Ten at Ten

The Boiling Point: The Ten at Ten.

Welcome to this weeks edition to Ten at Ten, a list of 10 positives/negatives from the previous Purdue football game posted at 10am eastern. However, there was no game this week so I’ll give some positives/negatives of the bye week.

Positives
1) Rest- This is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, positives to the bye week. Our players will get some time to heal and get their legs back under them leading up to what could be the most important game of the year. Gabe Holmes has been out since the first game and Danny Hope said he should back for the Notre Dame game. Jared Crank should be back as well after being out last week.
2) Preparation- This particular bye week comes at a great time for this. Its a game against a good opponent and not some directional school. Having the extra week provides the coaches time to iron out some things as well as implement any new plays or schemes to utilize against ND.
3) Recruiting- From last Monday through this past Thursday afternoon the coaches had the opportunity to hit the recruiting trail hard, whether it be visiting new recruits, current commitments, or just seeing what is out there. Hope was all over Florida for those 4 days.
4) ND Won- Normally I always want ND to lose. OK, not normally, all the time. However this past weekend I was torn because I didn’t want what should be a talented ND team coming into Ross-Ade needing a desperate win.
5) Big Ten Observation- This weekend gave the players and coaches a chance to check out most of the other Big Ten teams. If they have come away with the impression I have, they know this is a down year for the league. Maybe gives them another boost in the confidence area of the “we can do this.”
6)Players Get Hyped Up to Play- Looking at the players were tweeting this weekend, all of them can’t wait for this game. Especially prevalent while watching other teams play when they’re not. Should be a great energy with the team when they come out on Saturday; honestly how could they not be hyped up.
7) Fans Get Hyped Up- Fans are going to have a full two weeks to get pumped up for this game. Pretty much as soon as the SEMO game ended I’ve been ready for this game. Should be an electric atmosphere in Ross-Ade with the Gold and Black theme(more on that later this week). Can’t wait to be there.

Negatives
8) Players Not Having Game To Focus On- With no game at the end of the week some players might become more complacent with no end goal for the week. As dumb as that may sound with ND coming up, for example as to what can happen, as we posted last night, Dwayne Beckford was cited for drug paraphernalia on 7/18, missed his 9/13 court date, a warrant issued on 9/14, he was served on 9/21, and appeared in court 9/22. No official word from Purdue, but names and birthdays add up, and lets be honest, how many Dwayne Beckfords are there in Lafayette/West Lafayette. Just stupid. We’ll see if he gets the Michael Floyd treatment. Unless that’s what his one quarter suspension was for against SEMO.
9) Long Lay Off- As much as it helps players rest and get healed up, you don’t want to get them out of game mode. Coaches have to be able to balance a competitive practice without risking injury.
10) Other Team Is In Game Mode-  Notre Dame is coming off of a much needed win against Pitt. They needed a late comeback but it could be the momentum they need coming into this game. ND fans always say they don’t view this as a rivalry, which is BS since they always talk crap about it. Here’s to hoping ND is overlooking Purdue like their fans are.

Have any positives or negatives you’d like to add? Let us know what you’ve got in the comments below.