Coach's corner: Former Hoosier Garvin at center of reshuffled o-line

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The offensive line has been a work-in-progress throughout the first half of the season.

Purdue has started eight different linemen through the first six games: Grant Hermanns, Alex Criddle, Mark Stickford, Viktor Beach, Sam Garvin, Matt McCann, Will Bramel and Eric Miller.

Hermanns, a junior left tackle, is the only lineman who has started at the same position all season. Three different players have started at right guard: McCann, Stickford and Bramel. Two of the eight starters have been redshirt freshmen: Bramel and Miller.

Get the picture?

But the unit showed some life in last week’s 40-14 victory vs. Maryland. The Boilermakers ran for a season-high 127 yards behind a line that had three new starters: Stickford (left guard); Garvin (center); Miller (right tackle). Still, Purdue ranks second-to-last in the nation in rushing (63.5 ypg). The 2.2 yards per carry also is second-to-last in America. Regardless, perhaps Purdue (2-4 overall; 1-2 Big Ten) has found a working fivesome moving forward as it plays at Iowa (4-2 overall; 1-2 Big Ten) on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET.

“It was a different opponent,” said offensive line coach Dale Williams of playing Maryland and not Penn State. “It was at home. So that helps with the crowd noise being in our favor. … We did a couple of different things for the kids to be more successful and change it up and create a little more competition."

Seeing Stickford and Miller in the starting lineup wasn’t a shock. But the rise of Garvin has been unexpected. He began his career at Indiana in 2017 as a walk-on before transferring to Purdue for the 2018 season. Jeff Brohm tried to woo the Fishers, Ind., native (Hamilton Southeastern High) to West Lafayette when he got the job prior to the 2017 season. But, Brohm failed. What happened?

“I think he was so entrenched with IU at the time, they had recruited him, a lot of friends and buddies going there, and he maybe knew things and he felt more comfortable with that, is what I was told,” said Brohm.

But Purdue eventually got its man, as Garvin joined the Boilermakers as a walk-on in 2018. He sat out last year. Now, he looks like a key cog up front as the second half of the season opens. And he's happy he ditched the Crimson and Cream for Black and Gold.

“I really didn't feel at home (at Indiana),” said Garvin. "I have great respect for Coach (Tom) Allen and what he does there. It was really just a personal decision. Things worked out and I ended up here.

“I grew up a Purdue fan. Once everything kinda settled in, I had the opportunity to play here. I turned it down (at first) and luckily I had the chance to come back here. Glad it all worked out.”

The 6-3, 295-pound Garvin turned some heads in his Purdue debut last week. The redshirt sophomore will start again on Saturday at Iowa, as Brohm announced on Monday sophomore Viktor Beach will miss a second game in succession with an injury.

“Garvin is a tough kid,” said Williams. “He wants to play, he has a burning desire to do it and he wants to succeed.”

Brohm was equally as impressed.

“Sam, for a guy who hasn't been here very good, give him a lot of credit,” said Brohm. “He came in, he executed, he made the calls, he snapped the ball well, and he did a good job."

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Things were setting up for fifth-year senior Tario Fuller to be one of Purdue’s top running backs this season. Markell Jones and D.J. Knox were gone. This was Fuller’s opportunity. Then, it happened: He broke his jaw in the second scrimmage of training camp in August.

"Fluke play," said Fuller. "Wrong hit at the right place."

That led to his jaw being wired shut. And that can pose some issues for a football player who needs to eat to maintain his weight.

"I had a ton of shakes," he said. "I got really creative. I had waffles, syrup, put it in the blender with milk and blended it," he said. "It just tastes like pancakes."

The worst thing he blended?

"Chicken Alfredo," he said. "Told it would be OK if I blended it. I took extra time preparing. ... I wanted to make sure it was a good meal. Got it all done, put it in the blender, blended it up, took the first sip and ..."

Fuller says he almost threw up.

"When your mouth is wired shut and you feel like you're gonna throw up," said Fuller. "It's the worst fear ever."

Fuller says he lost "a little bit" of weight and "a little bit" of strength. He finally made his debut last week vs. Maryland, running five times for 10 yards. He also fumbled. Fuller was happy to be back to see how he felt and performed.

"The first guy, I tried to run him over with my first carry," said Fuller. "But I wanted to do that so I could see how it would feel. You never wanna play scared, because that's when people get hurt."

Brohm was impressed.

“I was proud of Tario,” said Brohm. “I know he had the one fumble. But you know what, he came and ran hard. There were a couple times he was a little tentative, but he just had not played in a while. ...

“He just looks smaller out there than I remembered him, but we're going to continue to utilize him and I think he'll continue to hopefully get better and we need to make sure we are able to rotate the backs and keep guys fresh.”

The 6-0, 200-pound Georgia native played in 11 games last year, but was dinged up. Fuller got off to a fast start in 2017, starting the first three games with 18 totes for 90 yards at Missouri before injury (ankle) again sidelined him after he had rushed 43 times for 261 yards and two TDs that season. Fuller is ready to finish his career strong now that he is A-OK.

"All the doctor had to tell me (before the Maryland game) is I had the same chance of breaking my jaw as anybody else right now," said Fuller. "When he told me that I was OK, we're good, let's go. But it was amazing, just the support from the fans. That is huge."

Prior to last week’s game vs. Maryland, Jeff Brohm made several changes to the depth chart. One of the most subtle—but significant—was to put an “or” between quarterbacks Jack Plummer and Aidan O’Connell. Brohm said it was all about making sure players knew that there was competition at every position--even quarterback.

Plummer was coming off a tough outing at Penn State in which he completed just 13-of-27 passes for 119 yards with a TD while getting sacked 10 times. But Plummer excelled last Saturday vs. the Terps, winning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors after hitting 33-of-41 passes for 420 yards with three touchdowns in a 40-14 victory.

So, was Plummer motivated by the “or” in the depth chart?

“Yes, it kind of motivated me at practice,” said Plummer, a redshirt freshman. “Hey, you have to really, really focus. I’m trying to be really focused and build on what I did last week in practice. Yes, it was a little bit of motivation.”

Was Plummer surprised by the “or”?

“(Back-up) Aidan (O'Connell) is a really, really good player,” said Plummer. “And they hadn’t won a game with me at quarterback. So, I think they wanted to put a little pressure on me. I think I stepped up to the challenge."

The “or” remained on the depth chart this week for the Boilermakers' game at Iowa. But Plummer remains undaunted ... and focused. He wants to keep the momentum from the win vs. Maryland going.

“I think our scheme was really good for that game,” said Plummer. "Everyone was making plays. Offensive line was playing well, receivers were going up for me …"

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