Time to Pull Against the Black and Gold – the Vanderbilt Predicto

First off, I would have guessed “blowing the admiral” was something else entirely.

Hey, it’s Vandy week. In the SEC, it just means more. Except at Vandy, where it normally means boating metaphors (hell, come to think of it, why isn’t PJ Fleck there?) and losing football games. Did you know that Vandy is the only division 1 school to not have a separate athletic department? They disbanded it in 2003 and all athletics decisions are under the division of student life. And do you know who is credited with deciding that college athletics needed to be “reformed,” and the emphasis returned to the student part of the term “student-athlete”? Gordon Gee. Yeah, that one.

Anyway, Purdue is a 7-point favorite against Vandy and the O/U is 55.5 points. I’ll set the Purdue flea flicker O/U at 0.5.

1.       Will Purdue cover the seven point spread against Vandy? That is, will they beat Vandy by more than a touchdown?

2.       Will Purdue and Vanderbilt combine for OVER 55.5 points or UNDER 55.5 points?

3.       Will Purdue execute OVER 0.5 flea flickers or UNDER 0.5 flea flickers (i.e., none)?

4.       What is your final score predicto?

 Let’s go.

1.       Will Purdue cover the seven point spread against Vandy? That is, will they beat Vandy by more than a touchdown?

Boilerdowd: So we’re doing this gambling thing every week now? Sure...Purdue will win by more than seven points.

Swamy: I wasn't confident last week in Purdue covering the spread, but I am this week. I think this is the wake up call, even though Vandy is a significantly better team than Nevada. Let's go with Purdue winning by more than 7 at home.

Michael: I gotta believe they do it this week. If they can't, we are in for a rough season...

Dave: The whole problem is describing what a touchdown is. Technically speaking, they can beat Vandy by a TD and not cover the spread; in useful terms, "a touchdown" is 7 points only because not enough teams go for two.

What? Sorry, my producer is informing me to stick to the point, no one cares about that other sh-t.

Like 2018 Purdue, this year's Vanderbilt team opened with a conference game against a likely division winner. Unfortunately, scoring 6 on Georgia tells us almost nothing about the Commodores, so let's throw caution to the winds and give the points. (I suppose technically it's laying the points, but I thought we agreed this was a family-friendly site.)

J: While I’m concerned, I’ll go with confidence in the Brohm Squad to come home and have these guys ready to lay waste to all comers for four quarters. Yes, Purdue covers.

2.       Will Purdue and Vanderbilt combine for OVER 55.5 points or UNDER 55.5 points?

Boilerdowd: I don’t think so...Unless Purdue’s fourth quarter Nevada defense plays all game versus Vandy.

Swamy: Purdue's over/unders in the Brohm era are so funny. Give me the sliiight under, just because I'm not sure if Vandy's offense will be able to put up the points to push it over.

Michael: I think it would be foolish for me to bet the under with this team (considering both the offense AND the defense) at any point so sure, I'll take the over.

Dave: There likely isn't much we can take from the Nevada game, but keep in mind that Purdue's last three home games have had total points of 69, 74 and 91. Did both Purdue and Vanderbilt upgrade their defenses enough for the under? I don't think so - take the over.

J: I feel like you have to go over when it’s two 6-6 teams from a year ago desperate to not start 0-2.

3.       Will Purdue execute OVER 0.5 flea flickers or UNDER 0.5 flea flickers (i.e., none)?

Boilerdowd:  Over...Coach Brohm sounded like he got a wake up call last week with his play calling...and it’s a home game so let’s have some fun.

Swamy: Give me that big juicy OVER. I want to see Sindelar's cannon to Bell or Moore again this week. Sindelar's looked like the best quarterback in the Big Ten for the first, let's say, two and a half quarters against Nevada, and the offensive line didn't look like a disaster (despite the minimal emphasis on the running game). I say the friendly confines of Ross Ade helps that last an entire game against Vandy.

Michael: None; I wonder if this game will be called a little more conservatively. Although just typing that out makes me feel like a moron. Screw it; I'm taking the over.

Dave: Assuming that we are not counting fake flea flickers and are counting any kind of variation that ends up with the QB getting a pass attempt, I'm going to take the under. I'm going to guess that Vanderbilt isn't the kind of defense likely to be caught out of position, so Brohm's going to save those for a later game.

J: These guys love the flicker so I’ll go over because it’s gonna happen. It works too much.

4.       What is your final score predicto?

Boilerdowd: Purdue 31, Vandy 23. Lots of room for improvement after last week’s fourth quarter collapse...hopefully everyone is holding hands and getting along...team chemistry matters.

Swamy: Here's a fun stat about last week - Purdue had a 95.5% win probability with 3:30 left to play. It's distressing how accustomed we Purdue fans are to being in that outlier 5%. [Not sure if that’s a “fun” stat. –J] Purdue stays in the 30s, and Holt's defense will be a little more motivated to finish the job. Purdue 35, Vandy 17.

Michael: Mistakes will be limited (especially on punt returns) and Purdue wins, 38-28.

Dave: Fun facts: Purdue will have played an SEC opponent during the regular season for three straight years. Prior to that, the last time they played an SEC team during the regular season ... was 1942, losing at Vanderbilt 26-0, in the second year of a home-and-home series. Purdue is 1-3 all-time against SEC teams (i.e. not independents or Southern Conference teams) in regular-season play, with the lone win coming at Missouri in 2017. 0-2 at home? You never forget your first: Purdue 41, Vanderbilt 22.

J: I’m very alarmed at the prospect of things unraveling into an 0-5 start. However, I keep reminding myself that this is not a Hope or Hazell team. The program is now much closer to the Tiller era, where bad losses sometimes seemed to refocus the guys instead of breaking them. I’ll go with Purdue in a fun one at home. Purdue 38, Vanderbilt 24.