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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 1 • 18 BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com I f Sean Robinson can't go on Saturday — he's missed practice with an infection in his right leg — Purdue feels confi- dent that Joe Gilliam can fill in fine at middle linebacker. But the injury does af- fect the Boilermakers' depth. Gilliam, a senior, was expect- ed to share repetitions with Ja'Whaun Bentley at weakside linebacker. Now, Bentley, a freshman, will likely get most, if not all, of the Will snaps. And Purdue's largely inex- perienced in the second group. Senior Collin Link has the most career snaps, and has practiced at multiple linebacker posi- tions during camp; he'd likely be the next man up. "I don't know how much depth you really have," defen- sive coordinator Greg Hud- son said a couple days before Purdue's opener vs. Western Michigan in Ross-Ade Stadium. "You've got a second group, but things will be different when they're in anyways. We're confi- dent with the guys we have up front, that's the key. If a guy's not in there, we can't change it, can't go to the wire and get one. We just keep going." Robinson developed an in- fection Monday night, which caused severe swelling in his knee. The senior could play Saturday, Coach Darrell Ha- zell said, even if he's unable to practice before. If Gilliam starts, it will be the 23rd of his career. The 6-foot-1, 230-pounder started eight games at middle 'backer last season. "He played one of his best games at Mike linebacker be- fore," Hudson said. "He knows what to do. He did it in the Notre Dame game last year and played really well. We moved him around, trying to find the right fits for everybody, but he's honed in at playing in the box. The Mike and the Will in this defense are pretty simi- lar; they're three feet away from each other, so there's not a lot of change. We're com- fortable with that. It's not a guy off the street who is playing new." DEALING WITH PRESSURE P u r d u e 's rebuilt offen- sive line, and the offense as a whole, might be test- ed against the Broncos. W e s t e r n M i c h i g a n likes to bring pressure, doing so by a variety of blitz pack- ages. Part of that is trust in the Broncos' cornerbacks, veterans Donald Celiscar and Ronald Zamort. "They're not afraid to put those corners on an island and bring more (blitzers) than you can block," offensive coordina- tor John Shoop said. "Those corners are pretty doggone good at leaving the ball on the ground, so we're going to have to be at our best and work our tails off to find a crease." But Purdue's offense, at least in design, might be equipped to deal with pres- sure. The Boilermakers, who will play three and four receiv- ers frequently, want to be able to get the ball on the perimeter quickly, or hit seams in the run- ning game. "If we can build a wall for our quarterback and get the ball out quick, what we need are some guys who can really make someone pay," Shoop said. "And we sure want to make it hard on teams to play man-to-man against us, but we were unable to do that last year. We'll see if we can't do that this year." F O OT BA L L Offensive Coordinator John Shoop Defensive Coordinator Greg Hudson Depth Thins At Linebacker Tom Campbell Offensive coordinator John Shoop is concerned with the blitz packages that Western Michigan could bring, but feels his offense is equipped to deal with pressure.