Purdue fans are babies.
Purdue fans are still talking about their 2004 season, the season where they were ranked #5 in the country through five games with Heisman hopeful Kyle Orton leading the way. Of course, Purdue finished outside of the Top #25 in 2004 after a downward spiral that landed them in the Sun Bowl, which they lost to Arizona State. Some Purdue fans feel their season could have been different if not for a single fumble and an injury to Kyle Orton. Well, Boilers, I’m afraid reality doesn’t agree with you. Purdue started their 2004 season with a bang, racking up a ton of yards and points through the first four games. In wins against Syracuse, Ball State, Illinois, and Notre Dame, Purdue averaged over 47 points a game. Kyle Orton averaged 342 yards per game through the air with 17 TD and 0 INT. The Heisman buzz was growing. Purdue, which started the season ranked #24, quickly ascended to the #9 ranking going into a match up with Penn State.
Here’s the problem with Purdue’s first four opponents. They were bad. Syracuse ranked 90th in pass defense, Ball State 106th, Illinois 79th, and Notre Dame 116th. Should it really come as a surprise that Kyle Orton and Purdue’s spread offense were able to amass such amazing statistics over the first four weeks? Maybe to someone who’s an idiot, a fan of Purdue, or both.
Penn State was a poor football team in 2004 (4-7 overall), but they finished the season with the 6th ranked pass defense in the country. Kyle Orton had a good, but not great, game against Penn State, throwing for 275 yards and a touchdown. He also added his first two interceptions of the year, but Purdue remained undefeated after a narrow 20-13 victory. They ascended to the #5 ranking going into a match up with Wisconsin. This game, however, indicated that Purdue may be a bit overrated.
Wisconsin finished the 2004 season with a 9-3 record and the 7th ranked pass defense in the country. This was a difficult test for the Boilers. Kyle Orton had an average game, throwing for 235 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. However, late in the game with the lead, Kyle Orton fumbled the ball (see photo above). Wisconsin returned it for a touchdown, and Purdue had their first loss of the season. Sorry Purdue fans, everyone knew you were overrated.
The wheels started to come off for Purdue. The next week, against a brutal Northwestern pass defense (98th), Kyle Orton completed less than 50% of his passes and threw an interception in a loss. Orton was injured in third quarter, but he hadn’t accomplished much before the injury. Purdue had been fully exposed as a fraud.
The following week, Purdue lost to Iowa. Purdue fans argue that they would have beaten Iowa with Orton. Prove it. Kirsch did a good job of keeping Purdue in the game after they fell behind early, but he made a few mistakes down the stretch that put the game out of reach. Orton did the same thing against Wisconsin.
At this point, Purdue was 5-4 with all five wins coming against teams who finished 2004 at .500 or worse. They finished the year with a solid win over a mediocre Ohio State team and a blowout win over another sub-.500 team. Purdue hadn’t beaten anyone good, and all they could do was make excuses.
This is a classic case of a fan base having their hopes inflated during preseason games against bad teams. Purdue was not a good football team in 2004. Kyle Orton was not a good quarterback. Live with it. Purdue will always be competitive, but not significant. Joe Tiller will always do just enough to keep his job. Prove me wrong.
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Wow, it’s like you guys were almost trying to egg me on into replying to this one. The fact of the matter is, I totally agree with you.
Purdue has some of the most disappointing fans to be around on football Saturdays. First of all, despite their black and gold color scheme they don’t cheer for Iowa — but more disgustingly, they won’t even cheer for their own team. I’ve never seen a group of Big Ten students who will actually, honest to God, WEAR THEIR RIVALS spirit wear to the rivalry game and cheer against their own school. I don’t know how many people I met while I was at Purdue who were Purdue students, had only and always been Purdue students, and cheered for Notre Dame over Purdue in football and who cheered for IU over Purdue in basketball. I will be long dead and rotted in my grave before I will wear ISU or UNI’s colors, and that will only happen if grave robbers decide to deface my moldering carcass. Anyhow, these same assholes had the audacity to try to compare themselves to me pointing out that I cheer for Iowa over Purdue. I don’t need to go into the many reasons why ANYONE should cheer for Iowa over Purdue, but in particular is the fact THAT I ACTUALLY WENT TO IOWA AND HAVE PRIDE IN MY OWN SCHOOL!!!
Kyle Orton’s fumble aside, the Purdue fan base has many bigger problems to deal with. I think this article over-inflates the issue because as a Purdue fan I don’t bitch about that play any more than I do as an Iowa fan about the touchdown pass to Chandler against Texas and the onside kick against Florida. The important lesson is that I cheer every year for Iowa to be No. 1 in the country and No. 1 in the Big Ten, Purdue No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 2 in the country. Keep it Big Ten, keep it Black and Gold. (Just wanted to make that clear to you guys unless you wondered where my loyalties were).
P.S.: To all the ISU fans who still might sleaze around this site, if you want to see a real Ag and Engineering School, visit West Lafayette, IN. If you want to see THE REAL State University of Iowa, visit Iowa CIty, IA.