Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/506631
GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 5 16 end, had much of the unit feeling good about what it could mean. "There's just a level of confidence that this offense has (now) that has been lacking," quarterback Austin Appleby said. "And it's been built in hard work, it's been built all winter, all spring, we're building upon it every day. We know we're not there yet. We flashed it. … "We know what we're doing. We know how to do it, and it's time to do it. It's Year 3. I think in the past m a y b e w e ' v e p l a y e d slow be- cause we w e r e n ' t quite sure what to do or how to do it and we were a bit tentative. At this point, it's heck with it. Let's just go play and make things happen. We've definitely tak- en strides, and we've got to build upon it." SLOWLY BUILDING With a chunk of inexperienced players moving into more prominent roles, coordinator Greg Hudson kept the defense relatively simple in the spring, focusing more on the piec- es knowing their responsibilities in base defenses. That emphasis showed up in in- stallation, too, as the entire defense met to talk about assignments and how each position group fit into each defense. All the position coach- es would speak, giving specifics about what their group's responsi- bilities were. The hope was to allow a defensive lineman, for example, to have a better feel of what the mid- dle linebacker is doing in certain defenses and, as a result, the entire group could be more accountable. "It has helped us immensely, just to do this," said Hazell, intertwin- ing the fingers on both hands to in- dicate unity, "not even so much the scheme part of it, which that was the purpose, but just to hear them all do this because they're meeting together and they're hearing what the other person's assignment is. It wasn't an extensive meeting — it was a two-minute, three-minute meeting where each (position) coach got up. So that was good." But there's still much more work to do. Hudson didn't see as much consistency in play as he'd like, especially from the mid- dle of the defense — the mid- dle linebacker, the weakside linebacker, the interior line- men and the safeties. That must change by fall for Purdue to have production, he said. "We don't need flash plays. We don't need magic plays. Tom Campbell Working on varying tempos and a no-huddle approach had Purdue's quarterbacks, including Austin Appleby, needing to show even more command at the line of scrimmage this spring. 16 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED