More: Jones on injury | Malone on offense ($)

In practice, Tario Fuller frequently can’t catch.

And it’s always been that way. The redshirt freshman running back just struggles to hang on to the ball.

It’s happened at Purdue, especially during a rough spring in which he couldn’t grasp the Boilermakers’ new offensive system, and before at Lanier High School in Georgia. Yet during games, the story is flipped; Fuller’s been sure-handed out of the backfield, catching five passes for 51 yards through the Boilermakers’ first two games.

He’s not dropped one.

“It kind of reminds me of high school a lot, because in practice, you could not throw me a ball because I’d drop it. Drop. Drop. Drop,” Fuller said following Purdue’s practice Tuesday. “But when I’m in the game, there’s no time to think, just react, so when I get the ball in a game, I just react, catch it and go.”

The skill has helped make Fuller an integral part of Purdue’s offense, with the 6-foot, 192-pounder a backup to starter Markell Jones. And with Jones suffering a shoulder injury vs. Cincinnati Sept. 10, it’s possible — although Purdue says Jones should be fine vs. Nevada Saturday — that Fuller’s role could increase.

If so, he’ll be ready, much more so than in the spring. Then, Fuller was swimming in information, trying to understand Terry Malone’s offense system with a new position coach in DeAndre Smith. And because he was thinking so much, the skillset that showed up while he was on the scout team last fall disappeared.

Fuller, who admits too that he wasn't accepting of coaching back then, didn’t look like much of a factor — his drops showed up more than anything else — leading many to wonder whether he would be in the fall.

“I just didn’t know anything,” he said. “Man, it was hard for me to adjust to Coach Smith and grasping the playbook and everything, I think I was thinking too much. But I worked so hard over the summer and come fall camp, it just clicked. I can’t tell you how or why, but it clicked. It’s all a part of the plan.”

And when it clicked, Fuller’s athleticism came back to the forefront. He showed that during camp and through the first couple games, an ability to get into and out of breaks quickly, maybe better than Purdue’s other bigger backs.

But Fuller’s been versatile, too, and that’s helped him get to the field.

“He a strong person to begin with and yet he’s very athletic,” Malone said. “He does a little bit of everything, he runs the ball well, he pass protects well, he’s a very good receiver. He’s just an all-around really good running back.”

Fuller, who has rushed for 21 yards on five carries, got on the field early this season, coming in on the fourth play of the Boilermakers’ first game against Eastern Kentucky. The first snap had a great result, with Fuller taking a running back screen pass 27 yards to help a Purdue scoring drive.

“I did what I was supposed to do,” he said. “I got in (to the game) and when I saw the play was a screen, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, he’s giving me a screen already. OK, let’s run it.’ But I didn’t expect it to be that wide open, so when I turned around and I saw the field, all I was looking at was a touchdown.”

But Fuller didn’t get there, being knocked out of bounds at the 3-yard-line. His teammates gave him a bit of a ribbing afterward, thinking he could have scored. But even that was a learning moment, as many of them are right now for the second-year Boilermaker.

“I was pretty mad,” he said. “Next time, I’ll dip my shoulder and won’t think so much. But it was my first play, all that stuff, and I was thinking 100 mph on whether I wanted to jump over (the defender) or not, so you can see me hesitate a little bit and then just go out of bounds or whatever. It’s part of the process.”

A process that has taken him from off the radar in the spring to a contributor now. And perhaps he could lighten the load for Jones, if the starter should need a break.

“I'm confident in Tario and his ability to make plays for us," Coach Darrell Hazell said. "He's learning the offense, he knows the offense, he's able to execute the offense, so when his opportunity comes, he'll make some plays for us.”

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