PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (West Division)
Location: West Lafayette, IN
Stadium: Ross-Ade Stadium (62,500)
Coach: Darrell Hazel (4th year): 6-30 at Purdue/22-40 overall, 2-22
v B1G
2015 Purdue Bolermakers (2-10)(1-7) 2016 Purdue
Boilermakers
31 at Marshall 41 S3 Eastern
Kentucky
38 Indiana State 14 S10 Cincinnati
24 Virginia Tech 51 S17
28 Bowling Green 35 S24 Nevada
21 at Michigan State 24 O1 at Maryland
13 Minnesota 41 O8 at Illinois
7 at
Wisconsin 24 O15 Iowa
55 Nebraska 45 O22 at Nebraska
14 Illinois 48 O29 Penn State
14 at Northwestern 21 N5 at Minnesota
20 at Iowa 40 N12 Northwestern
36 Indiana 54 N19 Wisconsin
N26 at Indiana
After
Purdue’s 6-30 mark over the last three seasons (2-22 in B1G play), Coach
Darrell Hazel decided to revamp his staff.
Five assistant coaches were let go, including both the offensive and
defensive coordinators. Since the
Boilers ranked 11th in the conference in total offense and 12th
in total defense, Coach Hazel felt it was good riddance and he moved tight ends
coach Terry Malone to offensive coordinator and Ross Els to defensive
coordinator.
The
quarterback competition remained unsettled during spring drills, especially
with the transfer of Austin Appleby to Florida.
So heading into the pre season, the stage is set for sophomore David
Blough and redshirt freshman Elijah Sindelar to compete for the job under
center. Blough has the edge as of now,
with his experience as last year he completed 57 percent of his passes for 1574
yards and ten touchdowns against eight interceptions. Also returning is leading rusher, sophomore
Markell Jones (875 yards) who averaged 5.2 yards per carry with 10 TDs from a
stop-and-start rushing attack that had trouble getting untracked last
season. The good news for this unit
comes at the wideout positions. Although
leading receiver Danny Anthrop is gone, the Boilers welcome back a group of
experienced receivers, led by senior DeAngelo Yancy, who hauled in 48 catches
for 700 yards, good for almost 15 yards per receptions, with five scores. He is joined by senior Dom Young with 21
receptions for 276 yards and a touchdown and also by junior Gregory Phillips
who came on strong toward the end of last season with 13 receptions for 142
yards and two touchdowns. The offensive
line has more experience than last year, led by seniors Jason King (LG), Jordon
Roos (RG) and Cameron Cermin (RT).
Newcomers figure to be sophomores Martesse Patterson at LT and center
Kirk Barron. If Jones can stay healthy,
he should be able to have a real shot at cracking the 1000-yard barrier, and
the more experienced line should be able to keep some of the pressure off of
Blough. Purdue should be able to improve
on their offensive production this year.
Purdue has
experience up front on defense with three seniors in Evan Panfil (DE), Jake
Replogle (DT) and Ra’Zahn Howard. Panfil
tied for the team lead in sacks last year with four to go along with his 30
tackles. Replogle has lead the Boilers
in tackles for loss each of the last two seasons; last year he managed a
whopping 14 to go along with 60 tackles.
Howard managed 23 stops to go along with a fumble recovery. Junior Gelen Robinson had an excellent spring
practice and figures to have locked down the other DE position. Last year, he came up with 32 tackles and a
very respectable nine tackles for loss.
Purdue welcomes back junior linebacker Danny Ezechukwu, second on the
team in tackles with 79 along with senior MLB Jimmy Herman who played well in
an injury-shortened season, garnering 41 tackles and six TFLs and he will be
full go this year. Junior Ja’Whaun
Bentley figures to have the other OLB position locked down due to a good
performance during spring practice. In
just five games a year ago, he racked up an impressive 49 tackles and 7.5
tackles for loss. The secondary will be
led by senior FS Leroy Clark, Purdue’s leading tackler with 88 stops and also
with two interceptions. His classmate,
Robert Gregory, will be beside him at the SS position. Gregory brings a good blend of size and speed
to the secondary, as he contributed 50 tackles, an interception, and a fumble
recovery. Junior Da’Wan Hunte will take
over at one CB spot. Hunte showed his
prowess at run support and in the blitz packages as he racked up 2.5 tackles
for loss and two sacks to go along with his 18 tackles. The battle for the other CB spot was wide
open, but freshman David Rose appears to have the edge. This unit needs to get more pressure on
opposing quarterbacks to improve from 12th in the conference.
Purdue will
be breaking in a new kicker and they figure to have a good one in incoming
freshman JD Dellinger. Sophomore punter
Joe Schopper averaged 40.2 yards per punt with a long of 69 last year.
Purdue
avoids Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State and get Iowa, Northwestern,
Penn State, and Wisconsin at home. To
get to six wins and a bowl game this year, the Boilers need to beat several of
these teams. Purdue is 0-10 and has been
outscored 357-155 under Coach Hazel against ranked teams. Adding to Purdue’s woes thus far has been subpar
recruiting classes. The group they have
coming in ranked 76th nationally and last in the conference. If they can’t do better than projected here,
they might be looking for a new coach after this season.
PROJECTION: 4-8 (2-7) 7th
in B1G West Division
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