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March 30, 2012

Stacy Clardie
GoldandBlack.com

Listen: Danny Hope on steak and beans scrimmage

Ricardo Allen was flabbergasted and a bit offended.

With the game on the line on the final play of the annual steak and beans scrimmage, Purdue's offense went after the defense's top cornerback.

Robert Marve threw what Allen thinks was a comeback route to Gary Bush, whom Allen was covering.

Bad idea.

Allen broke up the pass, stopping the offense on its final drive to secure a point and snap a tie in the scrimmage. The one-point victory for the defense meant they'd be eating steak, and the offense would be eating beans on Friday night.

"I kind of see it as disrespect that they came at me the last play of the game," Allen said. "We won it, so hopefully he don't try that again."

The defense forced four turnovers, including three interceptions, to win the scrimmage.

The offense fell behind by five points before storming back to tie the scrimmage on its final series, a second-and-7 drill, receiver Antavian Edison said.

"We started off slow," Edison said. "We were ready to go, but when we first started, things didn't go our way. We had a couple tipped balls that got intercepted, and we had to keep our focus because we put ourselves in a hole.

"We came together, though, at the end to pull ourselves out of the hole but we just couldn't pull it off at the end."

Not with Allen and his amped-up defensive mates.

Coach Danny Hope said the secondary was probably the MVP of the scrimmage, batting passes and getting picks. Allen had one of the interceptions, and he said he also dropped one.

"I saw Frankie Williams make some big plays back there. Ricardo making plays, Josh (Johnson) making plays," Hope said. "The difference-maker was probably pass defense in the back half.

"(For the offense), it boiled down to ball security and a couple mistakes."

Linebacker Will Lucas said he liked the overall effort of the defense.

"I think we ran to the ball good today, and that's always good, pursuing the ball," he said. "If there's a missed tackle, the next person is there. We forced four turnovers, and a team goal is three a game, so four is great. We played with a lot of emotion toward the end, so that's a good sign."

All of that effort meant big-time rewards.

About 30 minutes after practice ended, defensive end Ryan Russell tweeted a picture of his dinner plate that included a big 'ol steak, potato and veggies.

But it wasn't just about the food.

It mostly was about the bragging rights.

The defensive players get their food brought to them by waiters, while the offensive players had to go up and scoop their beans themselves.

Lucas joked that maybe he'd tuck his napkin into his shirt and jaw a bit at dinner, just to rub it in a bit to his offensive teammates. He won't be the only one.

"I don't really eat steak too much, but I just like it because offense can't get it," Allen said.

TerBush still No. 1
Caleb TerBush started with the first team offense, though Robert Marve also got snaps with the 1s in the scrimmage.

TerBush started all 13 games for the Boilermakers last season. Marve, who has twice torn his ACL, was granted a sixth year by the NCAA.

"I really like what I'm seeing out of our quarterbacks," Hope said. "Both of those guys are doing very well. They've really improved. Caleb is out here and looks like a confident quarterback, a quarterback that's won, a quarterback that's won a bowl game. He doesn't make many mistakes. Robert has really improved. He's getting the ball out of his hand in a hurry. He's managing the offense a lot better. So both of those guys are doing very well, very pleased."

Rob Henry isn't participating in any team work during the spring, Hope said. Henry missed last season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

"(The knee) is not ready yet," Hope said. "He's going to be fine. We have some things he does on the side that have some transfer of training to the quarterback position, but we're not going to take any chances with him. He's very important to us, and he can really make a difference for our football team next year, so it'd be crazy to put him out here in the spring."

Injuries force shakeup
The offensive line already was banged up coming into the spring, but with Trevor Foy missing the scrimmage with the flu, it shook up the group even more.

For the first time, Kevin Pamphile got work at left tackle. Rick Schmeig slid over from his projected starting center spot to play left guard, and Robert Kugler was at center. Cody Davis worked at right guard, and Josh Davis was with the first unit at right tackle.

"I was really pleased to see our young offensive linemen go out and compete and give our offense a chance to win," Hope said. "I thought our offensive line protected our quarterback pretty decent."

Hope said about 20 players missed the scrimmage because of injuries or illness, including eight projected starters on offense.

Injuries force shakeup
The scrimmage was moved outside after the lights in Mollenkopf went out while Purdue was stretching early in practice.



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