Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/515571
GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 28 • 8 Appleby learned he'd make his first start, in place of Danny Etling, the night before the game and promptly showed poise, presence, savvy, fight and no fear to lead the Boilermakers to a 38-27 over Illinois at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. He completed 15- of-20 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown, rushed for two scores, had the team's longest rush of the game (62 yards) and caught a pass. "I've been working to do this my entire life and the last thing I was going to go out and do, getting the chance to realize my dream, was go out and play scared. I said I was going to go out there and sling it," Appleby said after the game. The celebration, though, was short-lived. Mired by injuries to two key receivers, Purdue lost its final six conference (and overall) games of the season after beating the Illini. In part because of that, Appleby has yet to be named starter for the season opener in 2015. Hazell said he'll wait to publicly announce a starter during training camp. If it's Appleby, redshirt freshman David Blough or true freshman Elijah Sindelar, it'd be the seventh straight season Purdue had a different starter in consecutive years for Week 1. NO. 6: UNIQUE VANTAGE POINT A HIT Not "cheesy." That was a key point of emphasis when thinking of the design for the new-look south end zone patio — after all the bleachers got spur-of-the-moment ripped out before the 2014 football season. And as an interim solution to a much larger-scale issue, the patio largely was a hit. It allowed fans to mingle before games and partake in an alcoholic beverage, and there was space that they could stay and watch until the end with about 1,000 seats below the patio, too. "It was a way to start the process that we knew we were going to undertake and not just wait on a final design," athletic director Morgan Burke said after the second week of the season. "And with ticket sales as weak as they've been, a way to thank season ticket holders without asking for any additional support. I've been down there and people seem to like it." Just when the patio will become more, though, is a hot talking point among fans. Burke met with the board of trustees May 15 to present the "master plan," which includes renovations not only to Ross-Ade Stadium's south end zone and its sound system, potential addition of lights and FieldTurf and a ribbon video board in the north end zone but also changes to Mollenkopf and the Brees Academic Center. That meeting didn't produce much fanfare because "the big deal," as Burke called it, won't be until the end of the year when the plan is completed. "It'll probably be a series of projects," Burke said. "Don't think of it as one big bang. Because we've got to live in the house while we're there, like we did with Mackey. We just have to sort that out over the next six, seven months." NO. 7: WOMEN'S HOOPS FALLS TO … LAST For a program as successful as Purdue's, with a national championship and three Final Fours, a last-place Big Ten finish might be considered fantasy. But in 2014-15, it became reality. The Boilermakers limped to an 11-20 record, including 3-15 in the Big Ten. They lost 14 of their last 15 regular-season games, including 10 straight to end the season, yet recovered slightly to win a game in the Big Ten Tournament before a second-round exit. They'll take a seven-game home losing streak into next season. Purdue saw its string of 21 consecutive seasons with a postseason berth — 20 NCAA Tournament appearances and a WNIT bid (in 2009-10) — come to an end. It left the Boilermakers stung and in search of answers for much of the spring. "Since we've never experienced a postseason like this, I feel like I'm a freshman again," said rising senior April Wilson. "I've never experienced such hard workouts, because we've always gone into the NCAA Tournament. But I think outside of basketball, like as people, our attitudes need to change, our demeanors, holding each other accountable for things.