Completely Excited

[GP1]

I can't believe this message board after the game yesterday. I think the Zips played very well and we should all be looking forward to the remainder of the season. The rude Purdue fans did not have much to say to us leaving the stadium yesterday. I think we put a scare in them. Stop being so dull.

Let's start with the offense. After a rusty start, Getsy played very well. He had over 280 yards passing and no turnovers. Looking at the math, that would average to over 3,000 yards this season passing which would be more than 400 more than last season. All of you hand wringers who though the world was going to come to an end when Frye graduated can all calm down now. Getsy looks like and carries himself like a player who played at a big time program. The thing I like most about him is he is not scared to throw the ball down field. It makes for exciting plays. Still ten games to go though and if Getsy passes for over 3,000 yards, it means we are playing from behind a lot and that will not be good. The coach for Purdue said something along the lines of "their QB will win a lot of games for them this season". That will be nice for a change if it comes true.

As far as the offensive line, the guys played real well. There were some sacks, but most of those were coverage sacks. When Purdue would blitz, they were picked up. We also had a good day rushing the ball with plenty of room for the RBs to work. A couple of them went down with a couple of dings and their replacements did a good job when given the chance. Again, the OL hand wringers can stop that as well. I might even go out on a cliff here and say that the OL is better than last season.

Biggs played well and ran hard...not much a receiver though. He seems out of sorts when he is not handed the ball. I notice they use Kennedy on passing downs...probably not a bad idea.

The receivers did a good job of catching hard to catch passes when Getsy was shaking off the rust early on and more than any other group really sparked yesterday's good performance.

Moving to defense. The DL played very well yesterday. Early in the game they stopped Purdue on third and short to force a key punt. Kiki is a real bear and could start at a lot of Big Ten schools.

The DBs played well against some really tall and good Purdue players. 87 for Purdue had to be at least 6' 6" tall. Most importantly, the DBs were tackling much better than they did last season against big schools.

I like how hard we were hitting yesterday from both the offense and defense. I think we are seeing the personality of the coaching staff coming through the players. I have not seen a more physical or tough group of kids as these kids are at UA in a long time. If they play this physical throughout the season, UA is going to force a lot of turnovers which will help lead to wins. We also no longer see player who are hurt laying down on the ground waiting for the trainers. Most get up on one knee at least and try to get up on their own. That is sign of the toughness I am talking about. I doubt we would see coaches and players crying in the locker room or during post game interviews as we have seen in years past. These players are acting like men and I love every second of it.

As far as coaching, I don't know what else the staff could have done to make us more competitive yesterday. They came in with a game plan to win the game and the players did the best they could to execute it. The coaches also have the players well conditioned which will help us this week in the heat of Tennessee.

We played well against a very good team yesterday. I do not think Purdue is overrated...I think the Zips came to play and put on a good show. Purdue will win 9-10 games this season, if that is an overrated team, then I hope we can be overrated as well.

After seeing the MAC results from yesterday, I am even more convinced we are going to have a good season. Players come and go and we never know how the next generation of players are going to play, but it seems as if this group we have now is ready to play.

Not quite done yet. Last and certainly least are the guys who are almost football players. The punter punted well for us, but he needs to pick up the pace a little. The PK kicked well and I expect good things from him this season. That's enough of them.

[Zips Win!]

While I am not completely excited.....a win next Saturday will definitely get me there.

(Only you could find a way to belittle Frye......in a game he didn't play in....the only thing that came to an end when Frye graduated was his eligibility, not the world....)

Anyway, Saturday's performance was fantastic..... Getsy was superb. Other than a couple of overthrows, including a wide open throw to Arthur that was a sure 6, and a few ill advised throws on 4th down, you could not ask for more. His footwork was excellent, he threw nice tight spirals, thought he displayed nice touch on many passes and he looked off of his receivers all day. The first half TD drive he directed was beautiful. Nice throws all over the field......and Montgomery was great himself.

Thought the play calling was great, the OL looked steady and Biggs ran hard. Looked like they were keying on him... Not sure why he was not in very much in the third quarter.

If this game is any indication of things to come, we are in good shape.

