Starters Prove to be Dominant in Spring Game, Prevailing 31-10

Robby Donoho
rdonoho@purdue.edu

Starters Prove To Be Dominant in Spring Game, Winning 31-10
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue’s annual Black & Gold spring game took place Saturday and gave us a look into the future of the Boilermaker football team.
Quarterbacks Caleb TerBush and Robert Marve combined to throw for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns that led the starters in black to a 31-10 victory over the back-ups in gold.
“We were just trying to get some momentum. I thought we had a great spring in general, but it will be good for us to get rested up and get some players back” Marve said.
Marve is coming off an off-season that he wished he could have back, after tearing his ACL in the fall of 2009.
“I was a little tighter than I thought I would be,” Marve said, “It was cool; I thought we all played pretty well. It was rough out there, but it was a learning experience.”
Even with the tightness, Purdue fans got to see the former Florida high school football star come up with the biggest play of the day.
The play featured Marve’s arm strength as he found senior receiver Cortez Smith down the sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown that extended the black team’s lead for good in the contest.
“I’ve watched him play at the University of Miami,” said Smith. “He looked like he got better, knowing that he can sit in the pocket and he’s got some receivers.”
The senior Smith is one of many weapons on offense coming into the 2010 season, along with fellow senior receiver Keith Smith and sophomore running back Al-Terek McBurse.
“I think we are going to be a lot better than last year,” said Smith, “We have a lot of players on that team that are going to be more determined this season.”
Even with the progress that the offense is making, the team as a whole has been injury prone throughout the spring.
High profile players such as Ralph Bolden, Ryan Kerrigan, and Jason Werner are just a few of the Boilermakers that are on the injury report going into the 2010 season, but Purdue has had to push through the pain during the spring campaign.
“It’s been a good spring, we’ve been battling injury, a lot of guys have gone down” said linebacker Chris Carlino. “We are recovering, guys are coming back, and we are just working through it.”
Carlino appears to be the leader in the middle of the defense at linebacker, a unit that will be replacing all 4 starters in the secondary.
“We know a little more about what we are doing in the middle half,” said Carlino, “the more we can help the back, the better we will be.”
It’s a spring season that Purdue is glad to have over after the rash of injuries, but even with the problems staying healthy, fans can’t help but be excited for the new season.
The 2010 season kicks off September 4th in South Bend, Ind. against rival Notre Dame.