|
WR
Dorien Bryant (PHOTO CREDIT - Purdue University
Sports Information) |
|
2005
Statistics |
Coach:
Joe Tiller
67-43,
9 years |
2005
Record: 5-6 |
|
AKRON |
WON
49-24 |
at
Arizona |
WON
31-24 |
at
Minnesota |
LOST
35-42 (2OT) |
NOTRE
DAME |
LOST
28-49 |
IOWA |
LOST
17-34 |
NORTHWESTERN |
LOST
29-34 |
at
Wisconsin |
LOST
20-31 |
at
Penn State |
LOST
15-33 |
MICHIGAN
STATE |
WON
28-21 |
ILLINOIS |
WON
37-3 |
at
Indiana |
WON
41-14 |
|
2005 Final Rankings
AP-UR, Coaches-UR, BCS-UR
|
2006
Outlook |
When
mentioning some of the most disappointing
teams of 2005, Purdue easily made
it towards the top of most lists.
Some felt that with an easy schedule
and a sturdy defensive group, the
Boilermakers could have actually pushed
for Big Ten title honors. Instead,
this team was left with Coach Joe
Tiller’s first losing campaign
while they sat at home for the holidays,
wondering just what happened. Expectations
have been lowered due to the previous
year's results - the fact no one sees
this team coming could be the biggest
positive for their young group. And
a young group this is, especially
on defense where only one or two seniors
will dot the starting lineup. The
spring saw an open depth chart at
just about every LB and DB position,
with plenty of new, inexperienced
faces competing for time. This trend
will continue into the fall. Luckily,
plenty of offense exists to get them
back on the winning track. Just how
much improvement QB Curtis Painter
has made this off-season, as coaches
have noted, will likely decide much
for the team’s fate come late
November. Getting off to a good start
is going to be crucial, and that’s
feasible as the first three games
have Purdue favored. The home game
in the second week versus Miami OH
could be a make or break situation
to their fragile mindset. At least
Purdue has to still be considered
a perennial bowl team, something unheard
of in the pre-Tiller eras. In short,
if anyone can put this team back in
contention, he is your man.
Projected
2006 record: 5-8
|
|
PURDUE
*POWER RATINGS |
Offense |
Defense |
QB
- 3.5 |
DL
- 3 |
RB
- 3 |
LB
- 2.5 |
WR
- 3.5 |
DB
- 2.5 |
OL
- 4 |
.. |
|
RETURNING
LEADERS |
Passing:
Curtis Painter, 170-89-5, 932 yds.,
3 TD
Rushing: Kory Sheets, 104 att.,
571 yds., 10 TD
Receiving: Dorien Bryant, 80
rec., 960 yds., 4 TD
Scoring: Kory Sheets, 11 TD,
66 pts.
Punting: none
Kicking: none
Tackles: George Hall, 77 tot.,
40 solo
Sacks: Anthony Spencer, 3 sacks
Interceptions: Stanford Keglar,
Dan Bick, Josh Ferguson - 1 each
Kickoff Returns: Dorien Bryant,
21 ret., 23.8 avg., 1 TD
Punt Returns: none
|
|
|
LB
George Hall (PHOTO CREDIT - Purdue University
Sports Information) |
|
|
|
OFFENSE
- 8 |
----RETURNING
STARTERS---- |
DEFENSE
- 4 |
|
KEY
LOSSES |
OFFENSE:
Brandon Kirsch-QB, Jerod Void-RB, Brandon
Jones-RB, Kevin Noel-WR, Charles Davis-TE,
Matt Turner-C, Ben Jones-K |
DEFENSE:
Brandon
Villarreal-DT, Brent Grover-DT, Rob
Ninkovich-DE, Bobby Iwuchukwu-SLB, Ray
Williams-CB, Brian Hickman-CB, Kyle
Smith-FS, Dave Brytus-P, Ray Edwards-DE
(NFL), Bernard Pollard-SS (NFL) |
|
|
2006
OFFENSE |
At the midway
point last season, Curtis Painter became
the starting QB over now-departed Brandon
Kirsch. While Painter's completion percentage
(52%) needs to improve, expect him to be
a much more qualified starter this time
around. Coach Joe Tiller likes what he sees
and knows his blue-collar QB got thrown
into the fire a season ago. More poised
this time around, Painter is likely to continue
the great QB tradition in West Lafayette.
While not super fast, he can run when called
upon, finishing as the team's third leading
rusher (4.8 ypc and lost only 38 yards).
RB Jerod Void is finally
done after three strong years, so now the
job belongs to Kory Sheets, who was having
a fantastic spring this year before an ankle
injury forced him out. He is also a proven
pass catcher out of the backfield. Sheets
will have some competition in Anthony Heygood
and touted JUCO transfer Jaycen Taylor,
making this one of the Boilermaker’s
deepest units.
WR Dorien Bryant had an
amazing 80 grabs in 2005 and looks to again
be their go-to guy as Purdue continues to
put a high volume pass catcher on the field.
Hopes are that other senior Kyle Ingraham
will return from an ankle injury. Other
players that have logged playing time running
routes will have to be utilized as Tiller
likes to employ three- and four-receiver
sets. Just who and how much each will be
relied upon won't be decided until the ball
gets snapped.
