Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/368605
32 IllustrateD volume 25, issue 1 f it helps? Hudson: "Any time you're bigger and stronger, that helps. I think you look at it two ways: Is that really how far away we were and (as a result), the games were what they were. So I look at that two-fold. When you're at a Big Ten university, I think you should already have those weights and strengths. But it has helped. We can hold ground a little bit bet- ter, but we still, I don't know how powerful we are. Are guys taking it to the field? Are they strong enough to hold point? We're going to find out. You can just gauge so much on that. There's conditioning and then there's football conditioning. We had to get in football shape and once we did that we moved around a little better, and that's now our strength, in my opinion. It should continue to grow during the season with the way we practice now. That should help also." Gold and Black: We heard you yelling a lot about the speed of your defense, and whether they had enough of it, during camp. How do feel about your speed out there? Hudson: "Well, I don't know about how fast we are. The good part is that if you know where you're supposed to go, you can certainly get there faster than the other guy. And we're going to have to hang on that and rec- ognize and process information and get from Point A to Point B in a hurry. And that's allowed a lot of great football players who aren't very fast to play really well. And I think we'll hang our hat on that and allow our kids to play in a scheme that's not going to ask them to be too slowed down by the information and just let them process it and go; that's going to help us play faster." Gold and Black: At the rush end position, you moved some new guys in there, Danny Ezechukwu and Gelen Robinson. Do you think you've found some guys in that spot, with Jalani Phillips, who can make an impact on Saturdays? Hudson: "Yeah, I think those three are definitely the guys that we like there. And the good thing is that Danny and Gelen are go- ing to be able to play for us. And Jala- ni has the spot right now, but he's got to produce and be a factor. That is a position that should be a factor, you should feel that position when you're on offense. We're going to play the guy who can produce when you get on the field." Gold and Black: We mentioned Robinson — he's a freshman linebacker who looks like he can play. So does Ja'Whaun Bentley. What's impressed you most about him? He looks physically right but seems to have some know-how, too, considering how quickly he moved up the depth chart. Hudson: "He's definitely physical- ly where you need to be. He's close, he still hasn't taken a Big Ten pound- ing in a Big Ten camp. Some guys who are the strong guys all through high school, they've never been sore in their life — they think if you're sore, you're hurt — so those are things you learn as you grow older in college football. "But he's definitely got the frame and body for it, and strength, he's very strong. He has really good instincts and he's smart. He's smart enough to be in our two-deep and he's smart enough to play for us. He was out for a few days and came back for the scrimmage and learned a good lesson, that 'Hey, you can't play in this game in this league without practicing.' You've got to be out there and you've got to be durable. You've got to have an edge to you. And I think he learned a great lesson. He still played OK, but the beauty of it is that we've got a lot of practices to get better. And we're really glad he's here, make no doubt about it." Gold and Black: Do you feel better about your linebackers now, and this might be an understate- ment, than a year ago? It seems like you have four or five of them you feel comfortable putting on the field, whereas a year ago you had maybe one-and- a-half. Tom Campbell Ryan Russell has been charged with bringing his 'A' game to the field every day, something he appeared to do during training camp.