Disappointing Now But Still a Bright Future

Of course it was a major disappointment for Purdue to get absolutely dominated by Auburn 63-14, with Jeff Brohm at the helm it really does feel like the Boilermakers could beat anyone, but this program just isn’t there. The expectations for Auburn at the beginning of the season was national title contention and for Purdue it was just to get to a bowl game. The ending of the season seems to be appropriate for a team that was up and down all season. 0-3 start, 3-0 against ranked teams including the upset of Ohio State, and bowl berth that was a massive blow out. The truth is at the beginning of the season a second straight bowl berth would have been considered a success after the dumpster fire that existed in West Lafayette before Brohm arrived. And those players are still what Brohm is working with. The teams that went 9-39 and 3-30 in the Big Ten is the base of this team that just finished 13-13 and 9-9 in the Big Ten over Brohm’s first two seasons.

But what we saw this year is what Brohm can bring and will continue to bring to West Lafayette. Rondale Moore was a consensus All-American in his freshmen season, with Heisman consideration. So often this season he was the best player on the field, he is the type of player that belongs on a National Championship roster, but was the lone one. That will not be the case for the 2019 season. A top 25 class is coming to West Lafayette, those reinforcements to close the talent gap Purdue had when it lined up across from an Auburn.

During the 2017 season Jackson Anthrop was the leading receiver for the Boilermakers as a true freshmen. Then Moore stepped on campus and the JUCO WR got better and Anthrop disappeared. Now 4* Milton Wright, Mershawn Rice and 3* TJ Sheffield are coming to campus and there’s still 4* David Bell as a possibility to join the class too. Jared Sparks going to disappear off the depth chart for 2019? That gives Brohm so much offensive talent to scheme with, and we’ve already seen what he can do with just Moore.

The defense is going to get a massive influx of talent also. 4* George Karlaftis is the gem of the class and is joined by 4* DT Steven Faucheux. Both are expected to be major contributors from day one and add a lot more bite to the front four to the Purdue line that got pushed around by Auburn. And behind them is 4* S Marvin Grant and 3* Jalen Graham from Detroit that are expected to step in at safety. Those are just the tops of the class and the Purdue coaching staff has already shown had they can coach up the players on the team.

Talent is coming in on all levels to a team that has already set a bowl berth as the floor. Now there is going to be much more talent to raise that floor even higher. In a 6-6 season Purdue was in the Big Ten West race late and now a top 25 class will become Brohm’s foundation for a possible springboard in to something really special not seen in Ross Ade stadium since Joe Tiller.

Moore’s success is a massive feather in Brohm’s cap because he brought in a top player and he was a consensus All-American. Purdue has seen top talent come in the past but not had a lot to show for it, but Brohm made Rondale Moore shine and now has a top 25 class to do the same. After what many were expecting to be a retooling year 2019 will now be a crucial year. Brohm has to do what he did for Moore for this class to keep winning, bringing in those classes and building up the program like many are expecting now. So before you tweet ‘I guess $6 million doesn’t buy what it used to.’ just remember what Brohm had to start with and how fast he has gotten back to what a power 5 program should expect, a bowl berth. And now he’s bringing in talent to rival with some of the biggest programs out there, which he has already beaten without that talent. There’s a sour taste in Purdue fans mouth but things are still aimed up.