SB Nation Seattle: All Posts by Travis Miller

Purdue Goes +1 On Day 2 At 2013 NCAA Women's Golf Championships

2013-05-22T17:59:30Z

Day two turned out exactly like day two for Purdue at the 2013 Women's NCAA Golf Championships. On Tuesday Purdue opened in 5th place with a 1-over par 289. That was their Wednesday score as well as consistency is always key in an event like this. Several other programs are still on the course, but Purdue is currently in sixth place as a team at 2-over par halfway through.

Purdue was as low as 4-under par early in the day and had moves up to third place but slowed as the day went on. it may not matter, however, as No. 1 USC moved into first place with a stunning 12-under par round to go to 16-under for the tournament. They currently lead second place Alabama by 12 strokes, who also finished early.

Aurora Kan was 1-under par on the day for Purdue and is in the top 10 individually at -2. Paula Reto is at even par for the tournament and was +1 on the day. Laura Gonzalez-Escallon fired a +1 today and is at the same for the tournament. Kishi Sinha is Purdue's No. 4 score with a +1 today. She birdied two of the last three holes to get that score. Maraux Vanmol is Purdue's fifth golfer and was at even par, but is +8 for the tournament. Only the top four scores for each team are used, however.

Know Thy Opponent 2013: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

2013-05-22T17:39:42Z

In 2012 Purdue played both teams that completed undefeated regular seasons in major college football on their home fields. In both games the Boilermakers played the hosts to a virtual draw despite being overmatched in nearly every category. Ohio State was 12-0, but had to survive late touchdown and two-point conversion drive with a backup quarterback and a minute to go while down 8. It should have never even gotten to that, as a blocked extra point earlier in the game prevented Purdue from having a two-possession lead at that point.

Notre Dame also went 12-0, but escaped on a last second field goal with a 20-17 home victory mostly thanks to a colossal coaching blunder by one Danny Hope. Caleb TerBush was ineffective in the first quarter, but Robert Marve led Purdue on a 58 yard touchdown drive in 13 played just before halftime to tie the game at 7. Purdue had momentum, Marve was hot, Purdue would get the ball to start the second half thinking upset. Instead, Hope sent TerBush out, who went 3-and-out, interception (that set up a crucial field goal), three-and-out while going 0-for-4 and gaining only 17 yards before Marve was sent back in.

We all know what happened next. Marve led a scoring drive and had Purdue in position for the tying score before he got hurt and TerBush completed a 15-yard pass for a TD with 2:12 left. Purdue lost on a field goal, but fans already turned on Hope for benching Marve in favor of TerBush. Did it cost Purdue the game? We'll never know, but Purdue certainly had its chances and a 10-minute stretch of no offense whatsoever under TerBush did not help those chances

Last season's Notre Dame game was the beginning of the end of Danny Hope. Had Purdue upset the Fighting Irish in South Bend who knows what it would have meant for not only Hope, but the positive momentum of the team. Instead, it started a 2-6 stretch where the Boilers looked awful in every loss except against the two unbeatens. The 2013 Notre Dame game now looms as a chance for Darrell Hazell to make his mark. It is the first Big Game under coach Hazell, and after Hope dragged the program down it could be a turning point much like the 1997 contest against the Irish.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

2012 Record: 12-1

Bowl Result: Lost to Alabama 42-14 in BCS Championship Game

Blog Representation: One Foot Down, UHND, NDNation, Irish Roundtable, Inside the Irish

Series with Purdue: Notre Dame leads 56-26-2 (Notre Dame leads Shillelagh portion 37-19)

Last Purdue win: 9/29/2007 at Purdue 33-19

Last Notre Dame win: 9/8/2012 at Notre Dame 20-17 (Notre Dame has won five straight).

