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38 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 24, ISSUE 6 f GETTING CLOSER A year ago, Ra'Zahn Howard could barely make it through a practice. Frankly, it didn't really appear like he wanted to. The nose tackle was out of condition in training camp, us- ing nagging injuries to step out of drill lines and not hurrying to get back in. During conditioning runs, the 6-foot-4, 315-pounder was the last man to finish in his position group — every time — and he frequently wasn't close to the second-to-last guy. But the taste of playing toward the end of the sea- son, plus effective winter and spring workouts have started to push him in the right direction. "He lives in a bad neighborhood," defensive coor- dinator Greg Hudson said of Howard's position in the middle of the D-line. "It's rough down there. It's not a lot of fun to practice it and do it, but the things those guys need to do to make them be difference-makers, they hate: great conditioning, being in shape. "The game's changed a little bit. It's hard on a big guy. It's hard on a big guy who is a freshman who is learning, but he's getting there. He's made great prog- ress." That progress has put Howard in position to be a breakout player for the Boilermakers in 2014. The sophomore has the talent, showing so during limited play last fall, when he got into the action after shed- ding his redshirt midyear. In only his fourth career game, Howard blew up the middle of Iowa's offensive line, powering through for his first sack. "I think he's just got a really rare blend of athleticism coupled with size and strength that you don't really see in most defensive linemen," said center Robert Kugler, who often blocks Howard during practice. "It's not just that he's strong and big — he's a big kid — but it's not just that, he's really quick and he's good with his hands. He really does remind me of Kawa- nn Short playing against him. They both can beat you with power and their speed and quickness, which is not fun when you're blocking those guys. "Usually when you see a big guy, you think, 'All right, he's going to try to beat me with power.' But when they can do both, it's scary." And Howard's trying to become more mentally ma- ture, which he admits he has lacked. Raised by a sin- gle mother in Asbury Park, N.J., an area where gang violence was an issue, he says, Howard lacked a father figure, but he's found a couple at Purdue in Darrell Hazell and position coach Rubin Carter. They've helped him not only with football but with the everyday aspects of being a student-athlete. How- ard's done better of late; in the spring semester, he earned a 3.2 GPA, an accomplishment he would have considered impossible only a year ago. "I'm nowhere near where I want to be right now, but each day I can see the progress," he said, "from last year now going into my sophomore season. I can feel the maturity, the urgency to be on time, the little things that the coaches preach to us." After months in Purdue's offseason program, How- ard has transformed his body becoming much stron- ger in the legs and chest. His bench press, for exam- ple, is up to 450 pounds from 395 a year ago. With that — he even says he's pushing senior end Ryan Russell, one of Purdue's quicker linemen, in conditioning runs — he hopes to up his productivity this fall. He'll need to, with Purdue counting on him to be a starter and take a majority of the defensive snaps at nose. "I always had the talent to dominate the game, but it was the endurance to carry it throughout all four quar- ters, that was one of my main focuses," Howard said. "Now that I have that, plus the talent, I can keep going. My team needs me to go four quarters. "Coach Hazell said one time, and it really caught my attention, he said it doesn't matter if you get two sacks in the first or second quarter, I want to see you get a sack or two in the fourth quarter when we really need it." — Kyle Charters