I’ve been here before and it feels like crap!
In 2004 we lost game after game due to blown 4th quarter leads. Games that we should have won! 2005 wasn’t much different, but we managed to make it back to Shreveport (thanks to all of you who made that trip, AGAIN. Lord knows we didn’t want to either). Those were different times though. Mizzou wasn’t coming off of a recent rash of successful seasons with double digit wins. They hadn’t been churning out first round talent year after year or having multiple draft picks each year. So, Mizzou was patient with Coach Pinkel. Also, Gary was Mike Alden’s guy.
And one other thing…I truly believe they saw that we had a young, core group of leaders that just needed a few of the older, influential “bad apples” to graduate, so this younger group could take the reins and lead the team forward.
What scares me about this team is I don’t hear about any group of leaders, young or old. I don’t even hear about a single leader that everyone looks to for hope, guidance, or how to get to Harpo’s on Saturday night. When the ship is headed toward the rocks and no one can find the Captain or even the First Mate, it doesn’t give you much hope.
I say all of that to say, Barry Odom is not Jim Sterk’s guy. And I’m afraid he won’t be given the same amount of grace, given to GP.
With all of that being said, what we do know is that when they decide to, our offense can score points…a lot of them. And as bad as our defense was last week, if you take away the special teams score and the score off of the turnover at our own 25 yard line, the defense only gave up 17 points.
Enough of the doom and gloom.
RUC'S KEYS TO THE GAME
*CATCH THE BALL!!!
*Play with urgency
*Get pressure on David Blough
*Force turnovers
The most important thing Gary used to preach to us was CONSISTENCY. Be the same guy all the time. If you’re going to catch the ball, catch it every time. If you’re going to drop the ball, drop it every time (not literally, but you understand).
The premise behind this was, whatever you’re going to do, do it every time, so at least I know what I’m getting. Right now, we have no idea which receiving corps is going to show up. We could have 10 drops on Saturday or 2 receivers with over 100 yards receiving.
Purdue only has 1 sack in two games, so Lock should have no problem getting the ball to our receivers. Their secondary isn’t much of note. The have zero interceptions on the year and TJ Jallow, their starting Safety, won’t be 100% (if he plays at all), so our receivers should have no problem getting open. Catching the ball is a must if we want to win this game.
Play the game hungry! Like every down is your last! That’s the attitude this team needs to play with. Against another middle of the road, team that we should beat (but that can also beat us) this is a great opportunity to keep the naysayers from being able to say “same ol’ Mizzou”. Also, with Cross being fired, that’s just a sign of the beginning (or the end). If we drop this game, it may actually be the last down some guys play…or coach.
Purdue has given up 4.5 sacks so far this season and I expect Odom to have the defense running around with their hair on fire this week! No one knows yet, but it sounds to me like David Blough is going to start this week. He turned the ball over twice against Louisville, but had a strong performance against Ohio. I would like to think our defensive talent compares more to Louisville and if we can pressure Blough, I’d look for a similar performance.
**Justification for optimism** Given the team reaction to Barry’s hiring, I imagine they’ll step it up a notch, not wanting him to meet the same fate as Demonte Cross.
Two players to watch from Purdue are the linebackers, Ja’Whaun Bentley and TJ McCollum. Bentley is emerging as a play maker on defense. In the first two games he’s tallied up 16 tackles and forced two fumbles– one of which came on the goal line and prevented a touchdown. McCollum is leading the team in tackles with 18 and is always around the football. He has a relentless motor and will chase plays down from behind.
Of course it wouldn’t be a true Rucker Report if I didn’t mention the tight ends. Brycen Hopkins and Richie Worship have been turning some heads this season. Brycen, a former basketball player, at 6-5 240 lbs., is averaging 17.7 yards a catch. Richie is more on an H-back that can block and catch passes also. We’ve struggled with both tight ends we’ve faced this year, so this may be something to watch for this week too…just sayin.
24-21 Mizzou!