Last Season for the Irish

There have been many false returns to glory for the Irish over the past 20 years. At one time both Ty Willingham and Charlie Weis were deemed as The Greatest Coaches In Human History, but last season the Irish finally returned to the nation's elite. Their 12-0 regular season was more than earned as they had a stifling defense and luck on their side in the form of Pittsburgh's kicker missing a game-clinching field goal in overtime.

After TerBush found Antavian Edison for the tying touchdown Notre Dame did not give up another touchdown for 13 quarters as they beat Michigan State 20-3, Michigan 13-6, and Miami 41-3. Notre Dame was 5-0 in games decided by a touchdown or less and beat both Stanford and Pittsburgh in overtime. The offense wasn't great, but the defense was up to the task by not giving up more than 20 points in regulation before the BCS title game. Four of the wins came over ranked teams, including Pac-12 and Rose Bowl winner Stanford as well as Big 12 co-champ Oklahoma.

On of the hardest things to do in sports, however, is go undefeated in consecutive seasons in college football. Not only do you need to be very good, but you need some luck along the way. Alabama may have won three of the last for National Championships, but each of the last two seasons they have dropped a home game. The 2013 Notre Dame schedule has plenty of landmines that could prevent another unbeaten run. They must go to Michigan and Stanford in addition to traveling to Purdue (hey, we gave them a game and we got rid of the one major factor in our loss). Michigan State has a strange hex on them in South Bend and must go there. Oklahoma and USC also come to South Bend.

The 2013 Irish will still be a very good team, but the odds of another spotless run seem very long.

Notre Dame Offense:

Last year at this time there was a QB debate between Everett Golson, Tommy Rees, Andrew Hendrix, and Gunner Kiel. Now, that debate is over. Golson started 11 games and was solid with 2,405 yards and 12 TDs against only six interceptions as a sophomore and will once again be the starter. Rees and Hendrix are back as solid backups, with Rees having the most experience. Rees, if you remember, was sort of a closer last season as he led the game-winning drive against Purdue.

Golson was an effective runner with 298 yards rushing and six touchdowns. He could be turned a little more loose this year too, thus opening the door for injury risk. Rees is a solid backup with multiple starts, however, and a very nice luxury to have.

The running game was held to only 52 yards by Purdue last season, which was a welcome relief after years of seeing guys like Cierre Wood run wild. Both Wood and Theo Reddick are gone with a combined 1,650 yards rushing, however, leaving George Atkinson III (361 yards, 5 TDs) as the top returner. Five-star running back Greg Bryant could also be an instant impact guy along with Four-star Tarean Folston, Amir Carlisle, and Cam McDaniel.

Golson has plenty of targets to throw to again. T.J. Jones (50-649-4) tied for the team lead in receptions with the departed Tyler Eifert. Eifert will be replaced by a massive tight en in Troy Nilklas, who only had five catches for 75 yards but is 6'7" and 260 pounds. Daniel Smith (7-47-0) and DaVaris Daniels (31-490-0) are at the top of the depth chart right now but there is a ton of recruited talent that can still make an impact.

The offensive line should give Golson lots of time to operate as it boasts three senior starters led by tackles Zack Martin and Christian Lombard. Purdue's defensive line was able to cause a lot of problems against them last season, however. As a whole, the line gave up just 18 sacks, but five of those came from Purdue players. Kawann Short sacked Golson twice while Greg Latta, Ryan Russell, and Nnamdi Ezenwa each got him once.

Notre Dame Defense:

January's National Title game featured the top two defenses in the country as the Irish gave up just 12.8 points per game. It could be excellent again thanks to two massive linesmen that are poised to have big years. I don't see how anyone can block 6'3" 347 pound Louis Nix, who is basically a Destroyer of Worlds at nose tackle. He had 50 tackles, 7.5 of them for loss. Then there is 6'6" 322 pound Stephen Tuitt. Tuitt had 12 quarterback sacks, a 77-yard fumble return for a touchdown, and 47 tackles. These guys are pretty terrifying.

