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"Enthusiasm" is a term Carter keeps coming back to with the 6-5 lineman who'd seem to be well on his way to being a 300-pounder. "He studies film, and even though he's not playing, he still studies," Carter said. "He knows the defensive scheme better than any of the other young guys even though he's not playing. He's a student of the game and that's one of the things I really like about Johnny." DALYN DAWKINS It looked heading into the season that the speedy freshman running back would be one of the rookies the Boilermaker offense counted on most, but as its running game was a non-starter pretty much all season, Dawkins' contributions were minimal, as he carried the ball just 32 times, a chunk of the season spent second on the depth chart to starter Akeem Hunt. He thinks the experience was worthwhile, though. "I learned a lot coming in here," he said. "I didn't know too much about defense and studying defensive schemes and how defenses do things. Basically to perform on offense, you've got to know what your opponent is going to do. So, really in high school I didn't pay too much attention to that. I went out there and played the game. Now I know it's real important in college to study your opponent." With that lesson learned, the quick and elusive 5-9 back will try to complement that experience with more strength, hoping to be a little more rugged as a sophomore and into the future. It's not like Dawkins isn't physical in any form now. In fact, for his size, he's impressed coaches with his ability to hold up in pass protection, one of the greatest challenges for young backs ordinarily. "One of the main things he's going to have to improve on is just getting bigger," Williams said. "He's got to put on some weight. It's not that he doesn't run hard; he runs extremely hard. Once he's at 185-190 pounds he's going to be something special. He's a good player right now, but he'll be a special player." Purdue has looked for as well-rounded a running back option as it can find. And while Dawkins won't soon bring tremendous size or power to the backfield, he may fit that bill at some point in his career. In addition to the speed and quickness coaches like in him and his ability to block, relative to his stature, at least, Dawkins showed this season, too, that he can catch the ball, finishing with nine receptions in limited playing time. "I just have to continue to work hard and get bigger, faster and stronger," Dawkins said. "Those are really the key things and I want to work on my hands some more. And just continue to know the game better. I feel like that's the most important thing." Tom Campbell Danny Etling's performance during the Indiana game solidified his spot as Purdue's starter, but there's much to work on, not only from a physical point of view but mental, too. f DANNY ETLING Etling took over as the Boilermakers' starting quarterback essentially at halftime of the Northern Illinois game in Week 5 — he wasn't formalized as such until the bye week that followed — and endured ups and downs from there on out. Probably more downs than ups, though, as the Boilermaker running game languished in a state of paralysis and opposing defensive coordinators teed off on Purdue's suspect pass protection and preyed on the quarterback's inexperience, sacking him 30 times. The hope now, obviously, is that experience will help Etling and the supIllustrateD volume 24, issue 3 31