Purdue vs Middle Tennessee State Preview

The Boiling Point: A preview of  Purdue vs Middle Tennessee State.

Purdue vs Middle Tennessee State
Location: Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana
TV: Big Ten Network- Wayne Larrivee has the play-by-play, Joe Tiller returns to Purdue as the color man, and Jon Jansen has the sideline duties.
Radio: 96.5FM in Lafayette area, Sirius channel 128, XM Channel 196-Tim Newton has play-by-play, Pete Quinn is color commentator, and Kelly Kitchel is on the sideline.
Series Record: Purdue and MTSU have never played before and this is the first time Purdue has played a team from the Sun Belt Conference.

Predictions
Scott: Purdue should be able to run all over Middle Tennessee State. Three of MTSU’s expected starters on their defensive line are out for the year for various reasons and their defense as a whole is very undersized. On offense MTSU has a new quarterback, Logan Kilgore, who started three games last year and had three touchdowns and five interceptions. Look for MTSU to run a pass heavy offense and primarily utilize no huddle. If Purdue’s defense is able to to keep up with the no huddle, their passing game should play right into Purdue’s strength on the defense, the secondary. I think Ralph Bolden has a huge day for the Boilers, giving new quarterback Caleb TerBush the luxury to get used to playing full time. I know I predicted at 34-17 win in our podcast, but after thinking about it, I think it will be a little bit bigger margin and be a 41-17 win for the Boilers.

Zach: I’m fighting the urge to turn this into a “why I don’t like Danny Hope” paragraph, so I’ll simply say that I’m 99% sure Purdue will win, despite the fact that the third-string QB is starting, the starting running back hasn’t made a cut publicly in years, and one of the things fans are most looking forward to this season is the team’s field goal kicker. Purdue 31-MTSU 13

Leroy: OK, I’m starting to back track on the lopsided Purdue win I promised on Thursday’s podcast. That’s right I’m flip-flopping. My prediction, I think, was around 49-7. I’m closing that winning gap considerably. I’m sorry, but the more I thought about how Purdue looked woeful offensively last season after Robert Marve went down with an ACL scared me away from settling on a blowout. I think Ralph Bolden is the man as the Boilers get things going on the ground and the defense is solid, but Purdue’s offense as a whole is too inconsistent to open it up. Purdue 24, Middle Tennessee State 7.