At linebacker the Irish lost Manti Te'o as one of the country's best players overall. He had a team high 113 tackles, 11 passes defensed, and seven interceptions. He was excellent in pass coverage over the middle, so replacing him will be tough. Prince Shembo (51 tackles, 7.5 sacks), is effective as a rusher off the end in their 3-4. Carlo Calabrese and Danny Spond also bring them experience. Jaylon Smith also enters as a five-star recruit for good measure.

The pass defense gave up less than 200 yards through the air per game but has two sophomore starters in KeiVarae Russell and Nicky Maratti. Matthias Farley and Lo Wood (who missed all of last season) are also listed on the top of the depth chart, but five-star defensive back Max Redfield was one of the top high school safeties in America and signed on, so he could definitely see time in the middle.

Notre Dame Special Teams:

Kyle Brindza was called on 31 times last season and was almost automatic inside 40 yards. He had a long of 52, but was just 4 of 8 beyond 40 as he was 23-31 on the season. He'll handle kicking duties and he is currently slated to handle punting duties too.

Atkinson is a dangerous kick returner with speed to burn and will be a factor it that area even if he is not the top running back.

Game Outlook:

It's Notre Dame and Purdue. They are always loaded with the pick of four- and five-star recruits while Purdue doesn't have anything close to their talent. In three of the last four games Purdue has been close despite this, however. In 2009 Danny Hope's ridiculous timeout in the closing seconds was huge. In 2010 Hope again spiked Purdue by having the most vanilla offensive game plan I have ever seen despite talking about how Marve was going to open things up because of his talent. Then you had last year with juggling quarterbacks, which EVERYONE KNOWS DOES NOT WORK!

Does the addition of Darrell hazel change things in Purdue's favor? Many of the same pieces are back. Guys like Bruce Gaston, Dolapo MacArthy, Akeem Hunt, and Raheem Mostert had good games last year. Rob Henry has played against the Irish before even if he didn't throw a pass in that 2010 game. This is also a night game and there is an excitement around the program from the fans that was not there under Hope.

Danny Hope was a listless 0-4 against Notre Dame, mostly because he was a terrible coach when it came to facing them. He coached scared and made blunders a 12-year-old playing Madden wouldn't make. If Purdue has indeed upgraded its coaching (and I think it has) this could be a very exciting game. Despite everything last year Purdue was tied with two minutes to go and had them facing a 3^rd and 6 before John Goodman made a great catch to keep their winning drive alive. With a similar team and improved coaching, plus playing at home, Purdue at least has a chance.

Prediction:

I said Purdue had a chance. I didn't say we'd win. This is still an awfully good Notre Dame team with a solid front seven on defense that will be tough to move the football on. Purdue has a lot of questions offensively and we haven't even settled on a quarterback. Golson is a year better, but Purdue has handled mobile quarterbacks very well, so I think we can hang around. I think this is a game for about three quarters before a late score allows them to pull away. Notre Dame 23, Purdue 13

H&R Exclusive Interview With Keyante Green

2013-05-22T15:47:46Z

Reader and journalist Evan Massey e-mailed me earlier this week asking if I would be interested in a series of entrance interviews from some incoming Purdue football recruits. Naturally, I was happy to take advantage. Evan was able to interview three incoming football players and I will be publishing them as the week goes on.

First up in incoming four-star running back Keyante Green, who could play immediately this fall:

Evan: What made you choose to sign with Purdue? What made them the right fit for you?

Keyante: When I went there and met wit the players, I just felt home with the guys, and when they got a new coach and I met and talked with him, I just felt like God has meant for me to be at Purdue.

Evan: For those not familiar with your game, what can we expect to see from you on the field?

Keyante: I'm physical. You won't seeme juke or anything like that. You will see me stiff arm a couple of people but I'm just physical and you won't see my try to run away from people that are bigger than me. I will consistently try to run them over.

Evan: Purdue has had a rough past couple of seasons. What do you think you guys need to do to get back on top of the Big Ten?

