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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 27 • 8 BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com G ood thing there was already an understanding and a plan in place. "Guys know where to be," Aus- tin Appleby said. "One guy has got to go short, one guy has got to go long and everyone fills in in be- tween." Purdue's quarterbacks needed to execute the "scramble drill" con- sistently Saturday in the spring game: They spent much of the game on the run. Whether need- ing to escape the pocket because of pressure seeping from the middle or slipping in from the edges — an expected consequence of splitting the team and drafting players for the game, forcing many to play out of position on the offensive line — there was a helter skelter vibe to the action in Ross-Ade Stadium. "It's great to be able to cre- ate from the quarterback position," Coach Darrell Hazell said after the Black team's 28-23 victory, "but con- versely to that, you don't want the ball outside of you as the defense. We have to do a better job of con- taining the ball so the quarterback doesn't get outside." It was the perfect environment to highlight David Blough's play- ground ability, as the sophomore used his mobility to extend plays to either pick up rushing yards of his own or buy time to complete passes. Though Blough's athleticism may have stole the show, Appleby and Danny Etling had their mo- ments, too, in evading the rush and making plays. They had to. The right side of the Black team's offensive line was Bearooz Yacoobi and Joey Warburg, both backup tackles. Yacoobi was forced to play inside. They were lined up opposite starting defensive tackle Jake Replogle. The left side of the Gold's team line was should-be-in-high-school guard Michael Mendez, who played left tackle to start the game, backup guard Corey Clements and walk-on Eric Swingler. They went against starting end Evan Panfil and rising- tackle Michael Rouse. The Black team had four sacks and countless pressures. The Gold team had one sack and countless pressures. Which made the quarterbacks' unfortunate priority to be on the move. It produced some of the game's highlight plays, though. Blough's came first. On first-and-10 from the 11, Purdue lined up with two tight ends. Blough took the shotgun snap and immediately got pressure off his left side when Panfil beat Swingler. Blough quickly ran up in the pocket, somehow slipped a tackle by line - man Will Colmery, raced right and threw in the right side of the back of the end zone. Myles Norwood had zipped back to his quarterback — he started the play lined up flanked left — and slid to make the catch and cap the 11-yard TD. "His ability to get himself out of trouble and keep his eyes down the field, there's something special about that," Hazell said of Blough, who completed 16-of-22 passes for 173 yards, two TDs but also threw an interception. "There's a couple of those plays (Saturday) he got knocked around — he didn't have great ball security — but kept his eyes down the field. Even the times he pulled it down and ran with it were big plays. That's something if you're a defense, you've got to be somewhat concerned about." In the third quarter, it was Ap - pleby's turn for a did-that-just-hap- pen? play. On third-and-13 from the op- posite 41-yard line, Appleby took the shotgun snap but got pressure quickly from, of all people, tight- end-playing-defensive-end-for-a- snap Carlos Carvajal who beat War- burg to flush Appleby right. Apple- by kept his eyes downfield, pointing and trying to direct traffic while run- ning from Johnny Daniels toward the sideline. Just before heading out of bounds, Appleby stopped and launched a pass downfield. Trae Hart had gotten behind Race John- son, and Appleby dropped the ball in beautifully over Hart's shoulder. Hart had to fight off Johnson, who'd recovered late to get a hand in, and wrestled the ball away to keep pos- session and complete a 59-yard F O O T B A L L : S P R I N G G A M E R E C A P Tom Campbell David Blough's mobility, as well as Purdue's other QBs, had to be on display for Saturday's spring game with as much pressure as both defenses put on. On The Run Escapability at premium in spring game