Hance shoulders criticism
after loss to Fighting
Illini
By Greg Doddridge
Staff
Writer
Quarterback Brandon Hance was in a down, but brutally
honest mood Saturday after Purdue's 38-13 loss to Illinois.
"I didn't play a good game," said Hance. "There
is nothing to cheer about.
"I don't think I have been doing as good of a job
as I can do physically."
Hance’s offensive line protection was spotty
at times and he was sacked five times in the game.
"I think when you get a quarterback in that
position where he is thinking that the protection isn’t sound,
then you probably have a guy who is thinking about things other than
what he should be," said Purdue coach Joe Tiller. "That’s
happened with us in the past with some veteran quarterbacks and it doesn’t
surprise me that it happened with him. But I am not disappointed in
him."
Tiller was disappointed in the Boilers' inability
to pick up on safety blitzes that they had covered in practice. Two
of the Illini's five sacks came on blitzes during Purdue’s first
offensive series of the game.
Hance finished the day having completed 15 of 29
passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, which came late in the first quarter
on an eight-yard throw to Seth Morales. But his two interceptions in
the second half, which the Fighting Illini converted into 14 points,
drew boos from the crowd late in the third quarter.
Hance’s first interception was on a throw
intended for tight end Tim Stratton with 5:34 to go in the third quarter.
The ball careened off Stratton's outstretched hand into the hands of
Illinois’ Bobby Jackson, who returned the ball 83 yards for a touchdown.
After the extra point, Illinois owned a 24-13 lead.
"It was not a great throw by any stretch of
the imagination," said Tiller.
Hance said he could relate with the crowd.
"The majority of the students that are out there
are accustomed to seeing the offense dominating in the Big Ten the last
few years and have been really successful throwing the football; we
obviously haven't been this year," said Hance.
On the last play of the third quarter, on second-and-10,
Illinois' Christian Morton made a tackle and flipped Hance on a run.
Three plays later, Morton intercepted a Hance pass and returned it 62
yards for the touchdown.
"I thought he got shook up on that one tackle and
I talked to him along the sideline," Tiller said. "He is so damn competitive,
he won't tell me when there is something wrong with him. But I just
felt like he was gimping."
So after the ensuing kickoff, Tiller sent freshman
Kyle Orton, Purdue's back-up quarterback, into the game with 14:07 to
go in the fourth quarter and the crowd of 61,568 cheered in appreciation.
"We tried to play Orton and give him a few snaps,"
said Tiller. "That didn't go as well as he or we wanted it to go."
Orton finished the game as Purdue's quarterback
going 5-of-10 passing with 46 yards and four fumbles. He fumbled the
snap during his first play in the game. Illinois recovered two of his
three other fumbles, including one that came off of a sack.
Tiller said Hance is still Purdue's No. 1 quarterback
because he is too competitive. Tiller said he's going to talk to Hance,
pump him up and make "sure that he doesn’t feel like he has
to shoulder this thing by himself."
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