Keyante: I just think Coach Hazzell knows what he is doing, and as long as we buy in and do what he tells us to do, we will be fine with everything. Take each game one by one. I have talked to some of the players and we plan on doing extra work because people doubt us and we will show them what we are made of this season.

Evan: What would you say are your individual and team goals for your career with the Boilermakers?

Keyante: When I get there my goal is to rush for a thousand yards per season, and win as many games as possible. Get us to the Rose Bowl again.

Evan: Who would you say has made the biggest impact on your career to help get you to this point?

Keyante: My coach. He is such an influence on my life letting me know that pain is temporary, and working to be the best I can. Because he was a center at the citadel, and earned a spot and didn't let anyone take that from him because he worked hard.

Evan: How has your Christianity affected your career?

Keyante: Very, very positive. It makes me focus on the very important things in life like school, and keep me on the right track with life overall. Like drugs and etc...I really use God in everything I do. He is the ultimate purpose on why I like to work hard.

Evan: What do you like to do in your free time? Favorite music artists?

Keyante: I either like to hang out with my girlfriend or friends, go eat out or movies, and stuff like that either way to have a bonding time with my friends. My favorite artist I will have to say is Hillsong United off of Christian music...and Kid Cudi, haha.

Evan: What would you say is the one area that you need to improve in most to be the best you can be?

Keyante: Speed. If I get my speed down I will be good.

Purdue At The 2013 NCAA Women's Golf Championships

2013-05-22T15:37:03Z

Purdue is seeking its second National Championship in four years.

Yes, it is only women's golf, but Purdue has a chance to be a National Champion, so I will cover it. The ladies are taking part in their 14th consecutive NCAA meet and once again, are doing well. After winning the event in 2010 and finishing as runner-up in 2011 Purdue is seeking another National title.

They are off to a great start too, as they are tied for 5th with No. 8 rated UCLA headed into today's second round.

The daily leaderboard can be tracked here, but after one day there was a major surprise. No. 48 rated San Jose State, the lowest ranked team int he 24-team field, shocked everyone by firing a 4-under par round to lead after day 1. The rest of the top five was the usual suspected with No. 1 USC, No. 2 Alabama, and No. 3 Duke all just behind. USC was tied with San Jose State, while Duke was two strokes back and Alabama was four strokes back. Purdue and UCLA were five strokes back in fifth place with Stanford and Oklahoma also close.

Paula Reto and Aurora Kahn led Purdue with a 1-under par 71 on Tuesday. Laura Gonzalez-Escallon was even par, while Kishi Sinha had the No., 4 score at 3-over par. Reto and Kahn were tied for 6th on the individual leaderboard. Reto and Gonzalez-Escallon were part of the 2010 National championship team too.

Purdue Women's Golf In Fifth Place After One Round At NCAAs

2013-05-22T13:10:19Z

They are off to a great start too, as they are tied for 5th with No. 8 rated UCLA headed into today's second round.

Boilermakings Is Guiding Young Writers

2013-05-21T12:42:09Z

One of the cool things about running a blog like this is the fan mail. I encourage anyone that has a discussion question to e-mail Hammerandrails at gmail for a Bill Simmons-like mailbag. This past week I was asked to help a young eighth grader who has aspirations on being a great point guard in the 2017 recruiting class. He asked me for advice on a research paper he was doing on Purdue basketball. Young Trey Shabazz hopefully did well with my advice, and we'll keep an eye on him recruiting-wise.

Now, onto the links:

Big Ten football procrastinates on parity-based scheduling, and nothing ever changes - SBNation.com
Jim Delany promised frequent games between the top teams in the East and West. Instead, we are getting Minnesota against Michigan and Ohio State. What does this say about Delany's view of the playoff selection process?

Paula Reto Previews NCAA Championships - YouTube
Senior Paula Reto previews this week's NCAA Women's Golf Championships in Athens, Geo.

