Mike Carmin

mcarmin@jconline.com

Well, Purdue did its part Saturday to add to the misery of the Big Ten, which self-destructed on the second weekend of the season.

Ohio State. Michigan State. Michigan. All lost in primetime. Northwestern loses at home to a MAC school. Nebraska nearly lost to an FCS program. Iowa rallied from 10 points down in the fourth to beat Ball State. Hey, Maryland and Rutgers are 2-0. Jim Delany is a genius.

The Boilermakers lost to Central Michigan. Make that beaten by Central Michigan. There's a difference.

For the second straight year and the fourth time since 2009, a Mid-American Conference program waltzed into Ross-Ade Stadium and steamrolled the Boilermakers. And got paid on the way out the door.

Northern Illinois did it twice, including last year. Toledo in 2010. The Chippewas took their $500,000 check and a victory back to Mt. Pleasant. That's four losses by an average of 17.5 points.

Now, the quarterback question is alive, less than one year after Danny Etling took over. Darrell Hazell had a chance to put the fire out but elected to use the "we'll take a look at the film and see what direction we need to go" statement. Could we see a change before next week's matchup against Notre Dame?

On with the countdown:

5 PLAYERS OF NOTE

• Thomas Rawls. He didn't start his career in the Mid-American Conference but will thrive in the league. The Michigan transfer gained 155 yards on 31 carries, including 134 on 24 carries in the second half. It's the ninth straight game the Boilermakers have allow 100 yard rusher (Indiana actually had three). At least the first seven games it was someone from the Big Ten.

• Brandon Greer. Started the scoring with a 57-yard interception return. That was just the beginning. The cornerback forced a fumble and finished with three tackles. But his INT set the tone for the Chippewas, and the Boilermakers. Part of a secondary that now has six interceptions in the first two weeks.

• Cooper Rush. The sophomore quarterback was steady. Was intercepted late and took a couple of sacks, but his 5 of 8 performance for 113 yards in the first half made the Boilermakers pay attention to the passing game. What did CMU do after halftime? It went to the ground.

• Ja'Whaun Bentley. The freshman linebacker is just getting started. Played well in the opener, but came back and delivered some big-time hits and tackles. Also had a 44-yard interception return, setting up Austin Appleby's 23-yard pass to Danny Anthrop to re-visit the whole quarterback question. Need more players of Bentley's skill level.

• Ryan Watson. Should earn more playing time after the first two games. Has registered a sack in each game and is consistently in the backfield. Has been more disruptive than starter Ra'Zahn Howard, who was called for a crucial penalty on the first play of CMU's scoring drive that made it 28-10.

4 KEY PLAYS

• Central Michigan 0, Purdue 0. Third-and-14 from Purdue 43. Etling's pass floats in the air and Greer steps in front of B.J. Knauf and races into the end zone with 10:30 on the clock in the first quarter.

• Central Michigan 7-0. First-and-10 from CMU 35. Rush hits Anthony Rice across the middle for a 20-yard gain, but safeties Frankie Williams and Landon Feichter fail to make the tackle, actually hitting Rice, who breaks free and scores. The Chippewas lead 14-0 with 7:29 left in the first quarter.

• Central Michigan 14-7. First-and-10 from the Purdue 45. Rush connects with Rawls on a throwback screen, covering 40 yards to the 5. One play later, Rawls scores and the Chippewas lead 21-7 with 7:48 before halftime.

• Central Michigan 21-7. Fourth-and-1 from CMU 25. Etling came up short trying to get the first down when he slid too soon (it's hard to believe the lack of awareness at times about the first down marker from everyone). In a hurry-up attempt, Mostert rushes for 2 yards and an apparent first down with under three minutes before halftime. However, Purdue had 12 players on the field. Paul Griggs misses a 47-yard field goal. Whatever life was in the stadium disappeared.

3 NUMBERS

6.6

Combined average yards per carry by Western Michigan's Jarvion Franklin and Rawls in the first two games against Purdue's defense

10

Points scored by CMU off three Boilermaker turnovers

13

Consecutive quarters Purdue has allowed at least six points, dating back to last year's Illinois game

2 QUESTIONS

• Should Hazell make a change at quarterback and go with Austin Appleby?

• Is this the rush defense we'll see all season?

1 FINAL THOUGHT

We saw a few promising things in the opener, but there was very little promising about this loss. Maybe the offensive line played well, especially during the 17-play scoring drive. Heck, tackle J.J. Prince rushed for 3 yards.

When Hazell told the Boilermakers "we're building this thing" after beating Western Michigan, he didn't envision a 21-point loss to a mid-level MAC team as part of the process. The penalties, mental mistakes, turnovers and missed tackles brought everyone back to 2013 when the Boilermakers weren't competitive. This felt like one year ago because Purdue wasn't in the game. That's disturbing.

But this team is in different place mentally than a year ago and the confidence it will bounce back remains possible. It won't be next week against Notre Dame, which manhandled Michigan. Whether the Boilermakers make anything out of this season starts Sept. 20 when Southern Illinois visits and continues against Iowa and Illinois. By then, we'll have a better idea of where this team is headed, if anywhere at all.