Bowl Practice No. 4 Notes: Purdue's preparation on Auburn has begun
Let the opponent breakdown begin.
Purdue began the preliminary walk-through looks at Auburn's zone-read offense Friday during its 90-minute practice session for veteran players. The veterans were only in shorts and helmets again this afternoon, but the scout team offense did start to run the zone-read handoffs and designed quarterback runs that typify Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn's offense.
In his first media session since the bowl announcement, Jeff Brohm said Auburn's offense reminds him of some principles that Nebraska uses with its freshman standout Adrian Martinez.
"How we perform the close to the line-of-scrimmage will dictate whether we give ourselves a shot to win," Brohm said Friday. "Auburn has a lot of big, athletic bodies and this game will be won or lost in the trenches that's for sure."
The Auburn replication snaps were divided at quarterback between Nick Sipe, Jack Plummer and walk-on Aidan O'Connell. When an obvious third-down passing scenario was called upon, Elijah Sindelar showcased the arm strength that has returned since his upper-body injury sidelined him earlier in the 2018 season.
The first team defense saw the newly-positioned Giovanni Reviere at defensive tackle, Jeff Marks at end but still didn't feature the return of safety Jacob Thieneman. Brohm said the senior co-captain is expected back on the field starting next week and the coaching staff is very optimistic to have Thieneman active in the bowl game.
Other notes for bowl practice No. 4
- Grant Hermanns was doing individual drills but was held out of team drills today in practice, but Brohm still said he's very optimistic on having the sophomore left tackle in the bowl game. Eric Swingler was at left tackle in team drills today with his right ankle heavily taped.
- Cameron Allen, a three-star cornerback verbal commit to the 2019 recruiting class, was watching practice Friday. He was being escorted around the practice by Jeff Brohm's son Brady.
- One player noticeably getting some reps with the first-team defense today at outside linebacker spots is Ja'Qurius "Jack" Smith. Smith, a former three-star prospect in the 2018 recruiting class, played in just one game this season after arriving late to fall camp but was being subbed in when Derrick Barnes went to the LEO pass rusher spot.
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