Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/93594
FROM EDITOR BRIAN NEUBER T Maybe Tim Beck- SOMETHING TO PLAY FOR sent an even bigger play- er-poaching delegation to Penn State in August. The first-year Illinois man should have nally got over the hump and got a win this past weekend. Beat the Illini like you coach's team is utterly aw- ful as the program contin- ues to hose the Zook off the soles of its shoes. Yeah, Illinois is bad, real bad. How bad? Well, it can reasonably be ex- should and it sets up a one-game playoff for the postseason. Purdue would host pected that Purdue — all 1-5 in the Big Ten of it — might go on the road and blow somebody out. If the Boilermakers replicate their showing at struggling Iowa, it might just happen. Yes, Illinois is beyond aw- eligibility on the line and its coach's future cloudy. Drama! IU, which will be looking Indiana for the Bucket game with postseason And if they do, Purdue will all of a sudden have the postseason within its reach. How big a deal is that? Well, for Purdue it would be significant, though still a far cry from preseason — and mid- season — ambitions. So what if Purdue goes 6-6? Well, it will go to a bowl game ful, as its 2-8 record and triple- digit rankings in most offen- sive categories — but 99th in rushing! — attest. Hey, you want to hear a fun stat? Illinois, in its six Big Ten loss- es, has scored a total of 63 points. At Indiana this past weekend, Wisconsin scored 62. Yes, Illinois is very bad this year. And that makes for a great opportunity for Purdue after it fi- to create a winning streak in Ross-Ade Stadium, could also be playing for a bowl game if it somehow wins at Penn State this weekend. That would be interesting, wouldn't it? But first Purdue has handle lifeless Illinois, which the past six Big Ten opponents have done by an aggregate margin of 148 points. ward forcing of Purdue' due's results have not been a whole lot better, but it's also very clear that of these two middling teams, the Boilermakers are the superior one. But they have to prove it on I understand fully that Pur- Saturday. know for cer- tain yet what will become of Danny Hope af- ter this season, but Purdue will have to make a call one way of the other. If the verdict is going to be a thumbs-down, Purdue's perfectly sonable We don't s hand. portunities pull the plug in-season things had rea- op- to have as GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 23, EXPRESS 11 • 5 in a year the Big Ten is short of eli- gible teams. And it might create for an awk- gone south but hasn't. So if the Boilermakers go 6-6 — and maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves; Indiana is no road apple — then Purdue has to move immediately thereafter to dive into the open market feet- first, at the risk of marring the bowl experience for its players, an absolute sensitivity for this particular athletic department. Purdue's painted into a corner on this. But that's how the Iowa win, much like last year's Ohio State win, changed things. Two weeks ago, the season was pure scorched earth. Now, at least, there's something to play for. But now there's also some- thing to really wonder about, too. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com