What the Blogs are Saying

Found a few blogs previewing the Hawaii-Purdue game. Here's an entry from Sportable.com:

Purdue +18 over Hawaii: I’m sick and tired of hearing Purdue coach Joe Tiller bitch about this game. But I also think the Boilermakers will have some pride and actually try. They’re already locked into the Champs Sports Bowl and Hawaii has already confirmed their intention to play in the Hawaii Bowl. This is a nice opportunity for Purdue, despite what Joe Tiller may complain about. Hawaii is a ranked team so a road win for the Boilermakers would be a nice end to the regular season. I don’t see why Purdue wouldn’t be motivated here. They’ve won three in a row and are looking to go 9-4. They might lose but it should be close.

Rockin' the Comet talks about Joe Tiller's comments and offers up a prediction.

It's funny Joe Tiller has publicly stated numerous times now he has never wanted to play this game. He said he wanted this game cancelled, and talked about how we lose money playing this game. He went on to say other big ten coaches who have played there warned him about bad officiating, and how the big ten should stop going over there. Will that happen who knows. I only hope this negative attitude doesn't rub off on the Boilers. I don't see us winning this game for many reasons, however we do play better away from Ross Ade. This is just a chance to get to 9 wins, and beat a team who has yet to play anyone, no offense gary and cheryl. Alright onto the prediction.

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Purdue vs Hawaii- This is not a fun game, and could get ugly either way. They are a high octane offense, but don't seem to have much defense. If our offense which has played better away from Ross Ade can click we have a shot. We have way too many hurdles to overcome in this one, a long flight, tons of distractions, already have the bowl bid. That being said somehow, someway Tiller fires them up enough to get victory #9.

PURDUE 63 hawaii 62

The Warriors defense has been on a roll recently, so I don't think we'll give up that many points. That would be a crazy game though!

The writer of the Boilermaker Football Blog is in Hawaii for the game and it sounds like he's having a good time. Here's an excerpt from his latest entry:

I must say that I am highly disappointed with the amount of whining coming from Coach Tiller. He knew this game was coming for years, and it didn't get rescheduled as he asked. We get it that he doesn't want to be over here. It's time to be quiet and prepare to play. Let's get the team down to business and get a win since that is what we came over here to do. This is an excellent opportunity for us to have a dry run at bowl preparation with all the extracurriculars that come with it. Since our last few bowl trips have yielded slow starts maybe it is a good thing to have another game between the end of the season and the bowl game. Now we only get about five weeks off instead of the usual six, and that can only help when getting ready for the Champs Bowl.

I'd be disappointed too if I paid to fly all the way to Hawaii to support the team only to hear your coach pretty much saying the game is meaningless and offering up all kinds of excuses. But the blogger has a great attitude about it and offers some keys to the game along with a prediction.

As for the game itself, offense is going to be the key. It is time to use our running game at least as much as we did against Illinois, if not more so. Hawaii's weakness is against the run and we need to have a big day from our backs. We need to have a big day from Painter with his legs. Painter needs to keep them guessing with option runs and keep the ball moving on the ground. They are a good team, but it is still a WAC defense we are moving the ball against. This is not Wisconsin, or Penn State, or even Indiana in terms of overall depth and talent. Hawaii gets to keep a lot of good in state talent at home, but it is still a small pool from which to draw recruits. The Warriors' defensive weakness is against the run, and we need to exploit it so we can set up our passing game. Of course, I recognize that this is what every football team wants to do in any game.

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PREDICTION: Hawaii 45, Purdue 35 – We'll score with them early and hang around for awhile, but there is simply too much firepower there for us to overcome. We need the offense of the Indiana State game and the defense of the Northwestern game in order to have even a chance.

There's a lot more to read, so go check it out. The Warriors defense has definitely done a great job in recent weeks, so I hope UH can continue to be aggressive and stuff the run and pressure the quarterback. Anyway, since I'm taking predictions from other blogs, I might as well offer my own prediction, for real this time.

Tombo's Prediction: Hawaii 56, Purdue 23

As much as I'd like UH to drop 80 points on Joe Tiller, I don't think it'll happen. But who knows, if the UH players and coaches are as pissed about Tiller's comments as some of the UH fans are, then records may be broken! Game is tomorrow!

GO WARRIORS!!!!