During Friday's walk-through practice Terry Wright looked the exact opposite of a player ready to have a career-best performance.
Following the 38-36 win over Iowa, Purdue coach Jeff Brohm described Wright, a 5-foot-11 senior receiver, as a player "who hasn't complained one bit and has shown his maturity level."
Wright himself and quarterback David Blough paint a different picture.
Wright admits he was frustrated and emotional during Friday's walk-through and meeting before Purdue headed to the team hotel.
During the walk-through, Wright says, he didn't take well to some of position coach JaMarcus Shephard's coaching.
"Friday was kind of crazy. OK, so Shep was telling me some things and it kind of got under my skin," Wright said. "I was being a little diva a little bit. I needed to worry about others instead of focusing on myself all the time."
Purdue quarterback David Blough described Wright as acting "a little pouty."
Wright was anything but after totaling career-highs in receiving yards (146), receptions (six) and touchdowns (three) in the 38-36 victory over No. 19 Iowa.
"I think he played a little angry today and it showed up big-time," Blough said. "It was special for a young man that gets to shine on a big stage. He demonstrated his ability to stretch the field for us."
Wright says his 24-hour transformation began with realizing this game against Iowa could be one of his most significant moments in a Purdue uniform.
"When I woke up today, I looked up at the sky and just said to myself, 'It's a great day in West Lafayette' with football weather and I just knew today was a special day," Wright said.
Despite Iowa's reputation for not giving up big plays this season, Purdue coaches knew it would be a must for the Boilermaker offense to take deep shots vertically. As part of that aggressive plan on first and second down, Wright became the star of Purdue's third win over a ranked team this season.
"I saw the ball in the air for my first big play and thought to myself, 'OK, now I've caught one, so why not go and get another one?" Wright said.
Before the 41-yard pass, Wright told Blough that he'd be wide open if the quarterback got enough time to let his deep route unfold. The senior-to-senior connection gave Purdue a 21-10 lead with six minutes left in the first half.
"I went to David and was like, 'David, when nobody is on you, take your time and look because I'm wide open," Wright said. "He said, 'I got you' and a couple plays later, David hit me on my first go-route ball."
On the first play of the second half, Blough found Wright behind Iowa cornerback Riley Moss for an 82-yard strike that was the longest of Wright's career at Purdue.
"When I crossed the goal line, it felt like so much energy from the whole Ross-Ade Stadium went through my body," Wright said.
Blough joked afterward that he did his trademark pre-celebration move after letting the ball go, signaling that he thought the play was headed for six points.
"I did my little fadeaway when I know it's got a chance and other quarterbacks have seen me do it in camps and laugh at me, but when (Wright) gets the ball like that, nobody is catching him," Blough said. "He's got legit 4.3 speed and is one of the fastest guys on this team. I knew that one was good."
Maybe Wright should repeat that morning routine of staring at the sky with a positive attitude for Purdue's final three games. Maybe he should have a bad Friday practice again. Either way, the senior wide receiver put his speed and big-play potential on display in this win over Iowa.
"(I am) very proud of Terry and it was great to see him step up and make great plays," Brohm said.
In the post-game media conference, Brohm acknowledged Wright's journey from Coffeyville Community College hasn't panned out like he'd hoped. He'd totaled only 200 yards receiving coming into this contest Saturday. He nearly topped that figure in six catches.
"Last year he came in with Isaac Zico and the (2017) season didn't go as they hoped and that sometimes happens," Brohm said. "He cares about us winning no matter who it is that gets the football. He got some one-on-one matchups, stepped up and won them."
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