GoldandBlack.com Saturday Simulcast: Purdue football training camp and hoops chatter

With the Purdue football season opener just three weeks away, Tom Dienhart provides an extensive update on training camp. Brian Neubert also talks Boilermaker hoops, a little USA Olympic basketball, and more in this lively 50-minute discussion.

Audio only

BIG GAME IN WEEK 3

(excerpt from Brian Neubert Weekly Word ) This from the “never do this again” file with football schedules: Purdue goes to Oregon State in Week 3, a nice primer for the many trips to come to the Pacific Northwest, but a dangerous and maybe pivotal game, one week after an adrenaline-rush game vs. Notre Dame and one week before a really important Big Ten opener against Nebraska in Ross-Ade Stadium.

Twice in my frame of reference covering Purdue football, the Boilermakers have traveled west early in a season, lost, and seen their season go sideways thereafter. It was the Oregon game in 2009 under Danny Hope — Purdue people blamed that trip for the loss to Northern Illinois a week later — and the Nevada game 10 years later under Jeff Brohm, both of them real gut-punch losses. Now, every season is different and every team is different and there are no parallels to be drawn other than meaningless precedent, but it does bear mentioning that these cross-country September trips — scheduled so long ago no one ever could have imagined Bigfoot Country would actually be the Big Ten footprint — are no picnic. It’s an arduous trip that mucks up routine before and after.

Oregon State is beatable of course, and what a win that would be for Purdue on The CW, the network that also brings you “ Dr. G: Medical Examiner .” But seriously, it would be a great win amidst a bit of early season adversity, playing on the road early on, let alone that far away.

But it could go both ways. That Nebraska game will be one of the most important games of the season, and any issues that might bleed from Oregon State weekend into Nebraska weekend would be less than welcomed.

Here’s guessing this is the last of its kind in terms of cross-country non-conference treks.

They’re just not worth it. Times have changed since this contract was signed in 2017 and from here on out, Purdue (and others like it) need wins and home-game revenue and should be unapologetic about scheduling accordingly. Getting the Beavers to visit West Lafayette inn 2021 was worth this at the time, but those days are over.

Purdue’s schedules are hard enough as is and will be into perpetuity.

The post GoldandBlack.com Saturday Simulcast: Purdue football training camp and hoops chatter appeared first on On3 .