If you live in the state of Wisconsin, chances are one of the few glimmers of hope this sports season has been football. The Packers are off to a hot start and Redshirt Freshman/Savior Graham Mertz erupted last Friday going 20-21, 248 yards, and 5 TDs. It was nearly a perfect performance, made extra special by years of extremely lackluster quarterback play featuring names like Alex Hornibrook, Joel Stave, and Danny O'Brien. After a one-week high, Graham Mertz, Paul Chryst, and other Badger players have tested positive for COVID-19. Just like that the hopes and dreams of Badger fans everywhere reminiscing of that one year Russell Wilson transferred and the team didn't have a somewhat inept QB have been put on hold for three weeks. To add insult to the injury, backup Chase Wolf also tested positive. That combined with Jack Coan's foot injury leaves the Badgers with only one QB on the roster, redshirt junior Danny Vanden Boom (who has thrown a TD in all one of his pass attempts). And while this week's matchup against Nebraska has been canceled due to the high number of positive tests, the Badgers will have to soldier through 2 more games with one QB on the roster. So what should Badgers fans do? You could give up on the season and focus your entire attention and energy on the Packers or whatever football team you support which is a risky proposition, but you can't give up the potential magical moments that NCAA football brings. I have a much better solution where you can let go of the current Badgers season, still follow NCAA football, and stay within the division! That is to hop on the Purdue Boilermaker Bandwagon!
First off: Unlike many other years, Purdue is off to a hot start and currently is 1-0. That is an undefeated football team. Who knows when they're going to lose again?! I know Wisconsin is 1-0 but they have lost a number of guys and while they probably have good backups, it is still tough to make that many replacements, especially without your head coach. That much change is tough to adjust to. Reason 2: Purdue is on the rise. Jeff Brohm hasn't exactly brought the type of quality winning seasons to Purdue that he had at Western Kentucky but has finally gotten some of his recruits into starting positions. The team is young with lots of underclassmen weapons on offense and an underrated defense. Pro tip: Buy stock in David Bell.
Without a lot of seniors, my experience with NCAA 14 proves that the players will significantly get better raising their defense next year by at least 3 points (plus it will help getting recruits duh). Reason 3: Purdue is QB U. Drew Brees, Bob Griese, Kyle Orton, Curtis Painter, David Blough. The list goes on and on. Reason 4: Nicknames. Sure, Badgers are a ferocious animal, but are they cooler than a Boilermaker? Literally, the third word on the badger's Wikipedia is "short-legged" which is a cool description if you want to be a horse jockey. Boilermakers on the other hand are tradespeople, real salt of the earth, putting in an honest day's work to make a living. Boilermakers are pivotal in construction and manufacturing, doing work that few people think of but is absolutely necessary.
Each school has their cons: Wisconsin sends kids back to school who completely ignore social distancing and other common healthy practices spreading germs like club flyers and rapidly increasing COVID cases while Purdue Pete occasionally gets drunk and runs people over. To each their own (but honestly both of these are bad and should not be supported). While I cannot convince many of you that a tandem of Aiden O'Connell and my hero Jack Plummer does not outweigh Danny Vanden Boom (no disrespect), I encourage you to maybe take a peak at a Purdue game, give them a chance, and don't be too surprised when you find yourself on Amazon buying a pair of black and gold overalls.
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