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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 13 • 24 BY GOLD AND BLACK STAFF W hen Darrell Hazell's cross-country recruiting jaunt finally takes a break, athletic director Mor- gan Burke will sit down for a postseason "debrief," as is typical. One of the questions Burke will have: Why was there such a variability of play from the offense and defense from game-to-game in 2014? After Hazell's one-win season, Burke wanted to see less fluctuation of competitiveness from each game. Even though Purdue only improved on that win total by two this season, Burke got his wish, as the Boilermakers' margin of de - feat was significantly cut. Burke said he thinks the program is on schedule in its rebuilding process. Now, though, it needs to take the next step and start winning some of the games they're in. "Obviously, this past year a ton of effort and ener- gy expended by the players, the coaching staff, by our marketing, sales, PR and John Purdue Club staff and by the fans, and we don't have much to show for it, and that's disappointing. That's discouraging," Burke said on Tuesday in a press conference to discuss the season. "You can't sit here and say, 'Take some kind of sat- isfaction that the statistics are better.' You're 3-9. That's not a good record. It depends on how you want to look at it. I kind of side with the people over here (who are bottom line), but I also accept the people who Burke Reflects On Season, Looks Ahead F O OT BA L L : N E W S A N D N OT E S PRESENTS www.MeetYouAtArnis.com LAFAYETTE • INDIANAPOLIS • GREENWOOD Visit one of our 18 Indiana locations Meet You At Arni's TM Celebrates Purdue's Student-Athletes SERVING BOILER FANS FOR 50 YEARS World Famous Pizza, Salads, Sandwiches Shane Mikesky Junior, Major in Movement and Sports Science Mikesky, a wide receiver from Zionsville Ind., was one of 47 players on the Boilermaker football team to make coach Darrell Hazell's "A-Players" list for the spring. Players can qualify for the list, which was originated from Hazell's decree of "A Players Must Get A's" by getting a 3.0 average or better for the semester. The Boilermakers had 40 players make the list in the fall. The team posted a 2.78 GPA for the spring, up from a 2.65 in the fall, and improved its cumulative GPA to 2.77, up from 2.75 prior to the spring semester. It is the highest team GPA for football in at least 20 years. Mikesky was also one of six players to record a perfect 4.0 GPA. GoldandBlack.com Morgan Burke thinks Purdue improved this season but also would have liked for that to show up more tangibly in terms of victories. want to look at the inputs to say those are better, (so) the output is eventually going to get there. "I know what we don't have — that's people when it's third-and- six to make a play. People when it's