I left the game early. Here are my thoughts:
Hardy should have hired a dedicated lb coach. With coach Donnie untimely leaving, and a GA line coach, it is too much for him, especially for one of the youngest defenses in the nation.
Many people think the D scheme won’t work. I have many times said there is an over reliance on turnovers as opposed to fundamentals. It can work, imo, but only if you have a very good line. Without it, it is a disaster. I questioned what changes we would make before the game b/c giving the Purdue qb 5 plus seconds would allow him to carve up the defense. We made little changes for the game, and got ripped. This could have been seen a mile away.
Offensive scheme was decent. However, PU just started rushing 6 at us literally nearly every play, and while some decent calls were made, there was no execution. They completely sold out and wanted to make Bush throw every down. It worked.
This offense will work in the B10. It is built for college defenses. Rich Rod never had an issue putting up points.
We are 3-3. As I indicated, Phil Steele stated with all the freshmen played, we would improve this year, but not enough for a bowl. He believes UI will be in a bowl, perhaps a good one, in 2019. I personally think he is the most knowledgeable college football analyst in the country, and his opinions have some weight with me.
I believe the over under for wins was 3.5 this year. I can see us winning 1 or 2 more games. Few of us expected a bowl this year.
All that said, the coaching this week was unacceptable. The staff put a ton of focus on the Rutgers game. After winning, I believe they thought we would start coasting a bit. That is on them. The players didn’t help with their worst execution of the year, but no effective adjustments were made. That is troubling.
There are still 6 games left. I think we can be competitive. But I am not going to blame any fan for being completely pissed. They have every right to be.
My conclusion. Best way to look at it is one loss. This is a complete rebuild. The staff really needs to step it up. One game shouldn’t destroy a season, but the response to it could.
Hardy should have hired a dedicated lb coach. With coach Donnie untimely leaving, and a GA line coach, it is too much for him, especially for one of the youngest defenses in the nation.
Many people think the D scheme won’t work. I have many times said there is an over reliance on turnovers as opposed to fundamentals. It can work, imo, but only if you have a very good line. Without it, it is a disaster. I questioned what changes we would make before the game b/c giving the Purdue qb 5 plus seconds would allow him to carve up the defense. We made little changes for the game, and got ripped. This could have been seen a mile away.
Offensive scheme was decent. However, PU just started rushing 6 at us literally nearly every play, and while some decent calls were made, there was no execution. They completely sold out and wanted to make Bush throw every down. It worked.
This offense will work in the B10. It is built for college defenses. Rich Rod never had an issue putting up points.
We are 3-3. As I indicated, Phil Steele stated with all the freshmen played, we would improve this year, but not enough for a bowl. He believes UI will be in a bowl, perhaps a good one, in 2019. I personally think he is the most knowledgeable college football analyst in the country, and his opinions have some weight with me.
I believe the over under for wins was 3.5 this year. I can see us winning 1 or 2 more games. Few of us expected a bowl this year.
All that said, the coaching this week was unacceptable. The staff put a ton of focus on the Rutgers game. After winning, I believe they thought we would start coasting a bit. That is on them. The players didn’t help with their worst execution of the year, but no effective adjustments were made. That is troubling.
There are still 6 games left. I think we can be competitive. But I am not going to blame any fan for being completely pissed. They have every right to be.
My conclusion. Best way to look at it is one loss. This is a complete rebuild. The staff really needs to step it up. One game shouldn’t destroy a season, but the response to it could.
