Express Word: Purdue’s Challenging Start

The Express Word is GoldandBlack.com’s weekly opinion column, written by Brian Neubert. In today’s edition, we discuss Purdue football’s difficult start, Boilermaker basketball and more.

ON PURDUE FOOTBALL’S ROUGH BEGINNING

First off, a reminder that when Purdue brought in Ryan Walters and the relatively green staff he brought with him, it did so with the big picture in mind, leaning toward hiring what it felt was a high-ceiling, up-and-comer a year early rather than being a year late. There’s no easy hire, no sure hire, even for the best programs in the country.

Point is, this was always going to be a deal for which the result wasn’t apparent right away, not these days especially. So if you’re jumping off a cliff following Purdue’s ugly 1-2 start, concern is certainly merited, I’d say, but so is some measure of perspective and patience.

That said, now there’s no hiding what this group is made of.

If Purdue was going to transform following the indignity of Notre Dame, that moment was Saturday on UHF TV, the Oregon State game. On the fail scale, it wasn’t that far off the weekend prior, because you went from having no chance against the Irish to having real chances against the Beavers — chances to start strong, to take an early lead, to score in the red zone, to stay on the field on third down on offense and get off it on third-and-long on defense. The result: A three-touchown loss to a mediocre opponent in which glaring vulnerabilities were again rubbed raw. There’s no point in re-detailing them again here.

There is a long season to play, and the big picture remains nowhere near complete, but now there’s no way around this being a look into what this staff and roster are made of. That’s the deal in college sports when you struggle; good times and bad, it all plays out in public view.

We all grow into wisdom through experience, right? Does Purdue have that situational wisdom yet on its sideline to push the right buttons and not let losing beget losing? Again, this was a four- or five-year endeavor.

The other side of this coin is the investment part.

This stuff is different nowadays, and it stands to reason to suggest that it’s times like these where you find out if these dudes who were on other campuses a few months ago are bought into something bigger than themselves or if they’re cool cashing NIL checks. Everybody wants to play because everybody wants to play in the NFL, but does everyone want to win more than anything else?

That is not a Purdue-specific question; it is the reality of the landscape nowadays. I’m writing about Purdue but could just as soon be writing the same thing about myriad other schools who’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.

The Boilermakers have their hands full here and this two-year Hudson Card window of opportunity is closing. Nebraska is different these days, the Big Ten chum Purdue beat last year (Illinois and Indiana, notably) looks improved and the rest of the schedule is an iron maiden.

This job has always been a big one; now, it looks particularly daunting.

It’s a long-term build here, but the short term might speak to the foundation being laid.

ON PURDUE BASKETBALL

Different doesn’t mean worse, nor does it mean better. It just means different, something new, something interesting, sometimes something exciting. Different makes college sports fun. (See you in hell, COVID year.)

Purdue is different now, post-Zach Edey.

I am going to take great care right now to not type anything that can be construed as me suggesting Purdue will, or even can, be better without Zach Edey. But it will be different, and for Purdue stakeholders, that could be fun.

It means Trey Kaufman-Renn, for whom I’ll likely be the only preseason All-Big Ten vote, gets to now spread his wings after complementing Edey last season. Don’t be surprised when he’s the leading scorer and rebounder on an outstanding team this season.

It means Purdue can legit play differently now. It could have last season by putting Kaufman-Renn at center and reaping the benefits of really interesting offensive possibilities, but that would have required taking the best and most influential player in America off the floor by choice. Matt Painter is a pragmatist, not an idiot.

Now, Purdue actually will play both big and small, opening up worlds of possibilities at both ends of the floor, but also trade-offs of course. Leveraging pros and offsetting cons of these various lineups, I’m sure, will be a fun chess match to watch.

Purdue has been pretty straight-forward in doing what it does. Opponents have been able to prepare accordingly, not that they ever did a great job against it. Now Purdue’s flexibility, in a variety of senses, could make it less static and more adjustable, not just game to game but half to half and minute to minute.

RANDOM THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

• We need a name for these last few years in college sports, and all the crazy that has come with it. I’m proposing the Era of Predation, as Goliath programs have taken David’s players — yes, I know David won — larger conferences have destroyed smaller ones, all the way up and down the food chain. Those with the most money have gotten whatever they want, whether it be schools, conferences and most of all, television networks.

The situation at UNLV right now is the manifestation of everyone’s worst fears about an unchecked NIL open market, and it comes just as the Rebels are at the heart of realignment storylines.

What a perfect microcosm of the Studio 54 Era in college football. Hey, that’s better.

• Purdue may have its 2025 forward recruit already. Raleigh Burgess has Purdue people swooning — not really but I didn’t want to take the time to think of a better word — and it might be hard to envision them getting a better player from the high school ranks to add to a team next season for which the possibilities will be endless.