Purdue Boilermakers Football: 2015 Season Preview and Prediction

Sep 27, 2014; West Lafayette, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Darrell Hazell looks at the field after a play during the second half of the game at Ross Ade Stadium. The Iowa Hawkeyes beat the Purdue Boilermakers 24 to 10. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

The 2014 Purdue Boilermakers showed drastic improvement, even if it was hard to see. Can they build on that and reach six wins in 2015?

It may be hard to see, but the Purdue Boilermakers are making progress under Darrell Hazell. Boring, slow, effective progress, which is the same as the style of play he likes to run on the football field.

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Hazell took the program to rock-bottom in 2013 with his horrendous 1-11 season, but the seeds were laid then. He sacrificed winning that year by getting young guys lots of experience. He played more young guys last year.

That youth began to come together and play some nice games. They fought hard with Notre Dame, and they upset Illinois. And despite their 3-9 record, they were rarely blown out and should have won games against Minnesota and Indiana.

So going into this year, can we expect even more improvement? Despite what was shown in the wins and losses column last year, the improvement from year one to year two was dramatic. Another improvement of that nature turns those close losses to wins and leaves open one or two more games to take, which makes a bowl game very possible.

Hazell’s work is slowly paying off. But to do more, he still has to address some issues going into this year, particularly on offense.

Next: Offensive Outlook