MSU among the Big Ten schools to increase payrolls | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
Michigan State upped its investment a year ago, Minnesota and Purdue have now done the same, Ohio State continues to lead the way and Michigan still has the highest-paid member of an increasingly prosperous Big Ten club — football assistant coaches.

Wisconsin, Big Ten assistant coach salaries rising - Bucky's 5th Quarter
Assistants are being paid more throughout the conference, and nowhere has the difference been greater than at Wisconsin.

Big Ten Baseball Weekly Review – Week 14 - Corn Nation
The final regular season standings for 2013 are as follows:

Appalachian State 34 - Michigan 32 revisited - Land-Grant Holy Land
Still the best live anything the Big Ten Network's ever aired.

B1G 2013 // This Is About The Future - Off Tackle Empire
Iowa's upcoming season is about the future, not right now.

Who Is The Northwestern Bagman? - The Champaign Room
I think we all know, it's just The Champaign Room is the only site brave enough to say it.

Purdue Baseball Closes Disappointing 17-34 Season

2013-05-20T17:04:36Z

Last year at this time Purdue fans were dreaming of Omaha. The Boilers had recently clinched their first Big Ten championship in 103 seasons and were a lock to host a regional. While that regional did not play out as well as we would all like because of a Kent State team that got hot at exactly the right time, the 45-14 season shattered all kinds of records as Purdue went on to win the Big Ten Tournament and was in the national discussion all year.

Unfortunately, for a northern school that much attention and success is very hard to replicate. The Purdue roster was gutted due to a combination of graduation, the MLB Draft, and injuries. Of the roster that started Purdue's first NCAA regional appearance in 25 years only Stephen Talbott and Sean McHugh returned. The top two starting pitchers, top two relievers, and most of the starting position players were either drafted or graduated and No. 3 starter Connor Podkul was lost for 2013 with an arm injury.

The result was a crash, as Purdue was swept at home this past weekend by Iowa to finish at just 17-34. Last year Purdue got its 17^th win in the first home game of the year when it beat Louisville 2-1 to move to 17-4. This year Purdue was only above .500 after the first five games. A 3-2 start gave way to a seven game losing streak. The potential was there early as Purdue played preseason top 5 Mississippi State to a pair of one-run games, but it quickly went downhill.

Even the debut of Alexander Field as the beautiful new home of Purdue baseball didn't help. Purdue had great crowds all season long, but was a paltry 5-14 at home and went only 1-11 in Big Ten home games.

Part of that came from the Big Ten being its best, as a whole, in decades. Indiana won the Big Ten outright for the first time since the Truman administration in a similar season to Purdue's last year by going 40-13 and 17-7 in the league. They will likely host a regional next week at their new facility and are at the very least an NCAA lock.

Illinois is also a likely NCAA team with an RPI of 30 and a 33-16 record. Nebraska would be with an RPI of 42, but is 25-28 overall and likely needs to win the Big Ten Tournament just to get over .500. Ohio State is 34-21, but did not close well against a tough slate and has an RPI of 61. Michigan State went 33-17, but since they had an entire series at Minnesota cancelled due to snow they actually will miss the Big Ten Tournament and have to sit and wait for a week to see if their RPI of 36 is enough or if their late loss to Penn State torpedoed their chances. Michigan State was 12-9 in the Big Ten, but lost once each to Penn State and Purdue at the bottom of the standings and twice to 10-14 Iowa. Had they just beaten 4-20 Penn State last Friday they would likely be safe.

The Big Ten could still get five teams into the NCAAs, which is unheard of for what is usually a one-bid league. Indiana and Illinois should be locks. Ohio State and Michigan State are on the Bubble. Minnesota, Nebraska, and Michigan could steal the automatic bid too (likely hurting Michigan State's case). Purdue did not fare well against any of those teams, getting half of its six wins in conference play in an early sweep at Penn State before only getting one each against Northwestern, Michigan, and Michigan State.

