2009 Purdue Boilermakers Football Preview
2009 Purdue Boilermakers season preview from Maddux Sports. Below you can find our official Purdue Boilermakers football preview as well as the 2009 Purdue Boilermakers Football Schedule. Dont miss Maddux's free college football picks on the weekly college football odds from the #1 sports handicapping team.
Coach: Danny Hope (1st year at Purdue)
Team Name: Boilermakers
2008 Overall Record: 4-8
Returning Starters: 12
In 2008, the Purdue Boilermakers (4- 8 overall, 2- 6 Big Ten) struggled, tying for ninth in the conference and sitting out the bowl season. The year before, the team went 8- 4 and garnered an invite to the Motor City Bowl where they beat Central Michigan 51- 48. This season looks to be a year of rebuilding.
The offense, which was rated 68th in the nation, put an average of 24.7 PPG on the scoreboard in 2008. This season is filled with many question marks, including who will perform the QB chores? The likely candidate looks to be senior Joey Elliot (15 ATT, 8 COMP, 81 YDs, 0 INT, 0 TD), who has played in 10 games total over three seasons. Elliot knows the spread offense, which the Boilermakers will continue to run, and he’s a motivated, inspirational leader. The receiving corps includes senior Aaron Valentin (11 REC, 224 YDs, 2 TDs) and junior Keith Smith (49 REC, 486 YDs, 2 TDs), both of whom will be starting for the first time. Look for freshmen Eric Williams, Gary Bush and others to see playing time. Senior running back Jaycen Taylor, who did not play last year due to a torn ACL, will get the start. The O-line has three full-time starters back and five others with starting experience. It’s important for this unit to gel quickly.
The Purdue defense, which allowed 25.1 PPG in 2008, fielded the best pass “D” in the Big Ten. They allowed 183.3 YPG, ranking them 24th nationally. The secondary includes four seniors, three of whom started last season. Safety Torri Williams (83 TKLs, 2 INTs) returns as the team’s leading tackler. Dwight Mclean, who grabbed two picks last season, starts at the other safety spot. The linebacking unit includes sophomores Joe Holland (76 TKLs, 1 SK, 1 TFL) at OLB and Chris Carlino (36 TKLs, 0 SK, 0.5 TFL) at MLB. Both put in mistake-filled seasons, during which they showed solid growth. With 2008 under their belts, it’s expected the duo will excel. Upfront, DE Ryan Kerrigan (56 TKLS, 7 SKs, 4.5 TFL) and DT Mike Neal (33 TKLs, 5.5 SKs, 4.5 TFL) offer explosive sack-potential. They will be tough to contain.
The special teams include accurate, long-range placekicker Carson Wiggs. Last year as a freshman, Wiggs was 8-of-11, including a 53-yard three-pointer. Punter Chris Summers needs to improve on his 38.4 YPP average. On kick returns, Valentin averaged a hefty 25.7 yards per return.
New head coach Danny Hope (35- 22 in five years) takes over for former coach Joe Tiller. He inherits a team that has unknowns at quarterback, running back and wide receiver. This is a year of trial and error, reshaping and development. The Boilermakers recruited heavily from Florida and will try to underpin units on both sides of the ball with new talent. Penn State is not on this year’s schedule. That is certainly a help. The October 10 game versus Minnesota is a big one. If Purdue can beat the Golden Gophers, that will be a signal that they can be competitive within the conference. If not, there’s plenty of more rebuilding to do. Although there is a new “Hope” at Purdue, chances are there’s plenty of more rebuilding to do. The Boilermakers will finish in 10th place and will not earn a bowl invite.
Purdue Boilermakers Football Schedule
| Date | Team | Opponent | Site | Line | Total | Points | Opp Points |
| 9/5/2009 | Purdue | Toledo | home | ||||
| 9/12/2009 | Purdue | Oregon | away | ||||
| 9/19/2009 | Purdue | Northern Illinoi | home | ||||
| 9/26/2009 | Purdue | Notre Dame | home | ||||
| 10/3/2009 | Purdue | Northwestern | home | ||||
| 10/10/2009 | Purdue | Minnesota | away | ||||
| 10/17/2009 | Purdue | Ohio St. | home | ||||
| 10/24/2009 | Purdue | Illinois | home | ||||
| 10/31/2009 | Purdue | Wisconsin | away | ||||
| 11/7/2009 | Purdue | Michigan | away | ||||
| 11/14/2009 | Purdue | Michigan St. | home | ||||
| 11/21/2009 | Purdue | Indiana | away |
For more info on the 2009 Purdue Boilermakers football program, view their official website or read up on the rest of the Big Ten foes below.
