Punt returner spots remain
open
By Paul Trembacki
Sports
Editor
Although most of the starting positions are taken,
the Purdue football team is still lacking a starting punt returner and
kick returners.
"I think we have a couple of guys that could be
big-play returners versus a couple of guys that we can really trust
to catch the ball," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said.
Redshirt freshman Taylor Stubblefield is listed
at No. 1 on the depth chart at punt returner, ahead of junior wide receiver
Seth Morales. Morales, who returned punts as a freshman at Butler in
1998, has the surest hands among the players auditioning at punt returner.
Freshman running back Joey Harris and redshirt
freshman Chuck McQuaid have the ability to make big plays on punt returns.
In fact, McQuaid was the favorite as the No. 1
returner heading into the spring football game. However, he made some
decisions that Tiller didn't approve of, which made the fifth-year coach
rethink naming McQuaid the starter.
"He has a natural skill of fielding the ball,"
Tiller said. "He catches everything, he's deceptive and he can make
that first guy miss.
"But it just kills me when a guy catches the ball
inside the 5, and he did it not once, but twice. And that was just the
spring game."
Deaunte Ferrell and Stu Schweigert are listed as
the starting kick returners, but Tiller said those positions will also
be open until training camp ends this weekend.
Poll positions
Apparently a 3-8 season earns you a top 25 ranking
the next season.
Alabama, which started last season ranked No. 3
in the nation but fell quickly out of the top 25 en route to its worst
season since 1957, is No. 25 in the Associated Press' preseason poll,
one spot ahead of the Boilermakers.
Purdue, coming off a Big Ten tri-championship,
an 8-4 record and a Rose Bowl berth, received 127 votes in the poll
— nine less than Alabama.
Purdue was No. 14 in last season's preseason poll,
and the Boilers finished at No. 13.
Florida is No. 1 in the preseason poll.
Running back quits, rejoins team
Freshman Reggie Benton sure faked some people out,
and it had nothing to do with any of the cuts the running back made
on the football field.
Benton's biggest run this fall was the run he made
away from the team for a day, leading most people to believe that he
had quit the team because of frustration over the offense and his inability
to play up to his potential after a year away from football.
But he returned to practice Aug. 11, citing several
reasons for his hiatus.
"It’s a physical thing. It’s a mental
thing. It’s a bunch of things all grouped into one," said the running
back from Grand Blanc (Mich.) High School. "But I’ll be all right
in a few weeks. Maybe I was homesick or felt out of place. I just needed
a while to think about it, talk with my parents and my coaches and make
sure my head is in it."
Benton, who committed to Michigan in 1999 but had
to spend a year away from football at Mountain View High School in Centreville,
Va., to finish his high school graduation requirements, left the locker
room in the middle of getting dressed for practice Aug. 9 and never
came back.
Benton, who runs a 4.4 40-yard dash, was named
first team all-state as a senior at Grand Blanc (Mich.) High School
after rushing for 1,995 yards on 227 carries (8.8 average) with 29 touchdowns.
He was a two-time honorable mention All-American and three-time all-conference
selection while rushing for 5,035 yards with 63 touchdowns in high school.
Tiller called Benton the best running back, statistically, that Purdue
had ever recruited.
But the complexity of Purdue's offense frustrated
him. On Aug. 9, Benton was in on a play and when the quarterback changed
the play at the line of scrimmage, Benton threw his arms in the air
and said he didn't know what he was doing.
"We don’t often have a guy do that," Tiller
said. "I reminded him that he has been away from football for a year
and that I have not known anybody who has been away from the game that
long and then steps back in and is perfect. I told him he was being
way too critical of himself and that he needed to relax."
Wide receiver quits
A player who could've played significant amounts
of time at wide receiver this season, according to Tiller, has left
the team.
Andre Henderson, a 6-foot-3, 197-pound sophomore,
will reportedly transfer to Miami (Ohio).
"At least that's what he said to me," Tiller said.
"But I've had guys leave my office and I find out two weeks later they
do something totally different."
Tiller said Henderson came to the coach's office
and told him he wasn't happy at Purdue and that he didn't feel that
he was a big enough part of the offense.
Henderson, who appeared in nine of Purdue's 12
games last year, was listed at No. 2 on the depth chart at wide receiver.
Henderson, whose father, Randall, graduated from Purdue, had seven receptions
for 63 yards last season. But the Dublin, Ohio, native was not satisfied.
"He thinks he can go (to Miami (Ohio)) and be a
go-to guy," Tiller said.
Because of NCAA transfer rules, Henderson would
not be able to play in a game at Miami (Ohio) until at least the 2002
season.
Hittin' the switches
As they are known to do, the Purdue football coaches
have changed several players' positions for this season.
In the most notable move so far, freshman Bobby
Iwuchukwu, recruited to play linebacker, has been moved to safety.
Tiller said Iwuchukwu is a bit too fast to play
linebacker and would be better used at safety. Plus, Tiller said, it's
nice to have a 6-2, 220-pound player who can "knock the snot out of
people" in the defensive backfield.
"Bobby's forte is his hitting ability and his ability
to run," Tiller said.
Also, as expected, Mike Rhinehart, recruited as
a quarterback, has been moved to tight end.
"Mike came to me and said he felt like it would
be a couple of years before he saw the field as a quarterback, but if
he moved to tight end he could get out there quicker," Tiller said.
Rhinehart, a 6-5, 235-pound Fort Wayne, Ind., native,
was a wide receiver his first two years at Fort Wayne Homestead High
School before switching to quarterback. After one practice, Rhinehart
was optimistic about catching instead of throwing.
"It’s a whole different game in the trenches
and running routes, but I feel good about the switch and I’m glad
I made it," Rhinehart said.
Last spring, Pete Lougheed moved from reserve tight
end to starting offensive tackle and guard Gene Mruczkowski moved to
center.
More changes are sure to come, Tiller said.
After spending the spring as a backup quarterback,
senior Ben Smith has switched back to safety, where he started during
his sophomore year before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Recruited as a quarterback out of Chadron (Neb.)
High School, Smith was moved to safety as a freshman in 1998. An ankle
injury slowed him down last season, so this spring he moved to quarterback.
However, his ankle is healed and he'd rather play safety and see more
time on the field as a senior.
Inside the numbers
As the scout team quarterback, Carl Buergler will
have a different jersey number each week as he attempts to simulate
the upcoming opponent's quarterback. But this summer he changed his
number before the simulations even began, ditching No. 26 for No. 10.
Several other players have switched numbers, including
linebacker Landon Johnson (47 to 14); special teamer Patrick Schaub
(57 to 42); safety Jon Getz (18 to 24); linebacker Jon Goldsberry (39
to 44); Lougheed (93 to 77); guard Max Miller (52 to 72); tackle Tyler
Moore (58 to 50); and cornerback Sean Morris (31 to 22).
Drew Brees' old number, 15, has not been picked
up.
Coming home
Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke has announced
Purdue's Homecoming dates and opponents for the 2002, 2003 and 2004
seasons. They are Sept. 28, 2002, against Minnesota; Oct. 4, 2003, against
Illinois; and Oct. 16, 2004, against Wisconsin.
|
