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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 8 • 21 Purdue's overall missed assign- ments were up, Hudson said, but that wasn't all on the young linebackers. "They were up more up front," he said. "But I was really pleased with the linebackers. Those were the guys that everyone had their eyes on. It's also the responsibil- ity of the guys around them, par- ticularly the seniors around them, that when you have a young, in- experienced group and you've got seniors around them, we talked about everybody had to make one more play than they usually do. And not to outplay Michigan State, but outplay the guy at your posi- tion. Just do better than that guy does. Don't be better than Michi- gan State, just be better than the guy you're at the same position as. And we didn't do it." THE OTHER CORNER Purdue feels good about the play of junior cornerback Anthony Brown, but it's experimenting with who to start at the spot opposite him. Antoine Lewis was pulled early in the game vs. the Spartans, with Leroy Clark playing a couple series. Then, during Tuesday's practice, redshirt freshman Da'Wan Hunte took snaps with the 1s. Lewis, who has started all seven games this season, was back with the first unit on Wednesday. Hudson says Purdue needs better production there, regardless of who plays. "We do," he said. "We need bet - ter play at all 11 spots in order to be where we want to be at Purdue. Everybody has to raise their game up. We're not even near the ex- pectation level. Guys are climbing; we're at probably the 75 percentile. We've got to crank it. We're 15 to 20 percent behind in where we need to be in a performance level." RID OF IT Against the Spartans, Appleby had a difficult time getting rid of the football while avoiding sacks. On a third down late in the game, he threw a pick-six. And ear- lier, he was called for intentional grounding, when he was spun around in the pocket prior to heav- ing the ball away. What would Shoop like to see in those instances? "Be protected better, avoid the rush better, all those things," he said. "It's a fine line, and those are things that we practice, but a lot of those you can't learn until you're the guy in the pocket. Mike Holmgren once told me that you never want to draft a quarterback that didn't throw 1,000 passes in college because there are things you can only learn in real game- time situations. It's some of those things. When you throw it away and you're just outside the pocket, it's the right thing; when you throw it away and you're just inside – he got twisted around a little bit and kind of felt like he might have been outside, but he wasn't, he was just deeper – those are the things you learn. But he knows, he's a smart player. All our quarterbacks are smart players." j Tom Campbell In his first game at middle linebacker, Ja'Whaun Bentley received a passing grade from defensive coordinator Greg Hudson. FOLLETT'S PURDUE BOOKSTORES Purdue West | Black & Gold Mine 4/C Black & White For Black background, there is a white border around it. /FollettsPurdueBookstore BOILER UP ® Get the latest in Boilermaker gear