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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 7 • 28 BY GOLD AND BLACK STAFF P urdue cannot replace Sean Robinson. It doesn't have a player who brings his leadership, his presence, his aggression. It doesn't have a linebacker who knows the defense as well as he does. It also doesn't have much of a choice. Robinson is out for at least sev- eral weeks, maybe the season, with an injury to the ACL in his right knee. Without him, the Boilermak- ers have to make due with what they have left: A largely inexperi- enced corps. After starting his first six ca- reer games at weakside linebacker, freshman Ja'Whaun Bentley will move to middle linebacker to fill in for Robinson and must accept the added responsibility that goes with such a move. Sophomore Jimmy Herman is staying put at strongside linebacker, but Robin- son's absence means Herman must play more in packages with five DBs, a scenario that had him previ- ously on the sideline. And if Purdue wants to play its base defense, it'll have to put redshirt freshman Danny Ezechukwu on the field, a player who has been moved from linebacker to rush end back to line- backer since training camp. "The next guy has to step up and go," said linebackers coach Marcus Freeman, whose unit lost senior Joe Gilliam to an ACL injury two weeks ago. "That's why you practice hard, you prepare hard be- cause you never know when your time is coming. Our philosophy is our room can't go down because we lose two great players. It's hard. You don't replace those guys, but the play has to continue to im- prove and be up to standard of our Linebackers Shuffle Without Robinson F O OT BA L L : N E W S A N D N OT E S PRESENTS www.MeetYouAtArnis.com LAFAYETTE • INDIANAPOLIS • GREENWOOD Visit one of our 18 Indiana locations Meet You At Arni's TM Celebrates Purdue's Student-Athletes SERVING BOILER FANS FOR 50 YEARS World Famous Pizza, Salads, Sandwiches Jimmy Herman Sophomore, Major in Industrial Engineering Herman, a linebacker from Carmel, Ind., was one of 47 players on the Boilermaker football team to make Coach Darrell Hazell's "A Players" list for the spring. Players can qualify for the list, which was originated from Hazell's decree of "A Players Must Get As" by getting a 3.0 grade- point-average or better for the semester. Herman was also one of six players to record a perfect 4.0 GPA. The team posted a 2.78 GPA for the spring, up from a 2.65 in the fall, and improved its cumulative GPA to 2.77, up from 2.75 prior to the spring semester. It is the highest team GPA for football in at least 20 years. Tom Campbell Sean Robinson will have to settle for coaching up Purdue's linebackers from the sidelines instead of on the field for the foreseeable future.