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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 10 • 18 BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters2004@GoldandBlack.com O n a play Saturday, Jake Replogle got locked up with a Nebraska offensive lineman, but the Boilermaker fought off the blocker's hands, releasing himself. Then, Replogle spun, doing a near 360 to make sure he was no longer in the line- man's grasp, and once totally free, he at- tacked, slamming into quarterback Tommy Armstrong and dragging him to the ground for a sack. It was one of Purdue's best defensive plays on a good defensive day against the Cornhuskers, albeit in a 35-14 loss Satur- day, but a sign that Replogle is starting to blossom. "It's (everything) coming together," said the sophomore of the second-down sack that eventually led to a punt. "It felt good doing it, because it felt natural. I was wait- ing on the next step to happen and it finally happened." Replogle has made quite the rise to in- terior defensive lineman — he's playing the three technique tackle, shaded between the guard and offensive tackle — considering it was only three years ago he was playing linebacker at his high school. Back then, the 6-foot-4 Centerville, Ohio native weighed only about 220, rotating at outside 'backer and end for Centerville High School. But the weight was up to 250 a year ago, when Replogle played on the edge of Purdue's line as a true freshman, and is about 275 now. And it's only now, with the intersection of his know-how of a new po- sition and his weight gain, that he's feeling more comfortable. "I've definitely had to put on a lot of weight and with that, I've had to make a change in the way I've been playing," Re- plogle said. "I only played defensive line one year in high school, so all the new stuff that (D-line) coach (Rubin) Carter throws my way and all the great stuff that he's tell- ing me, there's a great learning curve, and I think it's the same linear growth as my weight." Replogle has 26 tackles this season, in- cluding six for loss, with a couple sacks and a pass breakup at the line of scrimmage. And the last couple games have been two of his best, with nine tackles, a couple for a loss and the sack. "He cares," defensive coordinator Greg Hudson said. "He's tenacious. He's a fighter, he goes hard. He is the prototype of exactly the motor and attitude that we want up front. He stands out. And he's actually un- dersized. He's a big guy that's undersized. That doesn't sound right I know, but he's 270 and he has great leverage. And he's starting to figure it out in the passing game, what moves are good that he can do." That might be the most encouraging news about Replogle: Not just that he's playing well now, but that he's got two more years to improve. At 270-plus, Re- plogle's still a bit undersized to stand up in the middle of the line of scrimmage in the Big Ten, at least as consistently as Purdue would like, so he'll pack on more pounds during the offseason. "He'll be a giant," Coach Darrell Hazell said. There's no goal in mind, Replogle says, but there's room for growth. "I'm not too big of an expert on it, but talking to the coaches, that's sort of the ex- pectation, to put on more weight," he said. Replogle making big impact now F O O T B A L L F E A T U R E : J A K E R E P L O G L E Tom Campbell Sophomore Jake Replogle is playing some of the best football of his career, with seven tackles and a sack at Nebraska on Saturday. The Next Step