To be fair to the Boilermakers, they have had a difficult schedule. Their five losses have all come against teams that are already locks for going to a bowl. Still, that doesn't explain how, with the exception of the Oregon game, they have been so outplayed. In three Big Ten games, they have now scored a grand total of 35 points while allowing 84. This 48-26 humiliation at the hands of Northwestern is just the latest and the worst. More than anything else, Purdue has been unable to finish drives. They can move the ball, but once they cross mid-field it becomes a complete slog towards the endzone. More often than not, with little to show for it. The offense wasn't even that good as the 26 points indicate, as Purdue was down 34-12 going into the 4th quarter.
Purdue's remaining schedule hardly has anything looking like the necessary 4 wins to get to bowl eligibility. They have games at Michigan State and Iowa. Minnesota is next week, and they look too good for the Boilermakers.
You hate to see the Wilford Brimley lookalike go out on such a bad note. For all that he has accomplished at Purdue, his last few years have been marked by brutal disappointment and completely underachieving.
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Joe Tiller has been surrounded by certain degrees of mediocrity in his tenure at Purdue. But, credit should be given to Coach Tiller for bringing Purdue's football program into relevancy. And yet, Purdue needs to look forward and better to keep up with the competitive Big10. Moving forward does not mean to forget that Coach Tiller was the one that made Purdue football into a household name in the 21st century.
Notre Dame is not guaranteed to get to a bowl game, yet. They clearly are going to get another 2-3 wins in the back half of their weak schedule, but they haven't made it yet.