as quick and good as the Raiders defense. Although they are still really good and have a damn good defensive line that can pretty much own any offensive line except for maybe Texas Tech’s because they are just that good. The game will probably be one of the most watched games of the year because of the stakes that are on the line. If Texas Tech wins they could be put in front of Alabama as the number one team in the nation and if they lose then they could drop out of the running for a bid in a BCS bowl game. Oklahoma on the other hand needs to win the game to even be considered for a BCS bowl game because of their loss earlier this season. I believe that because of the way Texas Tech has been playing and because of the teams that they have beat in the last two games they will come away with the W and become the number on team in the nation.

Graham and Crabtree

Texas Tech’s quarterback and wider receiver tandem of Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree is one of the best, if not the best, in the nation and maybe ever. Both players are in the top five for the Heisman trophy because of their amazingly brilliant and prophetic season that they are having. Graham Harrell has thirty six touchdowns, four thousand yards passing, a 71.7 percent completion rating, and a passer rating of 169.18 passer rating which is extremely high for this late in the season. Harrell is having one of the most amazing seasons that a quarterback could have. Now Michael Crabtree is THE BEST wide receiver in college football and has the size, power, speed and hands to go by and run over anyone in the league. He has made too many unbelievable catches to even name and this just shows how great of an athlete he really is. Crabtree has seventy-eight receptions, over one thousand yards and eighteen touchdowns. His stats are great but really don’t show his entire arsenal which can only be seen when he plays. These two are a great tandem and have the stats to back it up.

Purdue's Next Challenge

This weekend the Purdue Boilermakers travel to play the unranked Iowa Hawkeyes. Just because Iowa isn't ranked doesn't mean they won't be a challenge. The Hawkeyes are one of the under rated teams this year. Their defense may be their only weak point on the team because their offense has done amazing this year.

The Hawkeyes leading running back Shonn Greene has led the team rushing for over 1300 yards this season. With 13 touchdowns and an average of 6.1 yards per carry, I would consider him one of the best running backs in the Big Ten. The only bad thing about him is that he is not that great of a catcher. He only has 8 catches this year for 49 yards. At least the Boilers don't have to worry about his catching the ball that much.

The biggest struggle that Purdue will have is containing their quarterback Ricky Stanzi. Stanzi has thrown for almost 1500 yards this season and has an average quarterback rating of 134.1 which is quite remarkable for this late into the season. On the bright side for the Boilermakers, he has only thrown for 10 touchdowns while throwing 7 interceptions.

A large part to Stanzi success has been his wide receivers. Iowa has 4 receivers with 200 or more receiving yards, all with an average of over 12 yards per catch. Purdue's defense needs to limit the big plays down field and force the quarterback to throw shorter passes. If we let them get a couple big plays down field, it will kill our team's morale.

If Purdue can stop the run and force their quarterback to throw shorter passes, our defense should be successful and it will be up to the Boilermaker offense to put points on the board. This is going to be a test for our defense and their ability to shut down their big play makers.

No Bowl Game for the Boilers

For only the second time in Coach Joe Tillers career of 12 years, his team has not made it to a bowl game. A sad occasion since this is the last year that Joe Tiller is going to be head coach. It is too bad that Joe Tiller's last season did not turn out the way that he or his players thought that it would.

"This definitely hurts," senior wide receiver Greg Orton said. "So far, this season has been really disappointing. It's another loss that really hurts. We're tired of losing." This was not been a very good season for the seniors on the team, but they are not giving up yet. "It's time to respond to the situation we're in," senior wide receiver Desmond Tardy said. "There's no bowl now, so we can either give up or come out still fighting. I believe everybody has the mindset to come out fighting." The seniors on the team are definitely not going to give up since this is going to be their last 2 games of football. They need to rally the rest of the team and encourage them not to get down or give up. The Boilers have a good chance to win both of the remaining games this year if they come together, play well, and don't give up.

Starting Quarterback Against Iowa?

Purdue head coach Joe Tiller has not yet said who the starting quarterback will be this weekend against Iowa. He believes that Curtis Painter has recovered enough from his shoulder injury that he should be able to start for the Boilermakers. If Painter is able to play this weekend, I would bet that he will be the starting quarterback for Purdue.

However, Painter has not recovered perfectly from his injury yet. It was just on Sunday that he was able to put his arm above his head and start throwing a couple of passes. He most likely will not play the entire game. He won't be able to throw the deep ball as well as he used to, but Tiller believes that he can still get the job done as quarterback.

