GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 5 14
BY STACY CLARDIE
SClardie@GoldandBlack.com
O
n Day 1, Nick Holt lined
up Purdue's defense
in an odd front, a four-
down look and a Bear front with
six players on the line, including
linebackers.
And that was just the begin-
ning.
Every single one of the 15
spring practices included addi-
tional installs, more fronts, more
coverages, more blitz packages,
and though players said it took
time to learn the new scheme
— their third in three years —
there were pieces of it they loved.
Like how on one play, line-
backer Danny Ezechukwu would
be teetering on the line of scrim-
mage, primed to come in a flurry
off the edge to pressure the quar-
terback.
And on another, Ezechukwu
would be standing on one edge,
Antoine Miles on the other, sand-
wiching a pair of defensive tack-
spring
football
overview
DEFENSE OFFERS
REASON TO
BE 'ENCOURAGED'
Unit stands out in spring,
while offense is work in
progress
les with their hands down, to offer a dif-
ferent look. And, then, maybe Ezechukwu
would blitz. Or maybe he would drop into
coverage. Or maybe Miles would blitz. Or
maybe he would drop into coverage. Or
maybe they both would rush the passer.
Or on another, linebacker Markus Bai-
ley would blister the A gap, racing past the
center and guard to get in quarterback
David Blough's face. In one practice this
spring, Bailey did just that on back-to-back
"sacks" — quarterbacks weren't actually
Tom Campbell
Moved to the inside, Gelen Robinson consistently was in Purdue's backfield this spring,
a trend for not just the linemen but also the linebackers as Nick Holt revealed an aggres-
sive, multiple defense.
