Purdue entered the 2013 season with hope that their exciting new coach would help the team take the next step towards becoming truly competitive in the Big Ten. Instead, under Darrell Hazell’s leadership they endured a historically bad season, finishing 1-11 and being somewhat fortune to claim that one victory. There is no simple explanation for why it went so wrong and it is tempting to suggest that Hazell simply was not ready to handle to take charge of a Big Ten program. However, any such supposition is in direct contrast to Hazell’s superb work in turning Kent State into an 11-1 MAC contender. Moreover, since taking over at Purdue Hazell has set about a complete transformation of the program, putting a strong emphasis upon teaching fundamentals and instilling discipline and accountability at every level. He is recruiting well and doing all the right things off the field and with patience he can make Purdue a force once again. However, repeating last season's one win aberration will surely stretch any patience beyond breaking point.
2013 Purdue Boilermakers Season
Opening with a trouncing by Cincinnati was less than ideal and relying on a late interception to hold off Indiana State in West Lafayette did nothing to build confidence. Yet, that narrow victory over the FCS team was the highlight of the season. Purdue gave Notre Dame a fright before being steamrolled to the tune of 388 rushing yards by Wisconsin, thereafter they endured one embarrassing result after another. Losing at home to Illinois, handing the Fighting Illini their sole Big Ten win of the season, was a particularly low point.
Offense
At Kent State, the powerful Trayion Durham and the electric Dri Archer starred at running back in a well executed pro-style offense, giving the Golden Flashes enough firepower to overwhelm the majority of the opponents they faced. It would be easy to assume that lacking those star running backs was one of the problems Hazell encountered at Purdue, but in truth the Boilermakers had talent at the position in the athletic Akeem Hunt. However, the offensive line play, which had been a strength of the 2012 Kent State offense, was abject for the 2013 Boilermakers; the running backs never had much of a chance.
Hunt returns as does track star Raheem Mostert. The former led the team in 2013 with a meager 464 yards and one touchdown, while the latter was the star of the spring and should be more of a feature this season. Hunt was a featured receiver in 2013 and that should continue to be the case, as Purdue need to maximize getting the ball into the hands of their two most dangerous playmakers.
Quarterback Danny Etling endured a baptism by fire in 2013, inheriting the starting job as a true freshman in week five. He suffered some growing pains, but he finished the season strong and should pick up from there in 2014. His leading targets all return and in sophomore DeAngelo Yancey, (546 yards at an average of 17.1) there is a little more big play threat.
Both air and ground attacks possess enough talent to function effectively in 2014, but the question is whether the offensive line will be strong enough to let them do so. They lose four starters, which may not be the worst thing that could have happened. Part of the problem in 2013 was handling the transition from spread to pro-style offense, which puts greater demands upon the offensive linemen and they failed to cope with those demands in 2013. Robert Kugler should be solid at center and there is some junior college help on the way, but the new line has to gel fast if the Boilermakers are to attain respectability on offense in 2014.
Defense
It was not just the offense that struggled in 2013, as the Boilermakers defense gave up 459.9 yards and 38 points per game and recorded just 14 sacks in 12 matches. The defense was offered zero help by an offense which could not sustain drives, leaving an exhausted and ultimately overmatched defense. Switching to a hybrid 3-4 leaning scheme probably did not help matters as well.
The three standard defensive linemen need to be primarily focused on stopping the run, which was not a strength in 2013. The loss of the three starters and a lack of standout replacements will not help matters in 2014. They also lose the best linebacker from the 2013 defense and may be forced to turn to a true freshman for a little dynamism in the front seven. Senior Ryan Russell needs to have a big season at the hybrid JACK position, which is part lineman, part linebacker and ideally all playmaker. Russell needs to become a prominent presence in the opponent’s backfield.
There is plenty of experience returning in the secondary, but the loss of playmaking cornerback Ricardo Allen, who led the team with 6 interceptions, is a blow. However there is enough depth amongst the defensive backs to suggest they will be just fine if the front seven can actually get their hands on the quarterback in 2014.
Special Teams
A new punter must be found and a 50% field goal accuracy from the returning kicker Paul Griggs is far from reassuring. However, the return game works with both Hunt and Mostert. They both returned kicks for touchdowns last season, with Hunt averaging an impressive 26.1 yards per return.
2014 Season Outlook
The Big Ten schedule is not kind. They open with the visit of Iowa, host their more difficult matches in West Lafayette and play away against three of their weaker conference opponents. Purdue could easily go 0-8 in conference play for a second successive season, so it is imperative that they pick up some wins from the out of conference slate to pad the record and hopefully build momentum to give them a chance in conference play. All four of those out of conference matches are at home, and three of them, against Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Southern Illinois, are winnable.
There is good reason to believe that Purdue will be better in 2014. All the best pieces return on offense and if the line can improve at all, the offense will function and the playmakers will get the chance to show that there is still some offensive talent in West Lafayette. Football has a short memory. Darrell Hazell’s Kent State team were hugely impressive in 2012, but that is two years ago now and the bitter taste of a 1-11 season is in danger of ruining Hazell’s Purdue tenure before it really gets started. If Purdue give Hazell time they will be rewarded, but Hazell will have to earn that time by coaxing a more competitive unit out of the players on hand in 2014. Going 1-11 again is not an option.