Defensive ends aid Boilers
in victory to Bearcats
By Greg Doddridge
Staff
Writer
Purdue fans may have noticed two new faces on the
Boilermaker offense early in the Cincinnati game on Sunday.
Defensive ends Akin Ayodele and Shaun Phillips
came in to beef up the Boilers' goal line offense in a third and goal
situation with 2:36 to go in the first quarter. Brandon Hance took the
snap and kept the ball himself for the one-yard quarterback sneak. Purdue
later went on to win the game by the score of 19-14.
Purdue coach Joe Tiller said everyone can expect
to see more of Ayodele and Phillips in those goal line situations in
the future. Tiller said he wanted to put some physical guys in there.
"We'll be playing Akin as a wing and Shaun as a
tight end," said Tiller.
Phillips had experience on offense during his senior
year at Willingboro High School in New Jersey. He caught 25 passes for
657 yards with six touchdowns in addition to his 67 tackles on defense.
"He (Phillips) claimed his first year here at Purdue
that he was really a better tight end than defensive end," said Tiller.
"Now that he has had some success at defensive end, he's not sure of
that claim of being an NFL-type tight end."
Is Phillips going to ever do more than blocking
on offense?
"Shaun of course wants to know when we are going
to put a pass into him," said Tiller. "And I don't ever think we are
going to do that."
Meat Update
Tiller said senior defensive tackle Matt Mitrione
played more than he expected on Sunday.
"I think as Matt really gets back into football
shape, I think we will see him return to a level of play that we're
used to out of Matt Mitrione," said Tiller. "He's not there just yet."
Tiller said Mitrione kept insisting that he felt
fine, so he kept the senior in the game for his experience.
"I think a little rest will help him and maybe
sling-board him on to being able to play four or five weeks in a row,"
said Tiller.
Mitrione finished the game with four tackles.
Third to First Down
Purdue was 4-of-15 on third-down conversions during
Sunday's game. Ten of those conversion opportunities were pass plays.
"We didn't complete many passes for first down
yardage," said Tiller. "We want to get more accurate with our throws
up the field."
Hance threw three complete passes that were good
enough for first down yardage on third down. However, six passes thrown
on third down were incomplete while the other was a reception, but not
for enough yards to gain the first down.
Kicking Game
"Perhaps the best part of the football game was
the improvement that we witnessed in our kicking game," said Tiller.
"I thought our kicking game was very solid throughout the whole game.
And I'm talking about everything in the kicking game, not just punting
or placekicking."
Senior Travis Dorsch was good for both of his field
goal attempts from 25 and 39 yards out. Senior Scott Kurz punted the
ball four times with an average punt of 33 yards, but three of his punts
were downed inside the Cincinnati 20, including one in the second quarter
that went down to the eight-yard line. Dorsch punted five times with
an average of 47 yards a punt with a long punt of 58 yards.
No Purdue kicks were blocked and Dorsch was also
good on his lone PAT try in the first quarter.
Tiller said there would only be one player he would
change on special teams as of right now.
Penalties
Purdue was penalized 11 times for 105 yards during
the game against Cincinnati on Sunday.
"We made some mistakes that we had young players
make," said Tiller. "As a matter of fact, a majority of our mistakes
were made by young players."
Tiller said four of five offensive penalties were
by first-year players.
"I don't want to put that just on youth," said
Tiller. "We just have to be smarter about how we play the game."
Tiller was pleased that there were no defensive
offsides in the game, due to the presence of veterans on the defensive
line.
Notre Dame Tickets
Tickets are going fast for the Purdue football
game against Notre Dame on Sept. 15 at Ross-Ade Stadium.
Purdue ticket manager George Ade said there are
approximately 1,500 tickets remaining for the home season opener in
the 67,332-seat stadium.
If the game is not sold out, the remaining tickets
will be sold as individual tickets on game day.
"We are hoping students will come in and buy tickets,"
said Ade. "We just want to keep the word out. They should probably come
in this week if they want to go to the game."
Students can purchase tickets via the Internet
at www.purduesports.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the Purdue
Athletic Ticket Office inside the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility
or via the phone at (800) 49-SPORT or (765) 494-3194.
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