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 25 drive chart last season was so littered with 50-yard-nobody-is- catching-me rushes that what will Purdue's offense be without that? Without the threat of popping a long one for a touchdown? Stop talking, Knox's look seem- ingly indicates. "The running game is still OK," he says, using his most-convincing voice. "We're still going to produce. We're not lacking in any aspect. Of course, they were pretty fast dudes, but we're going to be just as great. We're going to produce just as much, if not more. "I'm not worried at all." If nothing else, the brashness of Hunt still is on the roster with Knox. But Hunt, who delivered a break- out season in 2014 with 949 yards rushing and a team-high 48 catch- es after playing primarily as a role player in his first three seasons, was so much more than a fast dude who could rip off big plays. He was one of Purdue's most durable play- ers. One of its most efficient. One of its most versatile, similarly able to line up in the slot and catch a pass as going in motion from the slot for the jet sweep as being in a single-back set for a handoff. One of its most reliable, rarely racking up "MAs," missed assignments that are so crucial to earning running back coach Jafar Williams' trust, and emerging as a steady blocker in pass protection. Purdue does not have a single back on its current roster that is as polished. But there's a considerable drive to get there by each member of the current crop, born not only from personal desire but also by the ev- er-powerful motivation of opportu- nity. Someone has to start against Marshall on Sept. 6. In one of Williams' first meetings with the group minus Hunt, Mostert and fellow senior Brandon Cottom, Williams laid down ground rules, what he expected in terms of stan- dards, how he wanted the players in the room to be leaders in practices with their effort and he told them there was no choice but to deliver. "I'm going to find a guy in this room who's going to be productive," he told them. Tom Campbell Gone are Purdue's speedsters in the backfield, but D.J. Knox and Keyante Green (above) could bring something even more valuable, a fearsome, bruising approach that wears down opponents and helps produce long drives.