Three
All-Conference players return up front to
ease any growing pains the backfield may
experience. Tackle Mike Otto (three-year
starter) is the leader, and coaches feel
really good about the entire first five
on the depth chart. If it all starts up
front, this offense is situated to surprise
some people.
|
|
OG
Jordan Grimes (PHOTO CREDIT - Purdue
University Sports Information)
|
|
|
PURDUE
2006 DEPTH CHART
Returning Starters/Key
Players |
OFFENSE |
QB |
Curtis
Painter-So (6-4, 228) |
Joey
Elliott-Fr (6-3, 210) |
RB |
Kory
Sheets-So (6-0, 199) |
Jaycen
Taylor-So (5-10, 175) |
WR |
Kyle
Ingraham-Sr (6-9, 228) |
Andre
Chattams-Sr (6-0, 198) |
WR |
Dorien
Bryant-Jr (5-10, 175) |
Desmond
Tardy-So (6-1, 192) |
WR |
Greg
Orton-So (6-4, 191) |
Derek
Benson-Fr (6-1, 191) |
TE |
Dustin
Keller-Jr (6-4, 244) |
Jerry
Wasikowski-So (6-4, 253) |
OT |
Mike
Otto-Sr (6-5, 304) |
Garret
Miller-So (6-8, 279) |
OG |
Uche
Nwaneri-Sr (6-3, 300) |
Zach
Smith-So (6-4, 286) |
C |
Robbie
Powell-Jr (6-5, 297) |
Cory
Benton-So (6-3, 276) |
OG |
Jordan
Grimes-Jr (6-3, 334) |
Nick
Fincher-Jr (6-4, 292) |
OT |
Sean
Sester-So (6-8, 309) |
Eric
Hedstrom-Fr (6-7, 295) |
K |
Casey
Welch-Sr (5-9, 167) |
Kyle
Mossbrucker-So (5-8, 194) |
|
|
2006
DEFENSE |
Both DEs
were taken in the NFL Draft, and although
coaches still claim the front line won't
miss a beat, that would be a nice surprise,
if true. The reasons they say this may have
to do with some young tackles that are going
to be good (somewhere) down the road. The
lone returning starter on the DL is Anthony
Spencer, who seems to be playing the best
football of his career.
The spring was spent interchanging
their LB lineup in an effort to locate the
best combination - no spot was/is guaranteed.
As an example, moving to the middle was
Josh Ferguson, who supplanted returning
starter George Hall from the position…a
development that may or may not continue
into the fall.
Any
finger pointing done when locating reasons
for the severe defensive disappointment
experienced just a year ago starts in the
secondary. Injuries wreaked havoc - even
many backups were hurt. By being forced
into the lineup, though, invaluable experience
was gained with the then-newbies that can
now pay dividends. A starter seems to have
been found in CB Brandon King. Outside of
him, every position seems wide-open, much
like we see with every other unit on this
side of the ball. With only four returning
starters and positions still unsettled,
one can easily see why Purdue is not earning
much respect at this juncture of the early
season.
|
|
DE
Anthony Spencer (PHOTO CREDIT - Purdue
University Sports Information)
|
|
|
PURDUE
2006 DEPTH CHART
Returning Starters/Key
Players |
DEFENSE |
DE |
Eugene
Bright-Jr (6-4, 254) |
Mike
McDonald-Jr (6-2, 250) |
DT |
Ryan
Baker-So (6-6, 282) |
Jared
Zwilling-Fr (6-4, 281) |
DT |
Alex
Magee-So (6-5, 275) |
Mike
Neal-Fr (6-4, 270) |
DE |
Anthony
Spencer-Sr (6-3, 261) |
Keyon
Brown-Fr (6-3, 230) |
SLB |
Cliff
Avril-Jr (6-3, 240) |
Stanford
Keglar-Jr (6-2, 240) |
MLB |
George
Hall-Sr (6-2, 243) |
Josh
Ferguson-Jr (6-3, 234) |
WLB |
Dan
Bick-Jr (6-1, 218) |
Jason
Werner-So (6-4, 208) |
CB |
Brandon
King-So (5-11, 184) |
Fabian
Martin-So (5-11, 188) |
CB |
Zach
Logan-So (5-11, 186) |
Aaron
Lane-Jr (5-8, 172) |
SS |
Torri
Williams-So (6-2, 204) |
Paul
Long-Jr (6-2, 194) |
FS |
Brandon
Blackmon-Jr (6-0, 194) |
Brandon
Whittington-So (6-2, 206) |
P |
Jared
Armstrong-Jr (6-3, 231) |
Casey
Welch-Sr (5-9, 167) |
|
|
|
2006
SPECIAL TEAMS |
The
special teams, much like the defense, get a complete
overhaul. Enter a new kicker, walk-on Casey Welch.
The transfer from West Virginia last kicked in
an actual game his senior year of high school
of 2002. He held the starting duties through spring
practice, but likely taking his place will be
incoming freshmen Tim Dougherty from St. Xavier
in Louisville, KY. At punter, Dave Brytus has
moved on, and the next in line enrolled just this
past January. Jared Armstrong has transferred
to Purdue after an All-American campaign at Harper
(Ill.) College. His 43.7-yard average last season
led all JUCO punters, and a plus - he is also
capable of handling kicking chores.
|
|