2009 Record: 5-7 (4-4)
Head Coach: Danny Hope (5-7, 2nd season)
Offensive Coordinator: Gary Nord (2nd season)
Defensive Coordinator: Donn Landholm (2nd season) and Gary Emanuel (1st season)
2009 Bowl Game: One win/loss away
Offense: It's time to ring in a new QB era at Purdue, but there is a potentially solid player in Miami transfer Robert Marve, who was pushed out of the way by Jacory Harris there. Marve started his freshman year at Miami, and did not post great numbers by any means. However, there is some solid talent there. He has a first tier talent at WR to throw to in Keith Smith. Smith had 91 catches on a 7 loss team last season. The bad news is that he is the only returnee at the position, and the other two spots are not locked down yet. Sophomore Al-Turek McBurse is slotted to become the new tailback, but he is not proven. The line also has three new starters coming in, which will make this transition more difficult.
Defense: The front seven will be a strength due to the experience coming in. 3 starters come in on the line from last season. Ryan Kerrigan was a 2nd team AA last season, and was 3rd nationally in sacks with 13. He also recorded 18.5 TFLs. Gerald Gooden mans the other DE spot, with Kawann Short returning at one of the DT spots. Adam Brockman and Kevin Pamphile will battle for the other spot. 2 LBS return with Joe Holland and Jason Werner will man the outside spots, but there will be a new man in the middle.Dwayne Beckford seems to be the heir apparent at the MLB spot. The secondary is a nightmare, with new starters coming in at all 4 positions.
Special Teams: Carson Wiggs comes back to handle the PK duty, and has a 58 and a 59 yard kick to his credit the last two seasons. He is also lined up to take on the punting job this season, which he has not done at Purdue.
2010 Schedule
Wins: 9/11 Western Illinois, 9/18 Ball State, 9/25 Toledo, 10/16 Minnesota, 11/13 Michigan, 11/27 Indiana
Toss Up Games: 10/9 @ Northwestern, 10/30 @ Illinois, 11/20 @ Michigan State
Losses: 9/4 @ Notre Dame, 10/23 @ Ohio State, 11/6 Wisconsin
Iowa is not on the schedule. The Boilermakers will have to win 2 of the toss games to bowl qualify, and all of those games are on the road. They will have to win 2 of those because of the date against Western Illinois due to their 1-AA status. Purdue could win 7, but that's questionable.
Outlook: There are some depth issues at some very important spots. That's not saying that some of these new players can't become solid contributors, but there are too many questions to say that Purdue can move to the next level. Danny Hope is working very hard, and it was a miracle that they won 4 games in league play last season. Good things can happen with a lot of hard work.
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