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GoldanDBlack express • volume 25, express 3 • 20 of those fullbacks all the time, so I think it bodes well for him," Hazell said of Brown at corner vs. safety. Though Lewis is smaller than Brown, he consistently brings the right attitude and swagger to play bigger than he is. And playing in man certainly allows him to showcase that. "Coming in (as a young player), he was a little bit sporadic and just trying to find out what he's good at, and he's mastered it," Rich - ards said of Lewis. "Being a senior now, he's stepped into that role of, 'Let's get the job done, I need to make a play and nobody should catch a pass on me.' I think he's do- ing very well at doing what he's sup- posed to do as a cornerback." But it isn't only the cornerbacks who feel good about their coverage skills. Roommates Richards and Wil- liams often debate about who is the better cover guy. Williams, at least, would seem to have more of a body of work to back up his skills. He has been able to build some confidence playing by having that play-to-play pres- sure his first two seasons as a start- ing cornerback opposite Ricardo Allen. And entering this season, Wil- liams was eager to prove he could be a No. 1 lock-down corner. The plan changed on the first day of training camp with his move to safety to fill in for Richards and, now, playing a nickel position that is probably best described as more of a strongside linebacker-type role. It's a position that requires not only coverage skills, especially against a spread team, but also puts Williams inside at a position that will need him to make some tackles in the run game. "With him being down there being there a little bit ag - gressive on run, it fits him very well," Rich- ards said. Richards thinks he can fit that bill, too. When asked what Purdue was missing that it'll get with him back in the lineup, he said "more of a run- stopping DB." But then he said he can cover, too, and that he's "very, very smart." Purdue will need to be against Golson. He's mobile enough to extend plays, and it'll be a focus of the sec - ondary this week to stay engaged even if a play seems dead. Because Golson can slip away and deliver a big play — he did it with a 60-plus- yard touchdown in the final 14 sec- onds of the half against Rice in Week 1, evading pressure, rolling out and launching a rifle downfield just be- fore getting drilled by a defender. Purdue does not want to be a victim of that Saturday. "We're the last guys on the de- fense. The D-line, linebackers, they can mess up all day, but we're the ones who are really in space and ev- erybody can see what we're doing," Richards said. "Everett Golson, he's a pretty good quarterback, pretty mobile, really good arm, so we have to stay back and cover the deep ball." Maybe this is the game that the Boilermakers can breakthrough, Lewis said. They'd certainly like to prove they're worthy of some praise. "It was not a banner year (in 2013), let's just be blunt," Lewis said. "Teams do not respect us now and didn't respect us toward the end of last year. But, like everything, we have to earn it. We have to earn it tomorrow, we have to earn it Satur - day, we have to earn it Sept. 20 and the game after that. You have to earn respect, like everybody else." j ... all the services ... all the food ... all the comfort ... all the fun Tom Campbell Antoine Lewis' man coverage skills helped him keep his cornerback job with safety Taylor Richards back in the mix.