Around the Big Ten

[Hannibal]

Pedo State stole it in the end. Purdue did break 400 yards but it took them 80+ plays to do it. Penn State is going to be a tough game this year.

[Hannibal]

Today's the 15th anniversary of the first game ever shown on the Big Ten network

JFC my grandkids will get go see that. Everybody associated with that catastrophe should be banned from campus.

[Tom W]

Pedo State stole it in the end. Purdue did break 400 yards but it took them 80+ plays to do it. Penn State is going to be a tough game this year.

Purdue choked that game away- bad play calling, sloppy click management and poor execution at the end.

[Hannibal]

Purdue choked that game away- bad play calling, sloppy click management and poor execution at the end.

I was less impressed by O'Connell than I expected to be. Quite a few inaccurate passes. Purdue was also way too one dimensional and it bit them in the end. It didn't help any that Penn State's defensive backs are human velcro.

[THE_WIZARD_]

You'd have thought Scott Frost was coaching Purdue.

[Hannibal]

They need to revise the revised "blind side block" rule. It shouldn't be a penalty unless you really hit the guy hard. Just about every game that I have watched has a big play called back because somebody threw a not-dangerous blind side block. The same goes with the chop block. Lots of really questionable calls.

[Hannibal]

Also -- are DBs around the country just being coached to hold like crazy and challenge the refs to throw the flags? Last night I thought there could have been a hold or a PI on at least a dozen incomplete passes. That seems like the adjustment DCs are making to try and reign in all of these ridiculous offenses.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Purdue got away with a huge hold by a corner on a 3rd down play late...there is always a lot of contact between receiver and DB...viewers typically only see the late scruff...not all the contact down the field. The crew last night did let them play quite a bit. As far as the chop block and blind side blocks...they have been points of emphasis for officials for a long time now. The NCAA instructs crews to caution on the side of safety always. In NFHS...I tell the HS guys that to be a BSB you really need to see the offender blow the guy up violently and extend the arms...the BSB contact alone isn't enough to warrant a BSB...now that being said that call would still have been a block in the back call IMHO...the chop block looked more legit.

[Hannibal]

They are calling chop blocks sometimes when one guy just barely touches the defender. I thought that last night's call was awful. The defender maybe bumped up against the O-lineman and he got hit low by the RB. The defender wasn't "engaged" IMHO before he got hit low. Michigan was the victim of a Godawful one of those last year. That's when the rule crosses over from protecting the players into being a shitty technicality.

Blind side blocks are huge drive-killing penalties and if they are going to always err on the side of protecting the player, those calls should be reviewable. I hated last night's call. There is no danger in the block that was thrown. Ditto for the call that was in the Nebraska-NfW game (if I recall).

[THE_WIZARD_]

Perhaps but like I said it was still a block in the back. 10 yards vs. 15. Not a huge call. Chop block was called because the RB was off the LOS and came in low to a defender engaged high on the LOS...that will get called every time. Like it or not that is where the NFL, NCAA and NFHS are going...safety first. I can see at some point all blocks below the waist being banned...it's been on the table for years at all levels...

[Hannibal]

That's a pretty brutal definition of being "engaged". If you are going to kill drives that way, those plays should be reviewable.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I'm not arguing with you Hanni...just telling you that it is what it is...crews are told to error on the side of safety on those calls...write to the rules committee...

[Cody_Russell]

The refs were really bad for both teams yesterday. Inconsistency when it came to calling holding/ PI. I honestly think Penn State got away with more of it, but they also had the stupid targeting ejection call go against them for their stud LB.

Classic Purdue choke job regardless. Hardly hurt because I’m used to it with Purdue sports.

Penn State doesn’t look that great IMO. Maybe a 9-3 or 8-4 team? Definitely not one of James Franklin’s better Penn State teams… My only hesitation is that it appeared Penn State lost two stud LBs in the game. Targeting ejection and… concussion? Not sure about #23…

[AlabamAlum]

Just as long as Penn State beats Auburn in a few weeks.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Watched the entire Nits/Boilermakers game. Purdue screwed the pooch with some outrageous play calling by Bhrom and sloppy defensive play - there last two Purdue possessions with the lead in the closing minutes of the game were some of the worst, I'm going to lose the game for my players play calling, I've seen. The horrible defensive play by Purdue when the Nits went up 11 before the half foreshadowed the same sort of shit in the 2nd half.

PSU is garbage, Frame's offense is unimmaginative among coaches in today's CFB. I see them as a 4 loss team, one of them coming v, M in Ann Arbor. Clifford is OK but it looked to me like he locked in on the primary receiver most of the time - no pre-snap reads or adjustments post snap to what the Purdue D was showing him. I'll admit judging that in today's modern offenses is hard. The ball is coming out of the QBs hand after 3 counts. Clifford doesn't seem to do well if the primary is covered and the play breaks down. Neiether team has competent balance in thier offenses.