The bloom is off the rose. Last year's loss to Rutgers was a reminder that the better team does not always win; this year's loss to Eastern Michigan is a reminder that Purdue may not yet have a better team. The Boilers are still roughly 50% a Hazell-recruited team and no amount of coaching can change that. Unfortunately, the Eagles were one of two remaining soft spots on the schedule (let us give thanks that Lovie Smith is still employed), and a home loss to EMU suggests that perhaps the trip to Champaign will be a challenge even with Dudek out yet again for the year.
Missouri was a Tiller-like team last year - they beat a bunch of teams worse than they were and lost to a bunch of teams, including the Boilers, who were better than they were. Like last year, Missouri follows the Purdue game with an SEC game against a top-10 team, followed by two SEC road games, one of which is also against a top-10 team. After a grueling opening stretch, the Tigers topped 40 points in six straight games to finish the regular season, and even though two of those opponents were Sun Belt-level (or actual Sun Belt teams) and the others were second-tier SEC schools, there's no question that this year's Boilers are far from a first-tier Big Tenteen team, and Missouri knows this may be their best chance in the next few weeks to get another W.
The second half of the schedule looks bleak. The Good Guys missed a couple of chances to squeak out close wins; the next four games are all possible wins, but the Boilers will have to play better than we've seen so far. They can't afford to dig a hole against an offense much better than their first two opponents had ... but I'm afraid they will. Optimism returns in 2019.
Missouri 41, Purdue 27.”