2 posts tagged “purdue”

I watched College Gameday this past Saturday morning for the first time this season. (Regular readers have some idea of what I've been up to during most previous Saturdays this fall.) They're broadcasting from College Station, Texas, home of the Aggies and the 12th Man; I'm reminded of some friends from A&M that I knew when I was an intern at General Dynamics in Fort Worth, during college, and how absolutely loyal to and fired up by their football team they were. I don't think there is a fan base I respect more for their passion for their team, their traditions, and the game. (Not a single tradition at my school, Purdue, matches up to any of the nine listed here.)

This passion got me thinking: what other schools have amazing gameday traditions and would be absolutely killer places to watch a game? Having read Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, I'm pretty sure an Auburn/Alabama game is on the list, but this is the sort of question that deserves a ten-item answer. So, here's my list:

1. Florida at Tennessee
2. Michigan at Ohio State
3. Army at Navy
   
4. Texas at Texas A&M
5. Washington at Oregon
6. Alabama at Auburn
7. Oklahoma at Nebraska
8. Purdue at Notre Dame
   
9. Florida State at Miami
10. Fresno State at Hawaii

I've taken care of #8; Notre Dame really is a special place for college football, regardless of how much you may dislike the team. (As a Purdue grad, you can guess where I am on that score.) I've also seen games at Michigan, Washington, and the Orange Bowl (hey, it was the 70s, but it still counts), but these are the must-see rivalries. Which ones are yours?

A brief diversion into football. I'm pretty psyched that Purdue used its weakest asset, defense, to win against a run-roughshod Minnesota offense today, 27-21. Our average defensive rank across the major run/pass stats was somewhere around 105th out 117 Division I-A teams coming into this game. We didn't exactly bottle up Minnesota's Amir Pinnix (173 yards rushing on 28 carries), but the guy never ran it into the end zone; 2 TD passes from Bryan Cupito and TD run on the Gopher's opening posession accounted for their scoring.

The Minnesota opening drive was a workmanlike beauty; seven minutes and 83 yards of grinding run with occasional play action to assail our young secondary. I figured we were out of hope for sure, but a key blocked field goal and an interception in the end zone established some confidence and momentum for the "D" that they didn't relinquish.

If you haven't watched the Boilers this year (fat chance for almost everyone, since this was their first regional game on network TV), keep an eye out for a guy named Dustin Keller. This tight end has soft hands for the ball but bruising forearms for the cornerbacks; he shoved his way out of several tackles this week and last on his way to some 50+ yards-after-catch receptions. He also put a classic PlayStation 2 "L1 juke" on a defender today that will hopefully get highlight reel treatment.

Next up: Notre Dame. We got waxed last year, and this year we still don't have the talent to take them on paper. But a little belief and confidence goes a long, long way.