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98 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED cause he'd be able to be not as technical with his hands or feet and still get away with mistakes. He could whiff with his hands by getting them too high, for example, but still be fast enough to run and clear out the defender before he got to the quarterback. But it's that athleticism that helps him now that he knows what he's doing. Teammates are envious of King's ability to "bend," an important trait because linemen who get the low- est usually are the ones who win the battle. That showed up on two of Purdue's TD runs this season. In the season opener against Marshall on Apple- by's 1-yard run, King got so low he practically torpe- doed his way through the D-line to get just enough space for the QB to score. Later in the season against Bowling Green from the same yard line, King went low to drive 293-pound tackle Zach Colvin into the ground and kept him pinned to allow Blough to make a second-effort rollaway for the TD. "He's got something that not everybody has with that ability to bend and move," Kugler said, "and sometimes if he messes up, he can react quick enough with his feet and his hands to make up for it, where- as some of us would struggle to react like that because we're just not quite that athletic." King's ability to move shows up in getting to the second level, too, in the run game. In the season opener against Marshall, King pounded on tack- le Steve Dillon off the snap, then moved inside when David He- delin came over to help, allowing King to go up and pop linebacker Devontre'a Tyler on a play Knox ripped off for 22 yards off the left side, one of seven rushing plays of 20-plus yards Purdue had in the first seven games. But King must deliver more of those taking-out-line- backer blocks. So, naturally, it's something he's working on. It's that dogged willingness to improve that's got- ten King to this point — from a high-rep guy to a low-rep one — and it's what he's hoping will contin- ue to have him surging forward. And that's where his incessant film study comes in. Part of the reason Bridge thought the Minnesota game — following that not-so-great Michigan State game, remember — was King's best? King made it be. Part of King's learning and improving process has been detailed note-taking while watching film, scrib- bling down insight not just on his own game but with tips about his opponents. After games, he'll go home and watch the record- ed TV copy of the game with his parents. Then he'll Tom Campbell King's athleticism, an ability to bend to get good leverage and move well, has helped him have success. "He's got a lot of the physical characteristics that you'd want to have in a guy," offensive line coach Jim Bridge said.