Big Ten Bowl | mrgopher11's Blog

So what a game that Motor City Bowl turned out to be. Easily 4 times as many CMU fans as Purdue fans, as you might expect. Record overall attendance though. All things considered, not to shabby of a site, game, and overall bowl.

Now, a lot of people are using the fact that the game was close, thus showing the weakness of the Big Ten yet again. However, consider this: CMU played absoultely flawlessly. No turnovers, a qb who had 6 TD's and rushed for over 100 yards. They had the crowd in the game, and it was a bigger home atmosphere for the Chippewas than Minnesota had at the Metrodome earlier this year. Trust me on that one, I was at both games.

On the other hand, Purdue's biggest playmaker, Dorien Bryant, had a terrible game. 2 perfect passes ended up as interceptions and both were completely his fault. Another late fumble should have cost them the game. With the exception of Painter and Keller, (with some flashes from Orton), Purdue played pretty poorly. No running game whatsoever, and they really tried to focus on that. The defense couldn't tackle anything... I mean, the best defensive play of the game was a pass broken up by the back of Terrel Vinson's head. And that was just dumb luck. Even the punting game struggled.

Yet despite all of that, Purdue still won. I mean, if they were really that bad of a team, there is no way they win with a -3 turnover ratio. Yet they still did. Now, say what you want about how they played bad because they are bad. But I think it really is more of a testament to the strength of the team. I don't think this new way of doing bowl prep really worked, but a win is a win, and if the 9th place team in the Big Ten can beat the MAC champion in an away game while playing terrible, maybe there is some hope for some of those other Big Ten teams in bowls.

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December 28, 2007 02:13 PM ET

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In September, Purdue gave up 22 points to CMU. The Boilers didn't learn much from that game ... allowing 48 in the rematch. Good thing they don't play each other again :)

Let's Go State! MSU against Boston College tonight (We'll need a lot of luck)