About 1.5 hours before kickoff, but I'm already settled in the press box at Maryland Stadium. Pretty happy about that, too, because there's a steady rain right now, which, thank God, I was able to avoid.
Purdue just took the field to warm up.
We'll see if there are any lineup changes. Will be interesting to see who the starters are in the secondary. Not sure if there are going to be tweaks there.
In terms of storylines, we kinda covered the big ones throughout the week on the site, in various forms, whether it was written or in the podcast/pregame show. But a quick refresher:
• Purdue's gotta stop the run again. It'll be a bit of a different challenge this week because Maryland loves the zone read game and its QBs aren't afraid to keep it. Plus, the Terps employ a run-pass option off it, so Purdue's CBs and safeties are going to have to be locked in, too. Watch for bubble screens or hitches, I'd think. Other than following assignments, which will be key, I'd expect Purdue to do some different things on defense this week against the run. We'll let it play out and then I'll write about it in Breakdown. Last week, we saw more one-high/safety in the box look than we'd have in the first couple games. Purdue will try to keep Maryland guessing by changing up who's attacking whom — on one play, a DE may be responsible for the running back, on the next, maybe not — so it'll be tougher for the QB to simply read one guy. At least that's what Marcus Freeman talked about this week. Maryland has some shifty guys, so Purdue must tackle better than it has.
• If Maryland is going to press Purdue's receivers, it'll be interesting to see if Purdue has time to run some hitch-and-go stuff. I think it'll prefer the quick-hitting stuff in the passing game, though, to make sure David Blough stays upright and doesn't have to run around a lot. Perhaps Jalen Neal will be helped by a two-point stance instead of a three-point one, like he said this week, though. Still, establishing the run can only help. Let's see if Markell Jones can hold onto the ball this week.
• Purdue is wearing all white, including the white helmet.
• Just got a copy of the travel roster. Matt McCann is here. Interesting that Grant Hermanns made the trip. Don't think he'll play, but they brought him for a worst-case-tackle-injury scenario, I'd guess. Peyton Truitt also is here, despite having an elbow injury that's been braced up.
Will update again once the players line up in full team warmups as I can throughout the game.
Purdue just took the field to warm up.
We'll see if there are any lineup changes. Will be interesting to see who the starters are in the secondary. Not sure if there are going to be tweaks there.
In terms of storylines, we kinda covered the big ones throughout the week on the site, in various forms, whether it was written or in the podcast/pregame show. But a quick refresher:
• Purdue's gotta stop the run again. It'll be a bit of a different challenge this week because Maryland loves the zone read game and its QBs aren't afraid to keep it. Plus, the Terps employ a run-pass option off it, so Purdue's CBs and safeties are going to have to be locked in, too. Watch for bubble screens or hitches, I'd think. Other than following assignments, which will be key, I'd expect Purdue to do some different things on defense this week against the run. We'll let it play out and then I'll write about it in Breakdown. Last week, we saw more one-high/safety in the box look than we'd have in the first couple games. Purdue will try to keep Maryland guessing by changing up who's attacking whom — on one play, a DE may be responsible for the running back, on the next, maybe not — so it'll be tougher for the QB to simply read one guy. At least that's what Marcus Freeman talked about this week. Maryland has some shifty guys, so Purdue must tackle better than it has.
• If Maryland is going to press Purdue's receivers, it'll be interesting to see if Purdue has time to run some hitch-and-go stuff. I think it'll prefer the quick-hitting stuff in the passing game, though, to make sure David Blough stays upright and doesn't have to run around a lot. Perhaps Jalen Neal will be helped by a two-point stance instead of a three-point one, like he said this week, though. Still, establishing the run can only help. Let's see if Markell Jones can hold onto the ball this week.
• Purdue is wearing all white, including the white helmet.
• Just got a copy of the travel roster. Matt McCann is here. Interesting that Grant Hermanns made the trip. Don't think he'll play, but they brought him for a worst-case-tackle-injury scenario, I'd guess. Peyton Truitt also is here, despite having an elbow injury that's been braced up.
Will update again once the players line up in full team warmups as I can throughout the game.
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