Spring practice No. 6: Notebook
Chris Barclay
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Alexander Horvath was a spring star last year. But he wants more in 2019. The burly sophomore wants to be a fall star.
“Last spring really helped me out,” said Horvath. “Before that, we had a lot of backs ahead of me and I didn’t know how much I would play. Due to injuries, I stepped up and I showed out last sping. It worked out for me. I hope to carry that out this spring.
In the 2018 spring game, Horvath had 140 yards of total offense, rushing 15 times for 75 yards and hauling in five receptions for 65 yards. And he is turning heads again this spring, as Purdue looks to replace D.J. Knox and Markell Jones.
“I really like both Zander and Tario (Fuller),” said running backs coach Chris Barclay. “Tario needs to improve his pass catching. Zander is a little bit more reliable in the receiving game. So that would probably give him a little bit more value. But I think Zander has to come around in pass protection. Tario is a little bit more consistent than him in pass protection. It’s a neck-and-neck race.”
One thing that separates the 6-3, 230-pound sophomore: His physicality. Just ask cornerback Dedrick Mackey, who got leveled by Horvath in the second week of practice in what has been the hit of spring drills to date.
“Once I get moving, it’s hard to stop,” said Horvath, who ran nine times for 42 yards and a TD last year and caught four passes for 38 yards. “But I feel like I have been working some other moves, too, so it’s hard to except what I am going to do. Sometimes I try to set them up with a stutter step. But there was nothing else I could on the sideline but lower my shoulder and keep going (vs. Mackey).”
NO D.J., NO MARKELL … NO PROBLEM?
Purdue has few bigger voids to fill than at running back. D.J. Knox is gone. Markell Jones is gone. Tario Fuller, Zander Horvath and Alfred Armour are competing. (Redshirt freshman Evan Anderson has been back home tending to a death in the family; he’s expected back on Friday.)
“It sucks not having them out there as far as a brotherhood,” said Tario Fuller, a 6-0,200-pound fifth-year senior who has fought back from surgeries on three different parts of his lower body. “When I got here, they were here. I came all the way up with them, matured with them. And now they are gone.”
The duo combined for 1,420 yards rushing last season on 265 carries with 13 TDs. The diminutive Knox paced the team with 883 yards rushing and eight rushing TDs, averaging 5.6 yards per tote in 2018. He also caught 27 passes for 180 yards and a TD.
Jones ran for 537 yards in 2018 with five TDs, catching 17 passes for 119 yards and a score. He led the Boilermakers in rushing each of his first three years on campus, leaving West Lafayette with 2,594 yards rushing with 20 TDs along with 96 catches for 627 yards and two scores. Add it all up, and Knox and Jones combined for 4,453 yards rushing and 164 receptions in their careers. That’s a lot of production to replace.
“The first day was really weird when we came out here and there was no D.J. or Markell,” said Fuller, who ran for 34 yards on 14 carries last year after opening 2017 as the starter in the first three games before injury ended his season after 261 yards rushing. “D.J. was a funny guy. We miss that, even in the meeting room. I have led before, so I have experience.”
WALK-ON TO WATCH
With Alexander Horvath looking to play more of a role carrying the ball, there could be playing time at fullback for redshirt freshman walk-on Alfred Armour.
“We are putting a lot on the young guy Alfred Armour,” said RB coach Chris Barclay. “He is a new guy, so he is kind of getting cross-trained much the same way Zander (Horvath) did last year. And he’s handling it very well.”
Armrour is a 6-1, 230-pound bull who has uncommon strength (Did you see his 600-pound squat?). Even better: He has uncommon want-to.
“He probably has the longest ways to go of all the backs," said Barclay. "But he is a guy who we sometimes have to hold back. He loves to go hard all of the time."
Tario Fuller
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