Why the 2023 Citrus Bowl will be the stain of the postseason

The Citrus Bowl is not a stage for the weak, as it typically hosts some of college football’s more promising teams. This time around appears to be no different at first glance as LSU is set to face off against Purdue.

When looking at what each team has done this season, it’s hard not to get hyped for a matchup like theirs; the Tigers are the 9-4 SEC runner-ups while the Boilermakers are the 8-5 Big Ten runner-ups.

While both powers have earned respectable records and divisional titles, they have also developed reputations as “giant-killers,” physical teams that can stun just about anyone they share a field with.

What could possibly turn fans away from this kind of battle?

Well, if you’ve been keeping track of what has happened on Purdue’s end, the answer would be quite clear: Everything.

The two most important pieces to a football puzzle are the head coach and quarterback, and those are two departments that the Boilermakers will be dangerously lacking in as they enter the Citrus Bowl in a couple of weeks — and it all started with Jeff Brohm’s sudden dart for Louisville.

Brohm had been the head football coach at Purdue since 2017, and his potential on the sideline consistently shined. In his five complete seasons with the Boilermakers, he only failed to get them to the postseason once. Meanwhile, in the four seasons before his arrival, the program had only seen nine wins. So, to say that his presence had a strong impact on the team’s success would be a sizable understatement.

As for the quarterback situation, Purdue’s offense had been led by Aidan O’Connell virtually all season, with his sole absence keeping him from facing Florida Atlantic. Backup quarterback Austin Burton took his place and, while his individual stats were decent, the Boilermakers only won by two points.

Recently, O’Connell — among others — opted out of the Citrus Bowl to focus on preparing for the 2023 NFL Draft. If him missing was enough to keep FAU a close call, one can only imagine how harshly LSU will rock the boat.

Now sure, LSU has had some players of its own opt out, but will their absences be enough to outweigh those of multiple players, a starting quarterback, and a head coach? Probably not.

One positive to take away from all of this is the experimentation that goes into this game on Purdue’s end, most notably with offensive coordinator Brian Brohm temporarily manning the helm and former Boilermaker Drew Brees coming in as an assistant coach.

However, if the best part of this situation is testing what could work for the future, then hopes can only be so high for the present.

According to ESPN’s PickCenter analysis, the Tigers are favored over the Boilermakers by 14 (as of Dec. 20). While that is not enough to justify writing the game off completely, it certainly doesn’t make the thought of it being an instant classic any more believable. But, based on the news that has been gut-punching Purdue as of late, how could anyone be surprised?