I guess the next time when I'm faced with choosing should I go with logic or my gut, I should choose logic. I was pretty sure Purdue would lose, but thought for some reason they'd pull out the victory. I was wrong...
I'm pretty angry about this loss, so I'm not going to post a whole bunch. But here are some thoughts:
-Bryant played very well and was vocally-leading the offense on the sidelines as well. He's a great kickoff returner...but either PSU's kicker is ridiculously fast, or Bryant doesn't run a 4.35 as it's claimed that he does.
-Summers looked great- He kept Purdue in the game.
-Taylor's arm seemed to have made a difference in his play today (he had a fumble and dropped an easy pass).
-While Painter holds onto the ball to long on many occasions, this O-line looked pretty shabby again. The pocket was collapsing all afternoon.
-Greg Orton, who I thought was sure-handed had a couple of costly drops again...and Lymon, conversely had some big catches (even a TD that he didn't get credit for).
-This Big Ten officiating crew needs to either be investigated or at minimum get sent back to officiating school for a refresher. They flat-out missed a lot of calls and didn't seem to understand the rules during important situations.
-Players make plays...not enough plays were made by Purdue to win. That said, Purdue competed and should have gotten their eighth win of this season. Shoulda, coulda, didn't. Purdue was a seven-point dog and lost by seven...Surprise, surprise.
This quote by Dustin Keller sums it up:
"Three of the biggest games on the schedule, and we folded in each of them."
The program and more specifically, the guys coming back next year need to win three in a row now. When facing criticism and concern, nothing silences like winning.
More Bad Officiating
The officials in Notre Dame stadium did their best to keep their Irish in the game, but the Middies dug down to beat UND in triple-OT. Not even the decided Xs & Os advantage of the Manatee could lead the more-talented, bigger and stronger Irish team to a victory at home. My favorite call of the game by the genius was going for it on 4th & long when a 45-yd. field goal would have won it for the Irish in regulation.
Up yours, Lou Holtz! Not even your cursed pep talk could with its reverse-psychology-riddled tone could help your Irish to a victory.
Hey Domers, wasn't this one of your guaranteed victories?
UND's magical season dances on to 1-8 (one more and it'll be a UND record...Dig deep, fellas, I have complete faith that you can do it).