This past Saturday I sat at midfield, up close behind the good guys bench – probably the best seats I’ve ever had in Memorial thanks to someone who gave them to me.
And whoa boy, did I see the sights and sounds. The physicality, our coaches and players’ demeanor, and the feisty crowd. You bet your ass I froze my ass off and windburned my face, but damnit it was worth it. Here are three major takeaways from midfield at the NU-PU game:
The Defense. Multiple times I noticed the body language of N. Henrich, Robinson, Polar Bear, Reimer, Hill, Bullock, Newsome, and Gifford enthusiastic and mentally prepared each time they took the field. I know we’re only in Game 8 of the Rhule era and we haven’t made a bowl game yet, but it felt like we have a group of hombres that finally want to defend their home turf with both physicality and smarts. Purdue seemed to have only one of those things on both sides of the ball. I could really sense the budding defensive identity that both Alberts and Rhule have wanted to instill since both of their arrivals in Lincoln.
The Officials. They let that game get out of hand. They might need to be relegated to Group of 5 or lower. Not once did I feel that they had good control of the game. Purdue tried to play bully ball all day, and holy s*** the officials let ‘em make it a Big 10 West cage match. From my vantage point, PU got away with a lot more than what the TV broadcast showed.
Finally, the Crowd. Home field advantage. That crowd resembled the weather - rowdy and little nasty. I can’t remember the last time we had an actual home field advantage at Memorial. Everyone – and I mean everyone – was jacked up out of their mind for the defense to take the field. Rhule and Satt took Walters to school for 3.5 quarters. And even with the warts at the beginning & end of the game, I still felt like our staff and team had control of the game when those warts and turnovers reared their ugly head. For the first time in years, I left Memorial Stadium with a sense that we have a hungry coach and hungry players who are focused and working on becoming a real TEAM.
And whoa boy, did I see the sights and sounds. The physicality, our coaches and players’ demeanor, and the feisty crowd. You bet your ass I froze my ass off and windburned my face, but damnit it was worth it. Here are three major takeaways from midfield at the NU-PU game:
The Defense. Multiple times I noticed the body language of N. Henrich, Robinson, Polar Bear, Reimer, Hill, Bullock, Newsome, and Gifford enthusiastic and mentally prepared each time they took the field. I know we’re only in Game 8 of the Rhule era and we haven’t made a bowl game yet, but it felt like we have a group of hombres that finally want to defend their home turf with both physicality and smarts. Purdue seemed to have only one of those things on both sides of the ball. I could really sense the budding defensive identity that both Alberts and Rhule have wanted to instill since both of their arrivals in Lincoln.
The Officials. They let that game get out of hand. They might need to be relegated to Group of 5 or lower. Not once did I feel that they had good control of the game. Purdue tried to play bully ball all day, and holy s*** the officials let ‘em make it a Big 10 West cage match. From my vantage point, PU got away with a lot more than what the TV broadcast showed.
Finally, the Crowd. Home field advantage. That crowd resembled the weather - rowdy and little nasty. I can’t remember the last time we had an actual home field advantage at Memorial. Everyone – and I mean everyone – was jacked up out of their mind for the defense to take the field. Rhule and Satt took Walters to school for 3.5 quarters. And even with the warts at the beginning & end of the game, I still felt like our staff and team had control of the game when those warts and turnovers reared their ugly head. For the first time in years, I left Memorial Stadium with a sense that we have a hungry coach and hungry players who are focused and working on becoming a real TEAM.
