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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 26, Digital 3

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60 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATE VOLUME 26, ISSUE 3 yards in the first two games. But Jones was good in a backup role, even in limited carries, and was even better once Knox's health lim- ited his snaps. As the primary back, Jones had a 157-yard rushing performance at Michigan State and had double-dig- it carries in the last six games. In that six-game stretch, he rushed for at least 84 yards four times. Jones continually showed im- provement later in games, too, us- ing his power to deliver blows that literally knocked out some oppo- nents. At least three times in 2015, Jones lowered his shoulder or his head and ran over defensive backs coming up to make tackles in open space. Twice this season, Jones seemed bottled up, surrounded by a group of defensive players, only to pop free of the scrum for big yardage. His body held up relatively well despite the physicality of the sea- son, he says, and he's already fo- cused on how much better he can be. "For me, I still have that mindset in my head that I should be getting 2,000 yards," Jones said in mid-De- cember after the team's banquet in which he was named the offensive MVP, the first freshman to earn that award. "I feel like I should be rushing for a lot more yards. Looking back at just the games I had, I had like a six-yard rushing game, and that's not acceptable. I just have to make sure that stuff doesn't happen to me next year. It's something I like to see that I have room for im- provement. I only had one 100-yard rushing game. I was close a couple times, but should have had multi- ple. Stuff like that just keeps me motivated." While Jones was making prog- ress for everyone to see on Satur- days, his classmates, Tario Fuller and Richie Worship, were putting in work and improving while with Purdue's scout team. Both impressed during a "Show- time" practice during the team's bye week. On one play, Fuller skirted out- side the defense for a touchdown on fourth-and-one from the 2. On another, he trucked classmate Saw- yer Dawson, running over the line- backer and leaving Dawson on the ground, perhaps with an injured shoulder. "He's athletic. He's strong. He has everything you want," Williams said. "He just has to learn how to play under control. He's a guy who's always leaning forward, but he has some great power, really good feet. I think he has potential to be a good player." Fuller thinks so, too. He was a bit disappointed he didn't play at least on special teams in his first season, saying an ankle injury in camp prevented it, but af- ter adjusting mentally to that unex- pected change, he got better with each practice. Early in the season working as a scout team running back, Fuller says he wasn't making the right reads enough. By November, though? "I feel like I've got their atten- tion. I had their curiosity, but now I've got their attention," Fuller said after a mid-November practice in which he had a big run against the No. 1 defense, hitting a hole quick- ly and bursting through without be- ing touched. "When I was in high school, I thought I was strictly this (certain) type of back and I'm not that way at all. I feel like I had dis- credited myself a little bit more than I deserved, I guess, when I first got here to realize that I probably am a little bit better than I thought I was. (The competition) brings it out of you, though. Those (defensive) guys are good, and I've watched my- self progress each week. "It's crazy. I go back and watch film and it's, like, in the begin- ning — you have freedom in scout to make reads and stuff like that, I would just run into people. Now, I can avoid people. I get on Coach (Greg) Hudson's nerves some- times." Worship transformed over his first season, too, especially physi- cally. He came to Purdue overweight, at about 258 pounds, but he pushed hard during summer conditioning and passed his conditioning test. The goal weight is 245 pounds, and he's closer to that now while still maintaining the power and physi- cality that are his strengths. "He's a naturally powerful kid and he's big, strong, everything you want in a big back," Williams said. "I think he has a bright future. He's light on his feet, which is rare for a guy his size, and he's really start- ing to understand how strong he is, which is a good thing, in pass protection and in the run game. So as long as he keeps learning the of-

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