Siller is recovering from a couple of injuries from the Michigan State game. He left the game with a hyper extended knee and a bruised sternum. The team doctors don't think the injuries are serious and they cleared him for practice on Sunday. There is no doubt that Justin Siller will be ready to play this weekend.

Quarterbacks Curtis Painter and Justin Siller are battling in practice to see which one is going to be able to perform the best this weekend at Iowa. Joe Tiller likes his senior quarterback Curtis Painter so if Painter has recovered enough and is able to play, he will be the starting quarterback for the Boilers. I would expect Justin Siller to take over a quarterback throughout the game.

Coming Off a Solid Win

Purdue played some great fundamental football last weekend. They connected on a lot of their passes and ran the ball very well, and yes, a couple of huge trick plays helped their stats quite a bit. But what impressed me the most was Siller ability to play smart football. He never got in trouble and just heaved a pass up just to get rid of it. He held on to it and would either take the sack or throw it away out of bounds. There is no need to throw an interception when you could easily just lose a down and maybe a couple of yards.

Justin Siller will have to play another great game this weekend at number 18 Michigan State. If Purdue has any chance for an upset, Siller cannot turn the ball over at all or else the Michigan State defense will make us suffer. Kory Sheets needs to be at the top of his game and be a playmaker for the Boilers. He needs to break a couple tackles and get some long runs to open up the passing game and play action. Michigan State could be one of the toughest games we will play, but if we play good fundamental football, Purdue has a chance to come out on top.

????Texas Knocked Off???

Texas vs. Texas Tech…I mean I every knows of the Texas Long Horns and how they have been one of the top twenty five teams for the last couple years I mean Vince Young brought a new idea of how a quarterback could run and pass the ball in college and also made it known that a Black player could be good at something other than wide receiver, running back and defense. Texas also is known for its football program, unlike Texas Tech who is widely known for the basketball program mostly because of Bob Knight who coached the men’s basketball team from 2000-2008 and was widely known before then for the disputes of what happened at Indiana University. The Texas Tech football team, on the other hand, has only been growing in public’s eye since they have been winning and winning more; you could also count on the stats that Graham Harrell is putting up. He has been completing seventy percent of his passes and has thrown for 30 touchdowns along with thirty six hundred yards. He has brought fame to this otherwise dead program for college football.

Now to the Texas vs. Texas Tech game, it began as if Texas Tech was going to go away with game, for Texas’ defense was just giving away points because they could not stop the Texas Tech Raiders high powered offense. By the end of the second quarter, halftime, the Score was Texas Tech 22 and Texas 6. This just shows how Texas Tech is growing as a team and becoming one of the dominant teams in D-1.

Then after halftime and almost ten minutes into the third quarter Jordan Shipley ran back a punt forty five yards for a touchdown. Texas then thought that they had the momentum and stopped the Raiders (Texas Tech) three and out and got the ball back after a punt of 30 yards by Texas Tech Punter Johnathan LaCour. Then after an incompletion and two penalties the Texas Longhorns were backed into their territory on the seven yard line and then the momentum was changed again when Daniel Charbonnet intercepted a pass from Colt McCoy on the eighteen and returned it into the end zone for a touchdown. This made the score 13-29, Texas Tech, after the extra point made by Matt Williams. Then later in the quarter Colt McCoy threw a thirty seven yard touchdown to Malcolm Williams and that score of 19-29 (Texas failed on the two point conversion) was the score after three quarters. The Texas Longhorns had outscored the Raiders in the third and were eager to extend this into the fourth quarter and win the game to keep their number one spot in the BCS and AP polls.

It started out this way with a touchdown nine minutes into the game, on a ninety one yard pass from Colt McCoy to Malcolm Williams. This brought the score to 26-29, Texas Tech, and thus the comeback was on for the Texas Longhorns although the Texas Tech Raiders began to come back but only scored a field goal on their next drive and then the imaginable happened with one minute and twenty nine seconds left in the game Texas running back Vondrell McGee ran in for a touchdown which put the Texas Longhorn up by one point. Texas had came back from being down the entire game and now the Texas Tech Raiders had only one minute and twenty nine seconds left to either score or get into field goal range. Texas squib kicked the ball down to Texas Tech’s forty nine yard line. Then Graham Harrell completed four straight passes, down to the Texas twenty eight yard line. Then with ten seconds left in the game instead of going for the field goal Graham Harrell threw the ball to the best wide receiver in the nation, Michael Crabtree, who then caught the ball and spun out of what would have been a tackle and then side stepped another defender and walked right in to the end zone and scored for the winning touchdown for the Texas Tech Raiders. The knock off of Texas just shows that even a Powerhouse that everyone thinks is going to go all the way may not win the one game that gets them there.

