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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 11 • 2 the intangibles Hazell so desperately needed to help the program's rebuilding project. "These were a great group of young men that football was very important to them, school was very important to them, their teammates were very important to them. These are some special guys," Hazell said. "They care. That's the biggest thing. They care about everything they're involved in." As with every graduating class, this one has intriguing stories. Players who came in as walk-ons only to rise and be consistent produc - ers and starters (cue Landon Feichter). Players who weren't superstar recruits but developed into playmakers who fought their way into record books (Akeem Hunt, Raheem Mostert, among others). Players who were converted to new positions and thrived (former quarter- backs Justin Sinz and Sean Robinson among them). Mostert said he often speaks with fellow graduating backs Hunt and Brandon Cottom about how this group proved to be "some- thing greater than ourselves." A bond was formed through adversity that comes with a coaching change, with a one- win season, with being responsible for build- ing back a tradition and seeing some tangible proof it's working in the final year. "I think honestly we're a lot of blue-collar guys," Sinz said of the class. "We certainly have some talent and some guys who are pretty special, but a lot of our guys maybe have been more underdogs or guys who have maybe exceeded expectations based on what other people had to say coming out of high school or even early in their careers. "We've gone through a lot, and that's made us resilient and tough and that's what you look for in your seniors, being the guys other guys can look to to get that motivation and the toughness and the grit for the rest of the team." j Senior Day Challenge For Purdue, it pays to play Indi- ana on senior day. That's for sure. But when the opponent is not IU on se- nior day, like this year, the Boilermak- ers have won only 29 percent of their games (dating back to 1970), a trend their look to reverse on Saturday: * In 2001, due to the 9/11 attacks, Purdue faced Notre Dame in its last home game of the season, but the Michigan State game was des- ignated senior day. Indiana 15-7 .681 Northwestern 1-1 .500 Illinois 1-1 .500 Iowa 2-3 .400 Michigan State 2-3 .400* Michigan 1-4 .200 Penn State 0-1 .000 Wisconsin 0-2 .000