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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 25 • 20 BY GOLD AND BLACK STAFF O ther than a handful of turn- overs, the first three days of Purdue's spring practices were en- couraging, coaches said. The Boilermakers' offense showed good tempo in a new no-huddle look. The defense im- pressed coordinator Greg Hudson with its retention and assignments from the season and also its pursuit. "I think we're well ahead in terms of being able to run offense, run defense," Darrell Hazell said Thursday, the last of three consecu- tive practices before the team left for spring break. "We've got a lot of things in already, a lot of no-huddle stuff that is working pretty well right now. "I think it's important for us to understand that it's good to get away, but when they come back, we've got to keep building. That's critical for us right now, to eliminate all those little things that will poten- tially get you beat. You've got to do everything exactly right. Everything is important — that's kind of the message for our guys." SHUFFLING Of the utmost importance on offense may be taking care of the football, and Days 2 and 3 produced seven miscues by quarterbacks. Danny Etling threw three intercep- tions over those two days and fum- bled a snap, and redshirt freshman David Blough had an interception and fumbled two snaps. Both are competing for the starting quarter- back spot with incumbent Austin Appleby, who didn't throw an inter- ception in the first week. Hazell and offensive coordi- nator John Shoop have taken a rotation approach with the three healthy quarterbacks, allowing each one full day with the first-team offense last week. Upon return from spring break on March 24, each quarterback will get No. 1 reps dur- ing practice, changing during each period. "Ever since I've been here, there was a competition," Appleby said this week. "Before I got here, there was a competition. It's the thing to do at Purdue, I guess. But I don't re- ally pay attention to it. I try to come out here and be the best player that I can possibly be." Unofficially, Appleby had the best numbers of the QBs over the three practices. He was 31-of-38 passing during 7-on-7 and team pe- riods, while Etling was 28-of-40 with three interceptions and Blough was 25-of-39 with an interception. Blough's numbers could have been better: Receivers dropped a whop- ping six of his passes. POINT OF EMPHASIS Shoop loved how Purdue's of- fense spread the field horizontally with its short passing game and getting the ball to running backs in the flat last season, but he knows that's not enough. The Boilermakers desperately need to push defenses deep, and improving the vertical passing game has been a point of emphasis this spring. Shoop wants his quarterbacks to trust receivers more and give them a chance to make plays on 50- 50 balls when they're in man cover- age. To aid in that confidence-build- ing, Purdue had specific periods in practices last week to work on that area. Sometimes, quarterbacks and receivers delivered with the hook- up. Sometimes, the defenders didn't allow it. Sometimes, the pass was off-the-mark and didn't allow receivers a chance. The latter almost always resulted in Shoop getting on the quarterbacks. "I want to do that drill every day," Shoop said. "I'd do it five peri- ods a day. We need that work." Appleby, for one, said he's hap- py Purdue is focusing on that area. "That's the next step for our of- fense, and we're working very hard at that," he said. "It's all the mindset. You have to be aggressive. You can't be tentative back there. You've got to be able to trust your guys to go get it. That's not just talk. It's going out there and working every single day all winter, throwing those balls, doing 7-on-7 and then being able F O OT BA L L : N E W S A N D N OT E S Tom Campbell Darrell Hazell liked his team's tempo in Week 1 of spring football, both in the offense's ability to run a new no-huddle look and the defense's pursuit. 'Good Start' Hazell happy with first week of spring 2015 PURDUE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Sept. 6 @ Marshall, 3 p.m. Sept. 12 vs. Indiana State Sept. 19 vs. Va. 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