Note: This was already published on HLS the first week of August. Just wanted to re-post since we’re looking at the Friday before the game. Check out the names of guys you heard on the telecast last year who wont be there this year, and the names of the guys who’ll probably replace them. (Also note: I haven’t edited it at all, so if a dude’s out due to injury sustained in the last 3 weeks, my apologies.)
The Replacements is a new series of posts I’ll be doing ahead of games in 2010 against teams ND played in 2009. We’ll take a look at the opposing players who made the biggest impact in the game last year and have since left the opponent’s roster to be replaced by new blood. Think of it as our look at who the opposition is trying to replace in the way ND is looking to replace a Clausen or a Tate. Since Purdue is first up on the schedule, I figured I’d get a jump on things now and maybe tweak the series as it goes along. I don’t expect to finish all of these by the start of the season, but we’ll release them ahead of each relevant game.
The 2009 Notre Dame @ Purdue game resulted in a Notre Dame win in a contest featuring 44 points scored, Dayne Crist’s first meaningful minutes of collegiate competition, Golden Tate taking direct snaps, and a last-minute TD pass from a gimped up Jimmy Clausen to Kyle Rudolph to cap off a 72 yard drive that consumed 3 minutes and 14 seconds of the 3 minutes and 3 minutes and 41 seconds remaining in the game. By rights, had all been normal, ND should never have been threatened by the 1-3 Boilermakers in this game. Then again, taking a look at how it played out and who made big plays (and how), perhaps things were more normal than we’d like to admit.
QB: The Replaced: Joey Elliot – It’ll be darn near impossible to not list any QBs in this series who don’t return for the 2010 rematch with Notre Dame, but even if we handicapped the position because they touch the ball every down, Joey would still be worth mentioning. Against the Irish, Elliot managed a 57% completion rate on 22 of 38 passing for 289 yards. He also scored 3 TDs and threw 1 INT.
QB: The Replacement: Robert Marve – College Football fans will be pretty familiar with Marve.
No idea.
He was once a starting QB in Miami, but after losing the job in South Florida, he transferred to Purdue before last season and was named the starter this summer. Marve’s already got 11 games of starting time under his belt from his Miami days, so from an Irish perspective, this wont be like replacing some veteran with a 1st-year naive. Still, he was sidelined in 2009 with a torn ACL, so his threat as a “dual capability” QB may not be what it once was.
WR: The Replaced: Aaron Valentin – Aaron arrived on Purdue’s campus via JuCo transfer from Erie Community College. And prior to that, he was a Rivals 3-star prospect. Other than that… there’s not much to know about the dude, but here’s video of him “breaking” what could be referred to as “tackle attempts” on his way to his TD score against the Irish…
…and people complain about the NBC production quality.
That was his only catch of the day, but that catch was a big one.
WR: The Replacement: Cortez Smith – Near as we can tell, Cortez is tapped to be the next Valentin. The Senior had 1 start in 2009, but played in all 12 games for the Boilermakers in his first season after transferring to Purdue from Kilgore College. Against the Irish in 2009, he had one catch for 9 yards.
RB: The Replaced: Jaycen Taylor: While Jaycen only managed 2 rushes for 6 yards against the Irish in 2009, he also managed 1 catch for 38 yards and a TD.
RB: The Replacement: Al-Terek McBurse: An obvious nominee of the All-Name team, McBurse hit the scene running in his freshman year at Purdue. Named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2009, he really made his mark on kickoff returns, averaging 24.6 yards/return and returning one for a TD. That sort of sustained output would have made him a top-20-30 kickoff return man in national rankings last year.
CB: The Replaced: David Pender: David managed just 3 tackles in the game against the Irish in 2009, but he also managed an interception. David completed his career at Purdue 19th among all-time Purdue defenders in passes defended.
CB: The Replacement: Mike Eargle: Mike arrives to play for Purdue this season for the first time having transferred from junior college.
S: The Replaced: Dwight McLean: In 2009, Dwight averaged 5.17 tackles per game, but against the Irish, he managed to record 10 tackles.
S: The Replacement: No Idea: We were going to write “Gavin Roberts,” but then we stumbled across info on the Purdue website indicating that he’s moved to RB. Which is funny because Purdue is essentially replacing their entire defensive backfield this season. Bombs away, Coach Kelly. Bombs. Away.
Well, Purdue makes for a lousy tune-up game, but perhaps a good tune-up post of “The Replacements.” Stick with us, as we suspect that other teams on the schedule, will provide more fodder.
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Trey
Holy crap, that stuff is better than a bottle of Shiner and a spoonful of Benadryl.
The Biscuit
you forgot RB Bolden, who went down with an injury. he’s gonna be good for them when he gets back.
domer_mq
Except all he did against ND in 2009 was avg about 3.8 per rush and didn’t score and netted only 67 yards. My focus in this series will be on players ND faced who made big plays in the previous meeting and wont be around to do so this year.
domer_mq
And, for that matter, he’s not being replaced this year if he makes it back.
The Biscuit
but he is if he doesnt.
Brad
It was my understanding (last I heard) that Bolden was out for the year anyway.
The Biscuit
i think he would’ve been their featured back if not for the injury. he was pretty solid for them the rest of the year (as ‘solid’ as you can be for Purdue). not a huge game against ND, so i can see how you’d leave him off, just think his absence is a big blow for them.
domer_mq
No doubt he’d be the feature back if healthy. He just doesn’t work in the formula of this searies: “Made big Impact vs. ND in 2009” + “Is no longer on the roster” = “Makes it into this series.” Essentially looking to highlight names who were big to the 2009 story who wont even be bit players this year. Sort of “Who are their Clausens and Tates?”
The Biscuit
I get it, but felt like bothering you. Work is less fun.
Trey
Reposting this does not supplant the need for a Friday roundup. As a Loyal Dreg i demand sustenance from you in the form of snarky comments about the goings-on in CFB.