Purdue football’s top offensive threats — including WR Rondale Moore — out against Penn State
Purdue’s top offensive threats — All-American wideout Rondale Moore and starting quarterback Elijah Sindelar — will both be out for Saturday’s game against Penn State, with the potential to miss even greater time, Boilermakers head coach Jeff Brohm announced Monday.
And the injury report didn’t stop there, either.
Another Purdue starting WR, Jared Sparks, will miss the game against the Nittany Lions with a leg injury. Backup Purdue running backs Tario Fuller and Richie Worship remain out with existing injuries. Starting DT Lorenzo Neal is still recovering from knee surgery. And backup offensive guard DJ Washington is out after suffering a broken ankle in the first half against Minnesota.
“Well, you’ve got to play with the cards you’re dealt with, and that happens every year,” Brohm said about the injuries. “There’s no complaints. It’s our job to develop our players and get them ready to play, and that’s everybody on the team.
“When guys go down, the others have to be ready to play.”
Sindelar suffered a broken collarbone Saturday against Minnesota and underwent surgery Monday morning. “It’s too early to tell,” per Brohm, whether Sindelar will miss the entire season, but he’ll be out “an extended period of time.”
Moore, arguably the Big Ten’s most electric playmaker, might face a similar situation. Brohm said he couldn’t yet rule out whether the sophomore sensation will be out for for a longer period or for the entire season, but he should know more by the end of Monday.
Jackson Anthrop — who has 10 catches for 113 yards this season — is expected to slide into Moore’s role, with true freshman TJ Sheffield spelling him as necessary. At quarterback, Sindelar’s replacement will be 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman Jack Plummer, an Arizona native who’s not related to the former Arizona Cardinals quarterback.
Plummer is 36-of-70 passing this season with three touchdowns and four interceptions. He’ll earn his first career start on the road against Penn State, in a Homecoming environment that will have more than 100,000 fans on-hand.
“We have to make sure that he uses this as a great learning experience and that he plays within himself,” Brohm said. “He continues to make plays when it’s there. He continues to pull it down and run when it’s not. He doesn’t throw it to the other team. He doesn’t turn it over, and we reserve the right to punt if for some reason we get stopped.
“I think this is a great test, and this is why you play the game. You play great football teams, and I know he’ll be excited to compete.”
Brohm acknowledged he’d like to establish the run with injuries in the passing game. But that won’t come easy against Penn State, which currently boasts the nation’s No. 7 overall run defense.
Vegas initially favored Penn State by 16.5 points this week but, after all the injuries, the line has already increased to 26 points.
Purdue (1-3) and No. 12 Penn State (4-0) are set to meet at noon Saturday at Beaver Stadium in the Nittany Lions’ Homecoming game. HBO will be following around PSU this week in preparation of its “24/7 College Football” series, the Penn State episode of which will run next Wednesday.
What Jeff Brohm said about Penn State
(On what he sees from Penn State)
“Well, they are a very efficient football team right now. I think it starts with their defense. When you shut teams out, when you have some of the personnel that they have, when you look across the board at where they are at, when you watch them on video, man, they play hard, they go hard. They attack.
“They do a lot of things on defense. They are very aggressive. They get penetration. The linebackers can run and hit and tackle, and the secondary does an outstanding job. I think that’s their strength, and an offense, they do have a couple good young receivers. The quarterback is playing efficient. The line is doing a very good job. They are taking care of the football. They move the chains and get it to their playmakers, and they have just kind of executed.
“I think a combination of all those things have helped them play at a very high level to this point.”