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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 24 • 25 BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com W hen Purdue begins spring football Tuesday, there will be a bevy of key position battles over the 15-practice schedule. The Boilermakers hardly have any skill positions set on offense — the two-deep at quarterback, run- ning back, receiver and tight end needs to be solidified — and there are big questions on the defensive side in the deepest part of the sec- ondary. "You have to develop different position groups is the No. 1 thing," Coach Darrell Hazell said of an emphasis leading into the spring game on April 18. How the quarterback rotation shakes out likely will have the most eyes on it, and returning starter Austin Appleby, former starter Danny Etling and redshirt fresh- man David Blough will get their chances to improve. But Purdue also needs to identify a running back among a group of unproven, young players — the oldest in the group being a trio of third-year sophomores. Running backs coach Jafar Wil- liams jokingly said he'd pull a name out of the hat to see who the Day 1 first-teamer is, but he's planning on giving Keyante Green, D.J. Knox, Markell Jones, David Yancey and Keith Byars all a chance to prove their worth. "I think it's an even playing field for everybody," Williams said. "I want to see what guys are going to respond." On the defensive side, both starting safety spots are wide open and also don't have experienced answers. Austin Logan has started and Robert Grego - ry has played sparingly in games, but redshirt fresh- man Brandon Roberts and Tim Cason could find their way onto the two-deep and recently converted cornerback Leroy Clark could push his way into the mix, too. "We just have to find out," secondary coach Taver Johnson said. "That's what spring is all about." But it's not strictly about iden- tifying personnel in spring ball. The focus in winter condition- ing and 6 a.m. workouts was to be mental toughness, as well as physi- cal, and to "finish," and that'll con- tinue in spring practices. "We're going to do a couple things a little bit different," Hazell said of the spring. "We have a fin- ish period at the end of the prac- tice, every practice. We want to run X amount of plays offensively that are perfect. We want to run X amount of plays defensively that F O OT BA L L : N E W S A N D N OT E S Tom Campbell Darrell Hazell's third spring practice starts on Tuesday. Purdue has sev- eral crucial positional battles to sort out over the 15 practices. Solidifying Depth Chart Key For Spring 2015 PURDUE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Sept. 6 @ Marshall 3 p.m. Sept. 12 vs. Indiana State Sept. 19 vs. Virginia Tech Sept. 26 vs. Bowling Green Oct. 3 @ MSU Oct. 10 vs. Minnesota Oct. 17 @ Wisconsin Oct. 31 vs. Nebraska Nov. 7 vs. Illinois Nov. 14 @ Northwestern Nov. 21 @ Iowa Nov. 28 vs. Indiana