[GP1]

(Only you could find a way to belittle Frye......in a game he didn't play in....the only thing that came to an end when Frye graduated was his eligibility, not the world....)

I do it because he is an easy target. You also missed the slap at the Owens years later in the post.

[UA Fan]

We also had a good day rushing the ball with plenty of room for the RBs to work.

Biggs had 47 yards rushing, Kennedy had 13...can you elaborate on "good day rushing the ball" and "plenty of room for the RB's to work"?

I appreciate the optimism though...sounds like you will like our chances at MT. At least we're only 7 point dogs this time instead of 35.

The Purdue announcers, though unpolished, did give props to Hixon and Gonzalez.

[GP1]

We also had a good day rushing the ball with plenty of room for the RBs to work.

Biggs had 47 yards rushing, Kennedy had 13...can you elaborate on "good day rushing the ball" and "plenty of room for the RB's to work"?

I'd love to and thanks for the question.

Biggs averaged 4.3 yard per carry. That is a really good average. 4.3+4.3+4.3=12.9. That is a first down and you can win a lot of games with your running back gaining 4.3 yards per carry. 4.3 sets up second and six or five which allows the team to either run OR pass. Second and seven or more forces the team into passing on second down. The Zips had to abandon the run after the first half because they were far enough behind that they had to play catch up. The second half is a bit of a blur because of the sun stroke/hangover and all, but I don't remember Biggs even being in the game much after mid way through the third quarter. I have every confidence that when we are playing MAC competition, we will be able to utilize our running backs more. If you go onto www.gozips.com they have statistics from the game that make you wonder who is tracking that stuff.

I think if Getsy could run as fast as Frye used to run, we could get more yards running. Getsy scrambles forward into the pocket and attempts to find a receiver. The problem with scrambling forward and not running is that the pocket closes too fast. Frye could scramble to the sides and give himself morre time to find a receiver and more room to run if he needed to.

60 yards rushing is not that bad for a team on the losing end of a lopsided score. I think Biggs averaged around 85 yards per game last year, and we won when he played a lot. Given what he did Saturday with limited touches, 85 yards would not have been out of reach. I don't know how many people were at the game Saturday, but Purdue's overall team size was impressive (I was most impressed with the size of their two running backs). If our line looked decent against them, they will look even better against MAC teams.

Another issue I would like to mention is the solid production from the TE position. The coaches seem to be able to place the TE in positions that will make him a successful receiver, especially near the goal line. When given the chance, he did a good job of catching the ball and getting extra yards.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Getsy looks like and carries himself like a player who played at a big time program.

That's impressive, considering his previous experience was either high school, or Pitt. Since Pitt lost to lowly OU...and could only muster 10 points in a game that went to overtime...I have a hard time classifying Pitt as "big time." They'd be lucky to win 6 games with a MAC schedule this year.

I'm very happy we got Getsy instead of Palko.

[Dr Z]

Does anyone have a breakdown on Biggs' yards per carry?

Biggs 11 for 47 yrds, 4.3 per carry

Kennedy 4 for 13 yrds, 3.2 per carry

Akron team rushing 21 for 25 yards (Getsy minus 25)

Glad to see Akron play with Purdue, made it fun to listen to.

I think we are in for an entertaining season. I'm also glad to hear

Getsy play well, I was a little concerned after watching Blue/Gold game.

[msopher]

Anyway, Saturday's performance was fantastic.....

Losing 49-24 means you are fantastic?

I understand Akron looked good at times but, come on, when you lose by more than 2 TD's, the team did not play "fantastic."

[Zipsrifle]

Biggs had 47 yards rushing, Kennedy had 13...can you elaborate on "good day rushing the ball" and "plenty of room for the RB's to work"?

I have to back up what GP1 said, though the numbers didn't show it. For going against a Big 10 Defence with all the returning starters back, we managed to get +ve yardage almost every run. Though the numbers weren't huge, I was encouraged with the holes the line was opening up. Unfortunately, the Purdue LB's were always near the other end of those holes. I never once felt that we needed to forget about running and just start passing, the good balance of plays I think helped us in the end. If we play similarly the rest of the season, Biggs should be able to get 100 yds/game.