Heisman Won…Already?

I have talked about the Heisman multiple times and have good reason too because of all the changes that have taken place throughout the season. I mean at the beginning of the season I could have sworn that Tim Tebow would be at the top of my list throughout and at the end of the season. As you can tell the last time I talked about him was about four weeks ago, so I can officially say that Archie Griffin will still be the only player to win the Heisman twice after this year in College Football. Now picking a winner is going to be much more difficult than I had assumed at the start of the season because well there are just too many damn quarterbacks that are having phenomenal seasons. Although Tim Tebow is still in the running he is coming in at number four for me. At number three I have Michael Crabtree because of his exceptional versatility as a wide receiver. The man can catch pretty much anything thrown at him, he can block about as good as a fullback, and he can run through or around you with his quickness and strength. At number two it is going to be Colt McCoy because of the numbers he is putting up and the fact that his team is 8-1. At number one though is Graham Harrell because his thirty touchdowns and number one offense is just making his stock shoot up and up. It also doesn’t hurt that he only has five interceptions, it also helps that he has a passer rating of 165.9 which is the highest it can possibly go. As long as Texas Tech keeps their win streak alive and Harrell keeps posting these numbers then he WILL win the Heisman.

Trick Plays Keep Purdue Alive

On a fourth and long for the Boilermakers, it looked like Purdue would have to give up the ball with only minutes remaining in the Fourth quarter and a tied score. Joe Tiller had other plans. He pulled the fake punt out of his playbook. Justin Siller threw the ball to Anthony Heygood who ran with it for 61 yards on a fake punt. Anthony Heygood is a linebacker right? Yes, a linebacker ran the ball for 61 yards down field, but one thing that I never would have guessed was that Heygood used to be a running back. Purdue got pretty lucky that the play actually worked since the Michigan coach knew the fake was coming. He could tell that the formation was a little off from what a normal punt looks like and he was yelling to his team to adjust and be ready for the fake, but Purdue hiked the ball before he could get the word to his team. Can you believe that the fake punt to Heygood was not even the best trick play of the game for the Boilers.

With less than a minute left in the game, Siller threw a curl route to Greg Orton and right when Orton was about to get tackled, he lateralled the ball to Desmond Tardy who was running an under route right behind him. Tardy grabbed the ball and ran up the sideline without being touched since the defenders were caught flat footed and off-guard. Yes, Purdue just did the hook-and-lateral, the most effective, yet risky play in football. For this play to work, everything has to be perfect. Orton has to get enough space between himself and his defender and Tardy has to run right behind him right before Orton gets hit. I have no idea what happened to the Wolverine safeties on this play. There was nobody left for Tardy to beat after he got the ball. He only had to outrun the opposing cornerbacks who were trying to come from the opposite side of the field. Michigan never knew what hit them. It was my favorite trick play executed to perfection. Hopefully Purdue has a couple more of these trick plays they will use in the few remaining games this season.

Michigan One Dimensional

Purdue got its first victory in football in 5 games by defeating the Michigan Wolverines 48-42. Justin Siller had a tremendous game the team's confidence for the entire team. He completed 21 passes out of 34 attempts for 266 yards producing 3 touchdowns and did so without throwing an interception, something that Purdue has not been able to do for a while. Kory Sheets also played well running for over 100 yards.

Michigan's offense was one dimensional the entire game. Their entire game was focused on running the ball. Michigan's quarterback Steven Threet had only 9 completions in the entire game. It wasn't that hard for the Boilers to figure out a defensive plan to stop the Wolverines since they ran it the whole time. The only reason that Michigan was able to stay in the game as long as they did was their specials teams. Both of their kick returners were incredibly fast and hard to take down which resulted in great field position for the Wolverines. They seemed to slip from our hands numerous times, and one of their kick returners, Martavious Odoms, was able to return a punt for a touchdown.

If Michigan had mixed up their play calling involving more passing plays, I don't know if our Boilers would have been able to come up with a win. Stopping an offense that relies on only running the ball is something that most defenses will be able to shut down. The Wolverines downfall was not using a very diverse playbook where the defense knew exactly who was getting the ball at all times.