More: Purdue shows 'fight' in loss | Four downs analysis ($) | Blog ($) | Sindelar makes first start; notes
INDIANAPOLIS — Jackson Anthrop garnered little recruiting interest during his prep career at Lafayette Central Catholic.
Indiana State was taking a look, but hadn’t thought enough to offer. Marian University was looking at him as a baseball player. And that was about it, until Purdue called with a late opportunity, offering Anthrop a chance to follow in his older brother’s footsteps to play at Purdue.
After his debut Saturday night, perhaps some others are regretting their decision not to pursue the 5-foot-11, 185-pounder. Because the redshirt freshman had team-highs of seven receptions, 82 yards and two touchdowns in the Boilermakers’ 35-28 loss to Louisville.
Anthrop “absolutely” plays with an edge, he says, because he was so overlooked.
“For me, you just need that one offer,” he said. “And that one offer was Purdue. When it came, I took it and wanted to go. You don’t need 10 or 15 offers to go somewhere, you just need that one. And I got my one.”
And Anthrop has enough will — and knowledge of the game — to make up for physical imperfections. He’s not particularly tall, nor does he have game-breaking speed, but he runs precise routes and is a reliable pass-catcher. That showed up frequently vs. the Cardinals.
Anthrop’s two touchdowns were impressive, when he got a bit of an opening in the left corner of the endzone, using the space to haul in an Elijah Sindelar pass, for the first in the first quarter. And his second might have been even better, when he nabbed a seemingly uncatchable Sindelar ball right in front of a charging defender early in the fourth quarter.
“He works extremely hard, understands the offense, he studies it and he gives you maximum effort every single time he’s out there,” Coach Jeff Brohm said. “Is he one of our faster guys? No. But you know what, he plays fast, because he goes hard and he’s smart. He made two tremendous catches that got us touchdowns, found a way to get open both times vs. man coverage — they were great throws, as well — but he competed all day.”
Equally impressive were Anthrop’s two late fourth-down receptions, when he got past the sticks, despite tight coverage, to keep Purdue’s fading chances alive.
“I definitely did look for him on those fourth downs,” Sindelar said. “On the last one, we had a similar play type and they had a defense that took it away, but I was really hoping to go right back to him and get the first down again.
“He ran routes very precise, which I like. I knew what he was doing. I could tell when he was going to stick the routes and he was there when I needed him.”
Few outsiders saw this kind of production from Anthrop. In the offseason, Brohm brought in several newcomers, including fellow slot Terry Wright, a J.C. transfer. And rookie KeyRon Catlett had a big summer, drawing looks as a potential early contributor.
But it was Anthrop who held on to the No. 1 spot, and he doesn’t appear close to letting it go.
“You’ve just got to prove yourself each and every day, every single practice, every single game, every single play,” he said. “You’ve got to prove yourself.”
Anthrop’s performance wasn’t a surprise to all. His teammates, including the ones on the defensive side, see how hard the receiver goes to try to make an impact.
“He does it in practice all the time,” senior Danny Ezechukwu said. “This is no surprise to me. I see him make these plays in practice. He’s trying to block us in practice, giving it his all. It’s no surprise to me that he’s out here reaping the rewards for his hard work. I’m proud of him.”
Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?
Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook
More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2017. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.