[GP1]

Getsy looks like and carries himself like a player who played at a big time program.

That's impressive, considering his previous experience was either high school, or Pitt. Since Pitt lost to lowly OU...and could only muster 10 points in a game that went to overtime...I have a hard time classifying Pitt as "big time." They'd be lucky to win 6 games with a MAC schedule this year.

I'm very happy we got Getsy instead of Palko.

When Getsy was at Pitt, they were a big time program and then the decided to hire a bumb to coach their team who loses every place he coaches. As good as Palko was last year, he is that bad this year. The winning last year was squarely on his shoulders and the losing this year is squarely on his shoulders as well.

Yesterday I was at the Steelers game with some friends from Pittsburgh and to a man they all said we are lucky to have Getsy and he should be the starter at Pitt this season.

[GP1]

Does anyone have a breakdown on Biggs' yards per carry?

Biggs 11 for 47 yrds, 4.3 per carry

Kennedy 4 for 13 yrds, 3.2 per carry

Akron team rushing 21 for 25 yards (Getsy minus 25)

Glad to see Akron play with Purdue, made it fun to listen to.

I think we are in for an entertaining season. I'm also glad to hear

Getsy play well, I was a little concerned after watching Blue/Gold game.

Sorry DrZ, I modified my post while you were looking up the numbers.

[GP1]

Anyway, Saturday's performance was fantastic.....

Losing 49-24 means you are fantastic?

I understand Akron looked good at times but, come on, when you lose by more than 2 TD's, the team did not play "fantastic."

I think he was talking about Getsy.

[zip37]

A loss is a loss, is a loss, is a loss.....

With ball ammunition lock and load.

[GP1]

A loss is a loss, is a loss, is a loss.....

With ball ammunition lock and load.

I think I have found my replacement for the most bitter poster on this page :angry: . I pass the torch to you zip37 .

[Zippy989]

From Purdue Boards:

"J Colletto - 11:12am Sep 12, 2005 EST (#26 of 28)

Good and bad...

Unfortunately, I was travelling and unable to see the game, but I did listen to it. I really can't say I was overly joyed by the performance, but I am definitely not ready to jump off the bandwagon. Here are some of my thoughts:

-Kirsch played pretty well. Having made some mistakes will provide better learning and more focus - I'm feeling okay about him.

-Secondary was bad, but not a real surprise. They'll get better, but will continue to be a weak link.

-Akron is better than a lot of people think. "

"dan somerville - 01:57pm Sep 12, 2005 EST (#28 of 28)

Good thread everyone...

proving once again why this is an outstanding Purdue football forum - lots of opinions, most of them intelligent and informed, and plenty to chew on and about.

My opinions of the game (if anyone cares):

5) The most important point to remember here - and it seems to have been lost in the shuffle - is that Akron isn't a bad team. They went 6-2 last year in the MAC, losing to Miami 37-27 in the MAC East title game. Are they Notre Dame? No, but I'd rather play a competitive MAC team like Akron than a meaningless game like Iowa played against Ball State the way we did last year (sorry Scott). "

[flipthezip]

There are no moral victories. We lost by 25. Big Ten (11) team yes. But with 60 minutes of focus and lack of mistakes this is a 7 loss. Add a couple of breaks and we have a 3 point win. Buckle up the chin straps and get back on that practice field and lets get it together. There is no way we should lose this weekend at Mid Tenn.

[RACER]

i have to disagree. a loss is not a loss when your playing top 25 team, first game ,and on the road. there is a big difference when your only down 10 points at the end of the third quarter, and have the ball. there is a difference from last year when penn state/virgina was scoring at will on our defense,and making the zips look silly. the guys at least were in the game, and playing hard. thats all you can ask for is a chance to win a game and know the guys are playing as hard as they can. last year we were totally outclassed by the big boys niu,penn state virgiana. this year for the first game with new starters everywhere minus frye i thought we played really well. jd had the team ready to play. we may habe lost but i am alott happier after the first game verses last year at penn state.