Weekly Word: Purdue's own worst enemy, NFL products and more

Purdue's loss at Syracuse on Saturday afternoon was the worst kind of loss, if you ask me.

It's one thing to get beat by better teams or to simply not be good enough, but a whole different level of aggravation when one is most responsible for their own undoing. The mistakes made in Upstate New York, from the personal fouls to an ill-fated defensive call on Syracuse's game-winner — all of which triggered a good deal of introspection, sounds like — were ultimately the outcome. Yeah, Aidan O'Connell made a rare fatal mistake and the officiating did Purdue no favors, but the Boilermakers won a game Saturday and then threw that fish right back in the sea.

Penn State, look, tackling is a physical deal and part of football. Missing tackles is part of the game. On that Thursday night, it was the game. Hard to say Purdue controlled that, necessarily, but it certainly could have done better.

That's what's been maddening from Purdue's perspective during this disappointing 1-2 start that's just a few this-and-thats away from 3-0 and a spot in the top 25.