The Big Ten also was helped by the new RPI multiplier that gives more weight to winning true road games as a way to balance the schedule, so now playing the first 15-20 games away from home has a big bonus if you start well. Indiana won a series at perennial power Florida. Illinois swept Baylor in Texas. Minnesota won a game at UCLA and Michigan State at Kentucky.

All this combined with Purdue's youth painted a brutal picture. Purdue batted a Big Ten worst .256 at the plate and had the worst pitching staff by far with a 6.46 ERA. By comparison, Nebraska's staff was the 10^th best out of 11 teams with a 4.87 ERA. When you're giving up two extra earned runs per game compared to everyone else on top of being the worst hitting team it is very hard to win.

There were some bright spots that could allow for a quick turnaround in 2014:

Kyle Wood - The promising freshman did a lot of good, leading the team with five home runs as he often played DH. He also made eight appearances on the mound, seven as starts, and had an ERA of 5.00 with an 0-2 record.

Jordan Minch - Another freshman, Minch was Purdue's most consistent pitcher as he threw 81.1 innings and went 5-5 in 14 starts. He struck out 63 batters and with the return of Podkul next season Purdue should have a decent 1-2 starting punch.

Josh Estill - Estill spent time between catcher and third base, but started 34 games and batted a promising .281 with 22 RBI.

Jack Picchiotti - This freshman drove in 26 runs and batted .268 in 38 starts as Purdue continually shifted lineups trying to fins something that worked.

Kyle Johnson - Johnson started 42 games as a freshman and batted .266 with a pair of home runs and 25 RBI.

Sean McHugh - The senior-to-be led Purdue in batting average (.298) and RBI (31).

Purdue says goodbye to seven seniors in Pat Gannon, Angelo Cianfrocco (who had a staggering dropoff from two seasons ago), Brett Andrzejewski Stephen Talbott, Jake Hansen, Kyle Bischoff, and Robert Ramer. The biggest losses are Andrzejewski who was just about the only effective relief pitcher and Ramer, who finished with a career record of 16-6 in 32 starts on the mound but was 3-5 this year. Talbot also batted .347 last season but with much of the rest of the lineup gone he dropped to .201 this year.

There is promise that Purdue can start hitting better, but holy crap was the bullpen a disaster this year. A total of three pitchers (Andrzejewski, Ramer, and Minch) had an ERA under 5 this past season. That's out of 18 pitchers that made at least one appearance on the mound. There were a total of six double-digit ERAs on the roster as the bullpen often got shelled and could not maintain the leads Purdue managed to scratch out. It won't get any easier with Ramer and Andrzejewski gone, either.

Sandi Marcius Commits To DePaul

2013-05-18T14:08:12Z

While there was a small chance Sandi Marcius would return for his final season after announcing he was seeking a transfer, we all knew that was a very small chance. That chance is now nil as he is officially off to DePaul and our friends at Big East Couast Bias.

DePaul has landed a commitment from 6'10" Purdue transfer Sandi Marcius. Will be eligible immediately
— Scott Burgess (@scott_chihoops) May 17, 2013

This is honestly a baffling move. Purdue wasn't exactly great last year, but there was a lot of promise heading into 2013-14 both because of the returning experience and a weaker Big Ten after so many players left for the NBA. Sandi was going to play a lot next year and had shown he can play in this league after one of his biggest games came against Michigan, who only reached the title game. With Sandi, Purdue was a legitimate threat to make the NCAA Tournament.

Now he goes to a moribund DePaul team for a year. DePaul hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 2004 and was 11-21 last year. They were dead last in the Big East at 2-16. This followed seasons of 3-15 and 1-17, 1-17, and even an 0-18.

The Blue Demons are awful, but I guess is The Chooch wants to start he'll find a place to do so. Instead of being a key role player on a good team he can be a star on a very crappy team.

Good luck, Sandi. I can't say this isn't a confusing decision, but we will miss you.