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ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 24, ISSUE 6 63 f anced. But whomever receives has a chance to score. "When they kick it to him, I'll go block," Hunt said. "And then, (when) he springs for a touchdown, they have no choice but to kick it to me because they don't want to kick it to him anymore. "So when they kick it me and I go for a touchdown, who are they going to kick it to then? So we just help each other make it. We know once one of us succeeds, the other one is going to succeed." Purdue's success on returns could lead to other possibilities. Last season, the Boilermakers tried a couple fakes on returns, once hiding Hunt as an up-back — and putting B.J. Knauf as a return man — then handing Hunt the ball on an end-around. It worked for a game-opening touchdown in the win over Indiana State. "Having those two back there can create some oth- er things," Hazell said of Mostert and Hunt. Purdue wants its punt return game to be equally as dangerous, although it's been years now since the Boilermakers had a legitimate home-run threat there. But Frankie Williams, a starting cornerback, had good but limited numbers a year ago — the Boil- ermaker defense didn't force enough punts, holding Purdue to only nine returns — averaging about 17 yards on his five attempts. His long was 40, and he had a touchdown scamper negated by a holding pen- alty. Knauf also returned punts a year ago, averaging five yards on his four returns, and will compete to do so again, as could wide receiver Danny Anthrop and freshman wideout Trae Hart, who was an outstand- ing return man in high school. Given more opportunities, Williams thinks the punt return team can become a Purdue strength. "I'm anticipating being the No. 1 guy and I'm an- ticipating helping this team out as much as I can," he said. "And if a play needs to be made, I'm almost positive I can make that play." If the Boilermakers are to play in more close games this season, as they would like to, then special teams become more critical, with three points here or a long kick return there, perhaps being the difference between a win and loss. But Griggs says specialists, too, can be the leaders in Purdue's rebound. "I'm a little bit biased because I like to think that the increased emphasis and increased consistency in performance on the behalf of special teams would lead to the whole team's improvement," he said. "You can gain an incredible competitive advantage by put- ting an advantage on special teams. It's a third of the game of football. "Certainly that's something that if you emphasize, you can make very big, very quick game-changing plays that lead to turnovers that lead to points. So being great on special teams is a huge advantage, so I think we could lead the way to the team's success." j