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VOLUME 25, ISSUE 6 27 Developing Endurance, Durability O ffensive coordinator John Shoop saw flashes in 2014 that Purdue can be more than just a functioning, efficient offense. For a three-game stretch in October, the Boilermakers aver- aged 36 points. It's production Shoop thinks the group can get back, even if the offense will do things differently to achieve that in 2015. Gold and Black: After making strides in the first two seasons, what's the next step for the of- fense? Shoop: "To make those same strides from Year 2 to 3 what we need to do is develop endurance and durability. There's endurance and durability within a play. … We need to have endurance and durability within a drive. … We need endurance within a game. We didn't slam the door offensively when we had a chance to against Minnesota. We didn't get it done when we had the chance to against Michigan State. "And then we've got to do it for a season. Our numbers in October, I'll put against anybody. But what happened then in November? That's endurance. That's durability. "It's going to be something that might be invisible to people on the outside, but it's very visible to us — we need to push through that wall." Gold and Black: Why not switch and be a no-hud- dle, uptempo team all the time instead of chang- ing tempos? When do you change tempo? Shoop: "I've talked to some of those coaches quite a bit. If you ask them after the bowl season, they may say to you, 'Son of a gun, I wish we could have slowed the game down at times, too.' We don't live in a bubble. We talk to coaches at every level, every- where. I think one of the things that's important is we're on offense. We dictate that. It's almost a feeling of assertiveness. "How do you choose? I really think of it like a pitcher changing speeds. (Justin) Verlander's fastball is a lot more effective when he can throw an 85 mph change-up. It just is. That's kind of how we are. That speed is more effective when all of a sudden you run right to the line of scrimmage. When all of a sudden the defensive coordinator is wondering what person- nel you're in." Gold and Black: Has the lack of consistency at quarterback hurt the offense? Shoop: "I don't feel like playing different quarter- backs held us back. But I do feel like we don't neces- sarily want to have a rotation of quarterbacks either. Here's what I'll say about that: I don't know I've ever been in this situation where I think we've got (three) quarterbacks on our roster that are above the floor talent-wise. They are. I think all of these guys are go- ing to be capable of doing it. "They all played better this spring, and they've got to keep getting better. … I've got confidence in each of our quarterbacks. I do. As we get better as an of- fense, their production needs to continue to increase. They, too, have to have that endurance within a play, a drive, a game." — Stacy Clardie Tom Campbell