Young quarterback sees first action of career
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/05/2009
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It took a 37-0 deficit in the ninth game of the season, but redshirt freshman Caleb TerBush finally saw his first collegiate action last Saturday.
Before the season started, coach Danny Hope indicated that Purdue may use a two-quarterback system of sorts, claiming that TerBush was coming along quickly and may be too good to keep off the field. That plan never came to fruition as Purdue was involved in mostly close games and the coaching staff decided taking senior starter Joey Elliott out of the game would not help Purdue win. On Saturday, Purdue’s 37-0 deficit at the end of the third quarter prompted Hope to see what his talented freshman could do.
Unfortunately for TerBush, his day started about as well as Elliott’s day ended. On his first pass attempt, TerBush dropped back and rolled slightly to his right before being dropped for a 13-yard loss by Wisconsin’s Dan Moore. TerBush would settle in a bit; however, his numbers were certainly not those of a player capable of causing a quarterback controversy. The Illinois native completed just four passes for 22 yards on his 10 attempts.
Despite a poor stat line, TerBush felt comfortable in the pocket at Camp Randall, and believes that has a great deal to do with the fact that he has been running the scout team offense during the week.
“I thought I had a pretty good handle on what was going on,” TerBush said. “During practice I go against the No. 1 D all the time. The speed wasn’t really a big thing, it was just getting used to the atmosphere and actually being on the field for the first time.”
TerBush did move the ball well in his time in, driving Purdue down inside Wisconsin’s five yard line, only to see his fourth and goal pass be knocked down by a Badger defensive lineman, preserving a Wisconsin shutout. Despite the opportunity to get on the field, TerBush was disappointed that it had to come in a blowout Boiler defeat.
“I thought I did alright for going in my first time,” TerBush said. “It’s a little different because normally when you go in, you want to be winning. So, it was a tough one to bite, but I just didn’t want to make any mistakes or compound any problems.”
Hope, for his part, believes that “mop-up” duty can benefit his younger players, even going so far as to stop the clock so that he could give players like TerBush more time to work on the field.
“I called a time-out at the end of the game, and their fans booed because I guess they wanted to get out of there,” Hope said. “But we wanted to save a couple plays and get a couple guys in that had worked hard and hadn’t been in games yet. That’s mop-up football.”